A man interrupts them to relay the news of the death of an elder of a neighboring village, a former Umuofia leader. His wife, also later on the same day, complicates the announcement of the elder's death and funeral. The mourners recalled that they "had one mind" and that he could do nothing without telling her. Okonkwo and Obierika disapprove of this lack of manly quality. They also discuss with regret the loss of prestige of the ozo title. Feeling renewed by the conversation, Okonkwo goes home and returns later to take part in a discussion of the bride-price with the suitor of Obierika's daughter. After the preliminaries, the bride-price is decided using a ritual. Her price is negotiated between the bride's family and the groom's relatives by passing back and forth quantities of sticks that represent numbers.
The men eat and drink for the rest of the evening while ridiculing the customs of the neighboring villages compared to their own. They also refer contemptuously to "white men," comparing their white skin to lepers' white skin.
