Chapter 23 twenty three

For the first time in many years, Okonkwo felt something close to cheerful.The times, which had changed miraculously during his years of exile, seemed to be returning to their original state now.This clan had betrayed him, and now it seemed to come to atone for it. When they met in the marketplace to discuss what action should be taken, he spoke very strongly to the men of the clan.The people listened to him with reverence, as in the good old days, when a warrior was a warrior.Although they did not agree with him to kill the missionary and drive out the Christians, they did agree to take concrete action.Now they have done so.Okonkwo was almost happy again.

After the church was destroyed, nothing happened for two days.The men of Umm Ofiah go out with swords and guns.They cannot be attacked unsuspectingly like the Abam. The parish administrator, who was out on tour, returned.Mr. Smith came to him at once, and the two talked for a long time together.The people of Umm Ofia did not notice this matter, and if they did, they thought it of no importance.The missionary often visited his white brother.This is no surprise. Three days later, the prefect sent a very eloquent messenger to the chiefs of Umm Ofia, and begged them to come and see him at the headquarters.This is also no surprise.He often invites them to what he calls negotiations.He invited a total of six chiefs, and Okonkwo was one of them.

Okonkwo warned the others to bear arms.The Umm Ophiya does not refuse invitations, he says, he may refuse to do what others ask him to do, but he will not refuse invitations.But times have changed, and we should be fully prepared. So all six went to the parish administrator with machetes.They didn't have guns because that would be rude.They were ushered into the court, where the parish administrator sat.He greeted them very politely.They took down the sheepskin bag and the sheathed knives, laid them on the ground, and sat down themselves. I asked you to come because something happened while I was away, and the magistrate began to say something was reported to me, but I couldn't believe it until I heard from your side.Let's talk about this as friends and find a way to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Ogbu Effie.Ekwinm stood up and began to tell what had happened. Wait a minute, the chief executive said, let me call my people, let them also listen to your grievances, and pay more attention in the future.Many of them come from faraway lands, and although they speak your language, they know nothing of your customs.James!Go and bring those people in.His interpreter walked out of the courtroom and returned with twelve men.They sat with the Umm Ofia, Ogbu Efi.Ekwim resumed the story of how Enoch had killed an ancestor spirit. It happened so suddenly that none of the six of them knew how it started. The time of the conflict was so short that it was too late to even pull the machete out of its sheath. The six of them were already handcuffed and arrested. Take it into the guard room.

As long as you agree to cooperate with us, we will do you no harm, and the parish administrator later said to them, We have brought you and your people a peaceful government, so that you can live happily.If anyone mistreats you, we will come to your aid.But we will never allow you to abuse others, we have courts, and in courts we try cases and enforce the law, just as in my own great Queen's country.I have brought you here because you have united and interfered with others and burned down their houses and places of worship.Such a thing should never happen in the domain of our queen, the most powerful ruler in the world.I have decided that you shall pay a fine of two hundred bags of onyx shells.As long as you agree to this method and collect this fine from your people, you will be released immediately.Do you have anything to say?

All six of them were sullen and said nothing.The Sheriff left them for a while.Before he left the guardhouse, he told the court officials to treat these six men with civility, because they were the leaders of Umm Ofiah.The messenger replied, "Yes, sir."And bowed. As soon as the magistrate went away, the head of the clerk, who was also the barber in the prison, took out his razor, and shaved all six heads.Still in handcuffs, they sat dejectedly. Who is the leader among you?The court officials jeeredly asked, every beggar we saw in Umm Ofia wears an anklet with a title on it. Is that worth ten onyx shells?

That day and the next day, the six of them had nothing to eat, they were not even given water to drink, and they were not allowed to urinate or defecate in the bushes.At night the messengers came in and scolded them, grabbed their shaved heads and bumped them. Even when no one else was present, they never spoke to each other.It was not until the third day that they could no longer bear the hunger and insults that they began to discuss concessions. You should have listened to me, we should have killed that white man.Okonkwo grumbled angrily. Then we'll be hanged in Umru now.A man answered him.

A messenger rushed in.Who said to kill white people?No one answered. Isn’t the crime you committed enough, and you want to add more crimes to kill white people.He swung the thick stick in his hand and hit everyone on the head and back several times.Okonkwo was so angry and resentful that he could not speak. As soon as the six were imprisoned, the court officials set off to the villages of Umm Ofia and told all the people that their chief would not be arrested unless they paid a fine of two hundred and fifty sacks of agate shells. freed. Unless you pay this fine immediately, we shall bring your chiefs before the white lords of Umru and hang them.Said the head of the messenger.

The news quickly spread to all the villages.The rumors spread more and more.Some said the six had been sent to Umru to be hanged the next day.Some say that even their family members will be hanged.Others also said that the soldiers were already on their way, and were coming to shoot the Umm Ofiah as they had done in Abam. At this time the moon is full.But that night, even the child's voice was not heard.The village square, where children used to gather to play games in the moonlight, was deserted now.The women of Iguido did not hide quietly in their usual places, practicing the new dance that would soon be performed in the village.The young men who always came out on moonlit days also hid in the huts and dared not come out.The chatter and laughter of men visiting relatives, friends and lovers could not be heard on the village road.Umm Ofia was like a frightened beast, with its ears pricked up, sniffing the ominous dead air, not knowing where to flee.

The silence was only broken by the messenger of the village, beating loudly on the Orena.He informed all the people in Umm Ofia that everyone who was above the age of Akaganma would go to the market for a meeting after breakfast the next day.He walked from the east end of the village to the west end, the south end to the north end, and every major pedestrian road. Okonkwo's yard seemed like an uninhabited yard.As if someone suddenly poured cold water on it.His wife and children were at home, but everyone spoke in a low voice.As soon as his daughter Ekinma heard that her father was imprisoned and about to be hanged, she returned home from a twenty-eight-day visit to her future husband's house.As soon as she got home, she went to Obierika's to find out how the Umm Ofia planned to deal with the matter.But Obierika had been away from home early in the morning.His wives said he must have been at some secret meeting.Ekinma was satisfied that he was at least considering action.

The morning after the village messenger sent out the proclamation, the people of Umm Ofia gathered in the market, and decided to collect two hundred and fifty bags of agate shells without delay to appease the white people's anger.They didn't know that the officials had increased the fine, and that fifty bags of agate shells were about to fall into their hands.