How is the mosquito story relevant to the current scene of Okonkwo in bed at the beginning of Chapter Nine in Things Fall Apart?

Very interesting question. The story that Okonkwo
remembers as he lays in bed I think could be seen as a kind of parable that has a lot to
say about Okonkwo and his life and how he reacts to situations. Let us remind ourselves
of what the story says, and as you read it, try and think how it could be
symbolic:

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Mosquito, she had said, had asked Ear to marry
him, whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. "How much longer do you
think you will live?" she asked. "You are already a skeleton." Mosquito went away
humiliated, and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still
alive.

There is a sense in
which this parable is about the danger of judging on appearances, as Ear did, and how
Ear suffered as a result. If we transfer this situation to Okonkwo, we see that he is a
character, who in his haste, bravado and desire to show himself to be a man, makes many
hasty decisions without thinking them through, and suffers as a result. We most clearly
see this when he is exiled, but also in his response to the missionaries who
come.