CHAPTER SIX
The whole village turned out on the ilo, men, women and children. They stood round in
a huge circle leaving the centre of the playground free. The elders and grandees of the
village sat on their own stools brought there by their young sons or slaves. Okonkwo
was among them. All others stood except those who came early enough to secure places
on the few stands which had been built by placing smooth logs on forked pillars.
The wrestlers were not there yet and the drummers held the field. They too sat
just in front of the huge circle of spectators, facing the elders. Behind them was the big
and ancient silk-cotton tree which was sacred. Spirits of good children lived in that tree
waiting to be born. On ordinary days young women who desired children came to sit
under its shade.
There were seven drums and they were arranged according to their sizes in a
long wooden basket. Three men beat them with sticks, working feverishly from one
drum to another. They were possessed by the spirit of the drums.
The young men who kept order on these occasions dashed about, consulting
among themselves and with the leaders of the two wrestling teams, who were still
outside the circle, behind the crowd. Once in a while two young men carrying palm
fronds ran round the circle and kept the crowd back by beating the ground in front of
them or, if they were stubborn, their legs and feet.
At last the two teams danced into the circle and the crowd roared and clapped.
The drums rose to a frenzy. The people surged forward. The young men who kept order
flew around, waving their palm f ronds. Old men nodded to the beat of the drums and
remembered the days when they wrestled to its intoxicating rhythm.
The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen. There were only three such
boys in each team. They were not the real wrestlers,-they merely set the scene. Within a
short time the first two bouts were over. But the third created a big sensation even