Английский язык с Крестным Отцом

Франк Илья

"How'd she take it?" Michael asked.

"Good," Sonny said. "She's been through it before. Me too. You were too young to know about it and then things got pretty smooth while you were growing up." He paused and then said, "She's down at the hospital with the old man. He's gonna pull through (выкарабкается)."

"How about us going down (съездить туда /в центр города/)?" Michael asked.

Sonny shook his head and said dryly, "I can't leave this house until it's all over." The phone rang. Sonny picked it up and listened intently (внимательно, сосредоточенно). While he was listening Michael sauntered over to the desk (медленно прошел; to saunter [‘so:nt] – медленно гулять, прохаживаться) and glanced down at the yellow pad Sonny had been writing on. There was a list of seven names. The first three were Sollozzo, Phillip Tattaglia, and John Tattaglia. It struck Michael with full force that he had interrupted Sonny and Tessio as they were making up a list of men to be killed.

When Sonny hung up the phone he said to Theresa Hagen and Michael, "Can you two wait outside? I got some business with Tessio we have to finish."

Hagen's wife said, "Was that call about Tom?" She said it almost truculently (truculent [‘trLkjulnt] –

жестокий, свирепый; грубый, вызывающий) but she was weeping with fright. Sonny put his arm around her and led her to the door. "I swear he's going to be OK," he said. "Wait in the living room. I'll come out as soon as I hear something." He shut the door behind her. Michael had sat down in one of the big leather armchairs. Sonny gave him a quick sharp look and then went to sit down behind the desk.

"You hang around me (держись возле меня), Mike," he said, "you're gonna hear things you don't wanta hear."

Michael lit a cigarette. "I can help out," he said.

"No, you can't," Sonny said. "The old man would be sore as hell (чертовски раздражен, разозлен) if I let you get mixed up in this (позволю тебе быть замешанным в этом, втяну тебя в это)."

Michael stood up and yelled. "You lousy bastard, he's my father. I'm not supposed to help him? I can help. I don't have to go out and kill people but I can help. Stop treating me like a kid brother. I was in the war. I got shot (меня подстрелили = я был ранен), remember? I killed some Japs (япошек). What the hell do you think I'll do when you knock somebody off? Faint (упаду в обморок)?"

Sonny grinned at him. "Pretty soon you'll want me to put up my dukes (поднять руки /приняв боксерскую стойку/; dukes – кулаки /сленг/). OK, stick around, you can handle the phone." He turned to Tessio. "That call I just got gave me dope (подсказку, информацию) we needed." He turned to Michael. "Somebody had to finger the old man (должен был указать = подставить). It could have been Clemenza, it could have been Paulie Gatto, who was very conveniently sick today (convenient [kn’vi:njnt] – удобный, подходящий). I know the answer now, let's see how smart you are, Mike, you're the college boy. Who sold out to Sollozzo?"

Michael sat down again and relaxed back into the leather armchair. He thought everything over very carefully. Clemenza was a caporegime in the Corleone Family structure. Don Corleone had made him a millionaire and they had been intimate friends for over twenty years. He held one of the most powerful posts in the organization. What could Clemenza gain for betraying his Don? More money? He was rich enough but then men are always greedy. More power? Revenge for some fancied insult or slight (месть за какое-нибудь воображаемое, надуманное оскорбление или проявление пренебрежительности; to fancy – воображать, представлять себе)? That Hagen had been made the Consigliori? Or perhaps a businessman's conviction (убеждение) that Sollozzo would win out? No, it was impossible for Clemenza to be a traitor, and then Michael thought sadly it was only impossible because he didn't want Clemenza to die. The fat man had always brought him gifts when he was growing up, had sometimes taken him on outings (загородные

прогулки) when the Don had been too busy. He could not believe that Clemenza was guilty of treachery (виновен в предательстве; treachery [‘tretri] – вероломство, измена).

But, on the other hand, Sollozzo would want Clemenza in his pocket more than any other man in the Corleone Family.

Michael thought about Paulie Gatto. Paulie as yet had not become rich. He was well thought of (о нем хорошо позаботились), his rise in the organization was certain but he would have to put in his time like everybody else. Also he would have wilder dreams of power, as the young always do. It had to be Paulie. And then Michael remembered that in the sixth grade (в шестом классе) he and Paulie had been in the same class in school and he didn't want it to be Paulie either.

He shook his head. "Neither one of them," he said. But he said it only because Sonny had said he had the answer. If it had been a vote (голосование), he would have voted Paulie guilty.

Sonny was smiling at him. "Don't worry," he said. "Clemenza is OK. It's Paulie."

Michael could see that Tessio was relieved. As a fellow caporegime his sympathy would be with Clemenza. Also the present situation was not so serious if treachery did not reach so high. Tessio said cautiously (cautious ['ko:s] – осторожный), "Then I can send my people home tomorrow?"

Sonny said, "The day after tomorrow. I don't want anybody to know about this until then. Listen, I want to talk some family business with my brother, personal. Wait out in the living room, eh? We can finish our list later. You and Clemenza will work together on it."

"Sure," Tessio said. He went out.

"How do you know for sure it's Paulie?" Michael asked.

Sonny said, "We have people in the telephone company and they tracked down (проследили, восстановили) all of Paulie's phone calls in and out Clemenza's too. On the three days Paulie was sick this month he got a call from a street booth across from the old man's building. Today too. They were checking to see if Paulie was coming down or somebody was being sent down to take his place. Or for some other reason. It doesn't matter." Sonny shrugged. "Thank God it was Paulie. We'll need Clemenza bad (он нам очень будет нужен)."

Michael asked hesitantly (hesitant [‘hezitnt] – колеблющийся, нерешительный, сомневающийся), "Is it going to be an all-out war?"

Sonny's eyes were hard. "That's how I'm going to play it as soon as Tom checks in. Until the old man tells me different."

Michael asked, "So why don't you wait until the old man can tell you?"

Sonny looked at him curiously. "How the hell did you win those combat medals (боевые медали; combat [‘kombt] – бой, сражение)? We are under the gun, man, we gotta fight. I'm just afraid they won't let Tom go."

Michael was surprised at this. "Why not?"

Again Sonny's voice was patient "They snatched Tom because they figured the old man was finished and they could make a deal with me and Tom would be the sit-down guy in the preliminary stages (парень для переговоров на предварительных стадиях [pri'liminri]), carry the proposition. Now with the old man alive they know I can't make a deal so Tom's no good to them. They can turn him loose or dump him (прикончить /сленг/; dump – мусорная куча, отвал /земли, руды/; to dump – выгружать, сваливать), depending how Sollozzo feels. If they dump him, it would be just to show us they really mean business, trying to bulldoze us (запугать; to bulldoze [‘bulduz] – разбивать крупные куски /руды/; расчищать при помощи бульдозера; запугивать, шантажировать /сленг/)."