course the one thing more fatal than any other was to earn the Don's displeasure.
He heard tires on gravel. His practiced ear told him a car was coming through the
narrow driveway and parking in the back yard. He opened the rear door to let them in.
The huge fat man, Clemenza, entered, followed by two very rough-looking young
fellows. They searched the rooms without saying a word to Bonasera, then Clemenza
went out. The two young men remained with the undertaker.
A few moments later Bonasera recognized the sound of a heavy ambulance coming
through the narrow driveway. Then Clemenza appeared in the doorway followed by two
men carrying a stretcher (носилки; to stretch – растягивать/ся/, вытягивать/ся/). And
Amerigo Bonasera's worst fears were realized. On the stretcher was a corpse swaddled
(to swaddle – пеленать, свивать /младенца/) in a gray blanket but with bare yellow
feet sticking out the end.
Clemenza motioned the stretcher-bearers into the embalming room. And then from
the blackness of the yard another man stepped into the lighted office room. It was Don
Corleone.
The Don had lost weight during his illness and moved with a curious stiffness. He was
holding his hat in his hands and his hair seemed thin over his massive skull. He looked
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older, more shrunken than when Bonasera had seen him at the wedding, but he still
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radiated power. Holding his hat against his chest, he said to Bonasera, "Well, old friend,
are you ready to do me this service?"
Bonasera nodded. The Don followed the stretcher into the embalming room and
Bonasera trailed after him. The corpse was on one of the guttered (gutter –
водосточный желоб, сточная канавка) tables. Don Corleone made a tiny gesture with
his hat and the other men left the room.
Bonasera whispered, "What do you wish me to do?"
Don Corleone was staring at the table. "I want you to use all your powers, all your skill,
as you love me," he said. "I do not wish his mother to see him as he is." He went to the
table and drew down the gray blanket. Amerigo Bonasera against all his will, against all
his years of training and experience, let out a gasp of horror. On the embalming table
was the bullet-smashed face of Sonny Corleone. The left eye drowned in blood had a
star fracture (трещина, излом, разрыв) in its lens (линза; хрусталик глаза). The
bridge of his nose and left cheekbone were hammered into pulp.
For one fraction of a second the Don put out his hand to support himself against
Bonasera's body. "See how they have massacred my son," he said.
Chapter 19
Perhaps it was the stalemate that made Sonny Corleone embark on the bloody
course of attrition (трение, изнашивание от трения; истощение, изнурение) that
ended in his own death. Perhaps it was his dark violent nature given full rein. In any
case, that spring and summer he mounted senseless raids on enemy auxiliaries
(auxiliary [o:g’zılj∂rı] – вспомогательный; помощник). Tattaglia Family pimps (pimp –
сводник, сутенер) were shot to death in Harlem, dock goons (goon – головорез,
наемный бандит) were massacred. Union officials who owed allegiance to the Five
Families were warned to stay neutral, and when the Corleone bookmakers and shylocks
were still barred from the docks, Sonny sent Clemenza and his regime to wreak (давать
выход, волю чувству [ri:k], to wreak vengeance upon one’s enemy – отомстить врагу)
havoc (опустошение, разрушение ['hжv∂k]) upon the long shore.
This slaughter was senseless because it could not affect the outcome of the war.
Sonny was a brilliant tactician and won his brilliant victories. But what was needed was
the strategical genius of Don Corleone. The whole thing degenerated into such a deadly
guerrilla war that both sides found themselves losing a great deal of revenue and lives
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to no purpose. The Corleone Family was finally forced to close down some of its most
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profitable bookmaking stations, including the book given to son-in-law Carlo Rizzi for his
living. Carlo took to drink and running with chorus girls and giving his wife Connie a hard
time. Since his beating at the hands of Sonny he had not dared to hit his wife again but
he had not slept with her. Connie had thrown herself at his feet and he had spurned her,
as he thought, like a Roman, with exquisite patrician pleasure. He had sneered at her,
"Go call your brother and tell him I won't screw you, maybe he'll beat me up until I get a
hard on (эрекция)."
But he was in deadly fear of Sonny though they treated each other with cold
politeness. Carlo had the sense to realize that Sonny would kill him, that Sonny was a
man who could, with the naturalness of an animal, kill another man, while he himself
would have to call up all his courage, aIl his will, to commit murder. It never occurred to
Carlo that because of this he was a better man than Sonny Corleone, if such terms
could be used; he envied Sonny his awesome savagery, a savagery which was now
becoming a legend.
Tom Hagen, as the Consigliori, disapproved of Sonny's tactics and yet decided not to
protest to the Don simply because the tactics, to some extent, worked. The Five
Families seemed to be cowed (to cow – запугивать, усмирять), finally, as the attrition
went on, and their counterblows weakened and finally ceased altogether. Hagen at first
distrusted this seeming pacification of the enemy but Sonny was jubilant (ликующий,
торжествующий ['dGu:bıl∂nt]). "I'll pour it on," he told Hagen, "and then those bastards
will come begging for a deal."
Sonny was worried about other things. His wife was giving him a hard time because
the rumors had gotten to her that Lucy Mancini had bewitched her husband. And though
she joked publicly about her Sonny's equipment and technique, he had stayed away
from her too long and she missed him in her bed, and she was making life miserable for
him with her nagging.
In addition to this Sonny was under the enormous strain of being a marked man. He
had to be extraordinarily careful in all his movements and he knew that his visits to Lucy
Mancini had been charted by the enemy. But here he took elaborate precautions since
this was the traditional vulnerable spot. He was safe there. Though Lucy had not the
slightest suspicion, she was watched twenty-four hours a day by men of the Santino
regime and when an apartment became vacant on her floor it was immediately rented
by one of the most reliable men of that regime.
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The Don was recovering and would soon be able to resume command. At that time
the tide of battle must swing to the Corleone Family. This Sonny was sure of.
Meanwhile he would guard his Family's empire, earn the respect of his father, and,
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since the position was not hereditary to an absolute degree, cement his claim as heir to
the Corleone Empire.
But the enemy was making its plans. They too had analyzed the situation and had
come to the conclusion that the only way to stave off (предотвратить, отсрочить
/бедствие/; stave – палка, шест) complete defeat was to kill Sonny Corleone. They
understood the situation better now and felt it was possible to negotiate with the Don,
known for his logical reasonableness. They had come to hate Sonny for his
bloodthirstiness, which they considered barbaric. Also not good business sense.
Nobody wanted the old days back again with all its turmoil (суматоха, беспорядок
['t∂:moıl]) and trouble.
One evening Connie Corleone received an anonymous phone call, a girl's voice,
asking for Carlo. "Who is this?" Connie asked.
The girl on the other end giggled and said, "I'm a friend of Carlo's. I just wanted to tell
him I can't see him tonight. I have to go out of town."
"You lousy bitch," Connie Corleone said. She screamed it again into the phone. "You
lousy tramp bitch." There was a click on the other end.
Carlo had gone to the track for that afternoon and when he came home in the late
evening he was sore at losing and half drunk from the bottle he always carried. As soon
as he stepped into the door, Connie started screaming curses at him. He ignored her
and went in to take a shower. When he came out he dried his naked body in front of her
and started dolling up (to doll up – наряжать/ся/; doll – кукла) to go out.
Connie stood with hands on hips, her face pointy (заостренный) and white with rage.
"You're not going any place," she said. "Your girl friend called and said she can't make it
tonight. You lousy bastard, you have the nerve to give your whores my phone number.
I'll kill you, you bastard." She rushed at him, kicking and scratching.
He held her off with one muscular forearm. "You're crazy," he said coldly. But she
could see he was worried, as if he knew the crazy girl he was screwing would actually
pull such a stunt (удачное, эффектное выступление; штука, трюк, фокус). "She was
kidding around, some nut," Carlo said.
Connie ducked (to duck – нырять, увертываться; duck – утка) around his arm and
clawed (to claw – царапать; claw – коготь) at his face. She got a little bit of his cheek