Chapter 23
Okonkwo
has a feeling akin to happiness for the first time in many years.
The village has acted like warriors.
When the District Commissioner returns, however, village leaders are
summoned to talk to him. They bring
machetes but not guns, as that would be unseemly, and the Commissioner calls in
interpreters to help them explain the situation. Ogbuefi Ekwueme begins to tell the story, but before he can
armed guards rush through the door instead of interpreters, and the men are
handcuffed and ill-treated at the hands of the court messengers.
The chiefs are told they will be released if they pay two hundred bags of
cowries, and when the court messengers spread the word to the people they
announce that the fine is two hundred and fifty bags, so that they can keep the
extra fifty. Rumors exaggerate the
problem, claiming that the leaders will be hanged in Umuru if the fine is not
paid.
