Passed. They disappeared around the corner, leaving Freddie alone in the street

 

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With his father's bleeding body. Many of the people thronging the avenue had

Flung themselves into doorways or on the ground, others had huddled together in

Small groups.

Freddie still had not drawn his weapon. He seemed stunned. He stared down

At his father's body lying face down on the tarred street, lying now in what

Seemed to him a blackish lake of blood. Freddie went into physical shock. People

Eddied out again and someone, seeing him start to sag, led him to the curbstone

And made him sit down on it. A crowd gathered around Don Corleone's body, a

Circle that shattered when the first police car sirened a path through them.

Directly behind the police was the Daily News radio car and even before it

Stopped a photographer jumped out to snap pictures of the bleeding Don

Corleone. A few moments later an ambulance arrived. The photographer turned

His attention to Freddie Corleone, who was now weeping openly, and this was a

Curiously comical sight, because of his tough, Cupid-featured face, heavy nose

And thick mouth smeared with snot. Detectives were spreading through the

Crowd and more police cars were coming up. One detective knelt beside Freddie,

Questioning him, but Freddie was too deep in shock to answer. The detective

Reached inside Freddie's coat and lifted his wallet. He looked at the identification

Inside and whistled to his partner. In just a few seconds Freddie had been cut off

From the crowd by a flock of plainclothesmen. The first detective found Freddie's

Gun in its shoulder holster and took it. Then they lifted Freddie off his feet and

Shoved him into an unmarked car. As that car pulled away it was followed by the

Daily News radio car. The photographer was still snapping pictures of everybody

And everything.

 

 

1 In the half hour after the shooting of his father, Sonny Corleone received five phone

calls in rapid succession (в быстром следовании /друг за другом/; rapid ['rжpıd] –

скорый, стремительный). The first was from Detective John Phillips, who was on the

family payroll and had been in the lead car of plainclothesmen at the scene of the

shooting. The first thing he said to Sonny over the phone was, "Do you recognize my

voice?"

2 "Yeah," Sonny said. He was fresh from a nap (дремота, короткий сон), called to the

phone by his wife.

3 Phillips said quickly without preamble (преамбула; предисловие, вступление

[pri:’жmbl]), "Somebody shot your father outside his place. Fifteen minutes ago. He's

 

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alive but hurt bad. They've taken him to French Hospital. They got your brother Freddie

down at the Chelsea precinct. You better get him a doctor when they turn him loose

(отпустят). I'm going down to the hospital now to help question your old man, if he can

talk. I'll keep you posted (держать в курсе)."

4 Across the table, Sonny's wife Sandra noticed that her husband's face had gone red

with flushing blood. His eyes were glazed over (остекленели, потускнели; to glaze –

покрывать глазурью). She whispered, "What's the matter?" He waved at her

impatiently to shut up (чтобы заткнулась), swung his body away so that his back was

toward her and said into the phone, "You sure he's alive?"

5 "Yeah, I'm sure," the detective said. "A lot of blood but I think maybe he's not as bad

as he looks."

6 "Thanks, " Sonny said. "Be home tomorrow morning eight sharp. You got a grand

coming."

7 Sonny cradled the phone (повесил трубку; cradle – колыбель; to cradle – класть в

колыбель; вешать трубку). He forced himself to sit still. He knew that his greatest

weakness was his anger and this was one time when anger could be fatal. The first

thing to do was get Tom Hagen. But before he could pick up the phone, it rang. The call

was from the bookmaker (букмекер – получающий деньги с тех, кто делает ставки

на скачках) licensed by the Family to operate in the district of the Don's office. The

bookmaker had called to tell him that the Don had been killed, shot dead in the street.

After a few questions to make sure that the bookmaker's informant had not been close

to the body, Sonny dismissed the information as incorrect. Phillips' dope would be more

accurate. The phone rang almost immediately a third time. It was a reporter from the

Daily News. As soon as he identified himself, Sonny Corleone hung up.

8 He dialed Hagen's house and asked Hagen's wife, "Did Tom come home yet?" She

said, "No," that he was not due for another twenty minutes but she expected home for

supper. "Have him call me," Sonny said.

9 He tried to think things out. He tried to imagine (вообразить [ı’mжdGın]) how his

father would react in a like situation. He had known immediately that this was an attack

by Sollozzo, but Sollozzo would never have dared to eliminate (устранить [ı’lımıneıt])

so high-ranking a leader as the Don unless he was backed by other powerful people.

The phone, ringing for the fourth time, interrupted his thoughts. The voice on the other

end was very soft, very gentle. "Santino Corleone?" it asked.

10 "Yeah," Sonny said.

 

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11 "We have Tom Hagen," the voice said. "In about three hours he'll be released with

our proposition. Don't do anything rash until you've heard what he has to say. You can

only cause a lot of trouble. What's done is done. Everybody has to be sensible now.

Don't lose that famous temper of yours (самообладание; нрав, характер)." The voice

was slightly mocking. Sonny couldn't be sure, but it sounded like Sollozzo. He made his

voice sound muted, depressed. "I'll wait," he said. He heard the receiver on the other

end click. He looked at his heavy gold-banded wristwatch and noted the exact time of

the call and jotted it down on the tablecloth (to jot – кратко записать, набросать).

12 He sat at the kitchen table, frowning (нахмурившись). His wife asked, "Sonny,

what is it?" He told her calmly, "They shot the old man." When he saw the shock on her

face he said roughly, "Don't worry, he's not dead. And nothing else is going to happen."

He did not tell her about Hagen. And then the phone rang for the fifth time.

13 It was Clemenza. The fat man's voice came wheezing over the phone in gruntlike

gasps (затрудненное дыханье, удушье). "You hear about your father?" he asked.

14 "Yeah," Sonny said. "But he's not dead." There was a long pause over the phone

and then Clemenza's voice came packed with emotion, "Thank God, thank God." Then

anxiously, "You sure? I got word he was dead in the street."

15 "He's alive," Sonny said. He was listening intently to every intonation in Clemenza's

voice. The emotion had seemed genuine but it was part of the fat man's profession to

be a good actor.

16 "You'll have to carry the ball, Sonny," Clemenza said. "What do you want me to

do?"

17 "Get over to my father's house," Sonny said. "Bring Paulie Gatto."

18 "That's all?" Clemenza asked. "Don't you want me to send some people to the

hospital and your place?"

19 "No, I just want you and Paulie Gatto," Sonny said. There was a long pause.

Clemenza was getting the message. To make it a little more natural, Sonny asked,

"Where the hell was Paulie anyway? What the hell was he doing?"

20 There was no longer any wheezing on the other end of the line. Clemenza's voice

was guarded. "Paulie was sick, he had a cold, so he stayed home. He's been a little sick

all winter."

21 Sonny was instantly alert. "How many times did he stay home the last couple of

months?"

 

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22 "Maybe three or four times," Clemenza said. "I always asked Freddie if he wanted

another guy but he said no. There's been no cause, the last ten years things been

smooth, you know."

23 "Yeah," Sonny said. "I'll see you at my father's house. Be sure you bring Paulie.

Pick him up on your way over. I don't care how sick he is. You got that?" He slammed

down the phone (to slam – хлопнуть /дверью/, бросить со стуком) without waiting for

an answer.

24 His wife was weeping silently. He stared at her for a moment, then said in a harsh

voice (harsh – жесткий, грубый), "Any of our people call, tell them to get me in my

father's house on his special phone. Anybody else call, you don't know nothing. If Tom's

wife calls, tell her that Tom won't be home for a while, he's on business.

25 He pondered for a moment. "A couple of our people will come to stay here." He saw

her look of fright and said impatiently, "You don't have to be scared, I just want them

here. Do whatever they tell you to do. If you wanta (= want to) talk to me, get me on

Pop's special phone but don't call me unless it's really important. And don't worry." He

went out of the house.

26 Darkness had fallen and the December wind whipped through the mall (хлестал по

аллее; whip – хлыст). Sonny had no fear about stepping out into the night. All eight

houses were owned by Don Corleone. At the mouth of the mall the two houses on either

side were rented by family retainers (retainer – слуга /постоянно живущий в какой-

либо семье/) with their own families and star boarders (и постоянными

квартирантами, пансионерами), single men who lived in the basement apartments

(basement – подвал; цокольный этаж). Of the remaining six houses that formed the

rest of the half circle, one was inhabited by Tom Hagen and his family, his own, and the

smallest and least ostentatious (бросающийся в глаза, показной [osten'teı∫∂s]) by the

Don himself. The other three houses were given rent-free to retired friends of the Don

with the understanding that they would be vacated whenever he requested

(освобождены по первому требованию). The harmless-looking mall was an

impregnable fortress («непроницаемая» крепость).

27 All eight houses were equipped with floodlights which bathed the grounds around

them and made the mall impossible to lurk in (прокрасться; to lurk – скрываться в

засаде, прятаться). Sonny went across the street to his father's house and let himself

inside with his own key. He yelled out, "Ma, where are you?" and his mother came out

of the kitchen. Behind her rose the smell of frying peppers (жарящегося перца). Before

she could say anything, Sonny took her by the arm and made her sit down. "I just got a

 

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call," he said. "Now don't get worried. Pop's in the hospital, he's hurt. Get dressed and

get ready to get down there. I'll have a car and a driver for you in a little while. OK?"

28 His mother looked at him steadily (пристально: «неподвижно») for a moment and

then asked in Italian, "Have they shot him?"

29 Sonny nodded. His mother bowed her head for a moment. Then she went back into

the kitchen. Sonny followed her. He watched her turn off the gas under the panful of

peppers (под сковородой с перцем) and then go out and up to the bedroom. He took

peppers from the pan and bread from the basket on the table and made a sloppy

sandwich (sloppy – мокрый, водянистый) with hot olive oil dripping from his fingers. He

went into the huge corner room that was his father's office and took the special phone

from a locked cabinet box (to lock – запирать). The phone had been especially installed

and was listed under a phony (фальшивое) name and a phony address. The first

person he called was Luca Brasi. There was no answer. Then he called the safety-valve

caporegime in Brooklyn, a man of unquestioned loyalty to the Don. This man's name

was Tessio. Sonny told him what had happened and what he wanted. Tessio was to

recruit fifty absolutely reliable men (надежных; to rely on … – полагаться на …). He

was to send guards to the hospital, he was to send men out to Long Beach to work here.

Tessio asked, "Did they get Clemenza too?" Sonny said, "I don't want to use

Clemenza's people right now." Tessio understood immediately, there was a pause, and

then he said, "Excuse me, Sonny, I say this as your father would say it. Don't move too

fast. I can't believe Clemenza would betray us."

30 "Thanks," Sonny said. "I don't think so but I have to be careful. Right?"

31 "Right," Tessio said.

32 "Another thing," Sonny said. "My kid brother Mike goes to college in Hanover, New

Hampshire. Get some people we know in Boston to go up and get him and bring him

down here to the house until this blow’s over. I'll call him up so he'll expect them. Again

I'm just playing the percentages, just to make sure."

33 "OK," Tessio said, "I'll be over your father's house as soon as I get things rolling.

OK? You know my boys, right?"

34 "Yeah," Sonny said. He hung up. He went over to a small wall safe and unlocked it.

From it he took an indexed book (с алфавитным индексом) bound in blue leather. He

opened it to the T's until he found the entry he was looking for. It read, "Ray Farrell

$5,000 Christmas Eve (Сочельник)." This was followed by a telephone number. Sonny

dialed the number and said, "Farrell?" The man on the other end answered, "Yes."

Sonny said, "This is Santino Corleone. I want you to do me a favor and I want you to do

 

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it right away (сейчас же, незамедлительно). I want you to check two phone numbers

and give me all the calls they got and all the calls they made for the last three months."

He gave Farrell the number of Paulie Gatto's home and Clemenza's home. Then he

said, "This is important. Get it to me before midnight and you'll have an extra very Merry

Christmas."

35 Before he settled back to think things out he gave Luca Brasi's number one more

call. Again there was no answer. This worried him but he put it out of his mind. Luca

would come to the house as soon as he heard the news. Sonny leaned back in the

swivel chair (вращающееся кресло; swivel [swıvl] – шарнирное соединение). In an

hour the house would be swarming with Family people (to swarm – кишеть, роиться;

swarm – рой, стая) and he would have to tell them all what to do, and now that he

finally had time to think he realized how serious the situation was. It was the first

challenge (вызов) to the Corleone Family and their power in ten years. There was no

doubt that Sollozzo was behind it, but he would never have dared attempt such a stroke

(никогда бы не отважился на такой удар; to attempt – попытаться) unless he had

support from at least one of the five great New York families. And that support must

have come from the Tattaglias. Which meant a full-scale war (полномасштабную;

scale – чаша весов; градация; масштаб) or an immediate settlement on Sollozzo's

terms (немедленное принятие его условий; settlement – урегулирование,

соглашение). Sonny smiled grimly. The wily (коварный, хитрый) Turk had planned

well but he had been unlucky. The old man was alive and so it was war. With Luca Brasi

and the resources of the Corleone Family there could be but one outcome. But again

the nagging worry (грызущее беспокойство). Where was Luca Brasi?