In Chapter 9, Okonkwo finally sleeps and thinks about his
uneasiness in killing Ikemefuna. As he goes to sleep he remembers a childhood parable
about the mosquito and the ear. Another similar animal fable is told by Ekwefi to Ezinma
later on in the chapter. During the night, however, Ekwefi tells Okonkwo that Ezinma is
dying. Okonkwo collects bark and leaves to make a medicine to cure her. Ekwefi only has
one child, having given birth to ten and nine of them dying. A medicine man said this
was because the children were all changeling children who dies and returns to its
mother's womb to be reborn. The third child is mutilated and dragged into the Evil
Forest so that it will never return. Ekwefi believes Ezinma is another changeling child,
but because the sacred stone that linked her to the spirit world was dug up, Ekwefi
believed she was going to stay. Okonkwo prepared the medicine and places a blanket over
the pot and Ezinma so she has to inhale the fumes. Finally she emerges drenched in
perspiration.
In Chapter Ten, the justice system is
described. Only men participate. The women observe as outsiders. The elders sit on
stools and sound gongs. Then the the nine masked spirits of the clan enter. Each of
these masked spirits represents one of the villages in Umuofia. The leader is called
Evil Forest and is the eldest masked spirit. His appearance is frightening as his body
is made of smoked raffia and he has a huge white wooden face with two
horns.
The case of Uzowulu is brought before the spirits.
He is a wife beater whose wife and children has been taken away by her relatives and was
also beaten by them. He wants the bride-price back. Others say Uzowulu is a beast
because he has beated his wife so severely. The nine spirits confer together. Evil
Forest tells Uzowulu to go to his wife's family with a pot of wine and beg for his wife
to go back with him to his house. Then he says to the wife's family that if wine is
presented, the wife must return with him. Then, at the end of the chapter, a land
dispute case is brought before the spirits.
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