Bronx to his home in Manhattan.

 

 

Chapter 7

 

 

1 On the night before the shooting of Don Corleone, his strongest and most loyal and

most feared retainer (cлуга /постоянно живущий в семье/) prepared to meet with the

enemy. Luca Brasi had made contact with the forces of Sollozzo several months before.

He had done so on the orders of Don Corleone himself. He had done so by frequenting

the nightclubs (посещая; to frequent [fri:’kwent] – часто посещать, бывать) controlled

by the Tattaglia Family and by taking up with one of their top call girls (завязав

отношения, занявшись одной из их основных девушек по вызову). In bed with this

call girl he grumbled about how he was held down in the Corleone Family (ворчал, что

ему не дают ходу; to hold down – удерживать, держать в подчинении), how his

worth was not recognized (его достоинство /то, на что он способен/, не признается,

не ценится; to recognize [‘rek∂gnaız] – признавать). After a week of this affair with the

call girl (affair [∂'fε∂] – связь), Luca was approached by Bruno Tattaglia (к нему

обратился; to approach [∂‘pr∂ut∫] – приближаться, подходить; обращаться /с

просьбой, предложением/), manager of the nightclub. Bruno was the youngest son,

and ostensibly not connected (якобы, по видимости не связанный, не причастный)

with the Family business of prostitution. But his famous nightclub with its dancing line of

long-stemmed beauties (длинноногих красоток; stem – стебель; long-stemmed – c

длинным стеблем; длинноногая) was the finishing school for many of the city hookers

(уличных проституток).

2 The first meeting was all above-board (открытый, прямой), Tattaglia offering him a

job to work in the Family business as enforcer (enforcer – «принудитель», член

 

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гангстерской банды, функцией которого является принуждение к выполнению ее

требований или приведение в исполнение ее приговоров). The flirtation went on for

nearly a month. Luca played his role of man infatuated with a young beautiful girl (to

infatuate [ın’fжtjueıt] – свести с ума, внушить сильную страсть), Bruno Tattaglia the

role of a businessman trying to recruit an able executive from a rival (от соперника,

конкурента). At one such meeting, Luca pretended to be swayed (сделал вид, что

соглашается: «что уговорен»; to sway – качаться, колебаться; склонять /к чему-

либо/), then said, "But one thing must be understood. I will never go against the

Godfather. Don Corleone is a man I respect. I understand that he must put his sons

before me in the Family business."

3 Bruno Tattaglia was one of the new generation with a barely hidden contempt (с

едва скрываемым презрением) for the old Moustache Petes like Luca Brasi, Don

Corleone and even his own father. He was just a little too respectful. Now he said, "My

father wouldn't expect you to do anything against the Corleones. Why should he?

Everybody gets along with everybody else now (все уживаются, договариваются), it's

not like the old days. It's just that if you're looking for a new job, I can pass along the

word to my father (передать). There's always need for a man like you in our business.

It's a hard business and it needs hard men to keep it running smooth. Let me know if

you ever make up your mind (если надумаешь)."

4 Luca shrugged. "It's not so bad where I'm at." And so they left it.

5 The general idea had been to lead the Tattaglias to believe that he knew about the

lucrative narcotics operation (lucrative [‘lu:kr∂tıv] – прибыльный) and that he wanted a

piece of it free-lance. In that fashion he might hear something about Sollozzo's plans if

the Turk had any, or whether he was getting ready to step on the toes of Don Corleone

(собирается ли он что-либо предпринять против Дона Корлеоне: «наступить на

пальцы ног»). After waiting for two months with nothing else happening, Luca reported

to the Don that obviously Sollozzo was taking his defeat graciously (gracious ['greı∫∂s] –

милостивый; любезный, обходительный, вежливый). The Don had told him to keep

trying but merely as a sideline, not to press it.

6 Luca had dropped into the nightclub the evening before Don Corleone's being shot.

Almost immediately Bruno Tattaglia had come to his table and sat down.

7 "I have a friend who wants to talk to you," he said.

8 "Bring him over," Luca said. "I'll talk to any friend of yours."

9 "No," Bruno said. "He wants to see you in private."

10 "Who is he?" Luca asked.

 

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11 "Just a friend of mine," Bruno Tattaglia said. "He wants to put a proposition to you.

Can you meet him later on tonight?"

12 "Sure," Luca said. "What time and where?"

13 Tattaglia said softly, "The club closes at four in the morning. Why don't you meet in

here while the waiters are cleaning up?"

14 They knew his habits (привычки ['hжbıt]), Luca thought, they must have been

checking him out (они, должно быть, следили за ним, выслеживали его). He usually

got up about three or four in the afternoon and had breakfast, then amused himself by

gambling with cronies in the Family (crony – закадычный друг, дружок) or had a girl.

Sometimes he saw one of the midnight movies and then would drop in for a drink at one

of the clubs. He never went to bed before dawn. So the suggestion (предложение) of a

four A.M. meeting was not as outlandish (странным, диковинным: «заморским») as it

seemed.

15 "Sure, sure," he said. "I'll be back at four." He left the club and caught a cab to his

furnished room on Tenth Avenue. He boarded (проживал; board – обеденный,

накрытый стол; board – столоваться, проживать /за плату/) with an Italian family to

which he was distantly related (в отдаленном родстве). His two rooms were separated

from the rest of their railroad flat by a special door. He liked the arrangement (этот

порядок, такое устройство, положение вещей) because it gave him some family life

and also protection against surprise where he was most vulnerable.

16 The sly Turkish fox was going to show his bushy tail (хитрая лиса покажет свой

пышный хвост), Luca thought. If things went far enough, if Sollozzo committed himself

tonight (раскроется, выдаст себя; to commit – совершать /выходящее за какие-либо

рамки действие/; вверять; компрометировать), maybe the whole thing could be

wound up as a Christmas present for the Don. In his room, Luca unlocked the trunk

(сундук) beneath the bed and took out a bulletproof vest (пуленепробиваемый жилет).

It was heavy. He undressed and put it on over his woolen underwear, then put his shirt

and jacket over it. He thought for a moment of calling the Don's house at Long Beach to

tell him of this new development but he knew the Don never talked over the phone, to

anyone, and the Don had given him this assignment (задание: «назначение»

[∂'saınm∂nt]) in secret and so did not want anyone, not even Hagen or his eldest son, to

know about it.

17 Luca always carried a gun. He had a license to carry a gun, probably the most

expensive gun license ever issued anyplace, anytime (to issue [‘ı∫u:], [‘ısju:] – исходить,

вытекать; выдавать). It had cost a total of ten thousand dollars but it would keep him

 

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out of jail if he was frisked by the cops (to frisk – скакать, прыгать; обыскивать /в

поисках оружия – сленг/). As a top executive operating official of the Family he rated

the license (заслуживал, удостоился). But tonight, just in case he could finish off the

job, he wanted a "safe" gun. One that could not possibly be traced. But then thinking the

matter over, he decided that he would just listen to the proposition tonight and report

back to the Godfather, Don Corleone.

18 He made his way back to the club but he did not drink any more. Instead he

wandered out to 48th Street, where he had a leisurely (неспешный; leisure [‘leG∂] –

досуг, свободное время) late supper at Patsy's, his favorite Italian restaurant. When it

was time for his appointment (для назначенной встречи) he drifted uptown (неспешно

отправился в жилые кварталы /из центра/; to drift – сносить течением) to the club

entrance. The doorman was no longer there when he went in. The hatcheck girl

(гардеробщица) was gone. Only Bruno Tattaglia waited to greet him and lead him to

the deserted bar at the side of the room. Before him he could see the desert of small

tables with the polished yellow wood dance floor gleaming like a small diamond in the

middle of them. In the shadows was the empty bandstand, out of it grew the skeleton

metal stalk (стебель) of a microphone.

19 Luca sat at the bar and Bruno Tattaglia went behind it. Luca refused the drink

offered to him and lit a cigarette. It was possible that this would turn out to be something

else, not the Turk. But then he saw Sollozzo emerge out of the shadows (как появился,

возник) at the far end of the room.

20 Sollozzo shook his hand and sat at the bar next to him. Tattaglia put a glass in front

of the Turk, who nodded his thanks. "Do you know who I am?" asked Sollozzo.

21 Luca nodded. He smiled grimly. The rats were being flushed out of their holes. It

would be his pleasure to take care of this renegade Sicilian.

22 "Do you know what I am going to ask of you?" Sollozzo asked.

23 Luca shook his head.

24 "There's big business to be made," Sollozzo said. "I mean millions for everybody at

the top level. On the first shipment I can guarantee you fifty thousand dollars. I'm talking

about drugs. It's the coming thing."

25 Luca said, "Why come to me? You want me to talk to my Don?"

26 Sollozzo grimaced. "I've already talked to the Don. He wants no part of it. All right, I

can do without him. But I need somebody strong to protect the operation physically. I

understand you're not happy with your Family, you might make a switch (перейти к нам:

«сделать переключение»)."

 

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27 Luca shrugged. "If the offer is good enough."

28 Sollozzo had been watching him intently and seemed to have come to a decision

(принял решение). "Think about my offer for a few days and then we'll talk again," he

said. He put out his hand but Luca pretended not to see it and busied himself putting a

cigarette in his mouth. Behind the bar, Bruno Tattaglia made a lighter (зажигалку)

appear magically and held it to Luca's cigarette. And then he did a strange thing. He

dropped the lighter on the bar and grabbed Luca's right hand, holding it tight.

29 Luca reacted instantly, his body slipping off the bar stool and trying to twist away

(вывернуться). But Sollozzo had grabbed his other hand at the wrist (схватил у

запястья). Still, Luca was too strong for both of them and would have broken free

except that a man stepped out of the shadows behind him and threw a thin silken cord

around his neck. The cord pulled tight, choking off Luca's breath (to choke – душить).

His face became purple, the strength in his arms drained away (to drain – осушать,

делать дренаж; истощать, выкачивать). Tattaglia and Sollozzo held his hands easily

now, and they stood there curiously childlike as the man behind Luca pulled the cord

around Luca's neck tighter and tighter. Suddenly the floor was wet and slippery. Luca's

sphincter, no longer under control, opened, the waste («отходы, отбросы») of his body

spilled out (пролились). There was no strength in him anymore and his legs folded

(подогнулись; to fold – складывать/ся/), his body sagged. Sollozzo and Tattaglia let

his hands go and only the strangler stayed with the victim (удушитель остался с

жертвой; to strangle – задушить), sinking to his knees to follow Luca's falling body,

drawing the cord so tight that it cut into the flesh of the neck and disappeared. Luca's

eyes were bulging out of his head (вылезли: «выпятились») as if in the utmost surprise

(словно от крайнего удивления) and this surprise was the only humanity remaining to

him. He was dead.

30 "I don't want him found," Sollozzo said. "It's important that he not be found right

now" He turned on his heel and left, disappearing back into the shadows.