The Godfather / Крестный отец. Марио Пьюзо

for a leader of men, and he was not expected to inherit the family business.

      The third son, Michael Corleone, did not stand with his father and his two brothers but sat at a table in the corner of the garden. But even there he could not escape the attentions of the family friends.

      Michael Corleone was the youngest son of the Don and the only child who had refused the great man’s direction. He did not have the heavy, Cupid-shaped face of the other children, and his jet black hair was straight rather than curly. He was handsome in a delicate way.

      Now this youngest son sat in the corner of the garden to demonstrate his separation from father and family. Beside him sat the American girl everyone had heard about but whom no one had seen until this day. He had, of course, shown the proper respect and introduced her to everyone at the wedding, including his family. They were not impressed with her. She was too thin, she was too fair, her face was too intelligent for a woman, her manner too free for a maiden. Her name, too, was outlandish to their ears; she called herself Kay Adams. Every guest noticed that the Don paid no particular attention to this third son. Michael had been his favorite before the war and obviously the chosen heir to run the family business when the proper moment came. He had all the quiet force and intelligence of his great father. But when World War II began, Michael Corleone volunteered for the Marine Corps[21].

      Don Corleone had no desire of letting his youngest son be killed in the service. Doctors had been bribed, secret arrangements had been made, a great deal of money had been spent. But Michael was twenty-one years of age and nothing could be done against his own will. He became a Captain and won medals. In 1944, when his picture was printed in Life magazine, the Don had sighed and said, “He performs those miracles for strangers.”

      When Michael Corleone was discharged early in 1945 because of his wound, he stayed home for a few weeks, then, without consulting anyone, entered Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and so he left his father’s house.

      Michael Corleone was amusing Kay Adams by telling her little stories about some of the more colorful wedding guests. Finally her attention was caught by a small group of men. The men were Amerigo Bonasera, Nazorine the Baker, Anthony Coppola and Luca Brasi. She noticed that these four men did not seem particularly happy. Michael smiled. “No, they’re not,” he said. “They’re waiting to see my father in private. They have favors to ask.[22]”

      There were, now, hundreds of guests in the huge garden, some dancing on the wooden platform decorated with flowers, others sitting at long tables with spicy food and jugs of homemade wine. The bride, Connie Corleone, sat at a special raised table with her groom. It was a rustic setting[23] in the old Italian style. Not to the bride’s taste, but Connie had agreed to a “guinea[24]” wedding to please her father because she had so displeased him in her choice of a husband.

      The groom, Carlo Rizzi, was born of a Sicilian father and the North Italian mother from whom he had inherited his blond hair and blue eyes. His parents lived in Nevada and Carlo had left that state because of a little trouble with the law. In New York he met Sonny Corleone and so met the sister. Don Corleone, of course, sent trusted friends to Nevada and they reported that Carlo’s police trouble was not serious. They also came back with detailed information on legal gambling in Nevada which greatly interested the Don who profited from everything.

      Connie Corleone was a not quite pretty girl, thin and nervous and certain to become shrewish later in life. But today, transformed by her white bridal gown and eager virginity, she was so radiant as to be almost beautiful.

      She thought Carlo incredibly handsome. He filled her glass with wine. He was courteous to her as if they were both actors in a play. But he kept looking toward the huge silk purse the bride wore on her right shoulder and which was now stuffed full of money envelopes. Carlo Rizzi smiled. It was only the beginning. He had, after all, married into a royal family. They would have to take care of him.[25]

      Peter Clemenza was rotating young girls around the wooden dance floor in a rustic Tarantella. Immensely tall, immensely huge, he danced with such skill, his hard belly bumping the breasts of younger, tinier women, that all the guests were applauding him. When Clemenza finally collapsed in a chair, Paulie Gatto brought him a glass of icy wine and wiped the perspiring brow of his boss with his silk handkerchief[26]. But instead of thanking Paulie Clemenza said, “Do your job. Take a walk around the neighborhood and see everything is OK.”

      The band took a refreshment break.[27] A young man named Nino Valenti picked up a mandolin, put his left foot up on a chair and began to sing a Sicilian love song. His face was handsome though bloated by continual drinking and he was already a little drunk. The women shrieked with joy and the men shouted the last word of each stanza with the singer.

      Sonny Corleone made his way to the bride’s table and sat down beside young Lucy Mancini, the maid of honor.

      They were safe. His wife was in the kitchen putting the last touches on the serving of the wedding cake. Sonny whispered a few words in the young girl’s ear and she rose. Sonny waited a few minutes and then casually followed her.

      All eyes followed them. The maid of honor, Americanized by three years of college, was a ripe girl who already had a “reputation”. Now holding her pink gown up off the ground, Lucy Mancini went into the house, smiling with false innocence, ran lightly up the stairs to the bathroom. She stayed there for a few moments. When she came out Sonny Corleone was on the landing above, beckoning her upward.

      From behind the closed window of Don Corleone’s “ofcif e”, Thomas Hagen watched the wedding party. The walls behind him were filled with law books. Hagen was the Don’s lawyer and acting Consigliere, or counselor, and as such held the most vital subordinate position in the family business. He and the Don had solved many problems in this room, and so when he saw the Godfather leave the festivities and enter the house, he knew there would be a little work this day. Then Hagen saw Sonny Corleone whisper in Lucy Mancini’s ear and their little comedy as he followed her into the house. He went to the desk and picked up a handwritten list of the people who had been granted permission to see Don Corleone privately. When the Don entered the room, Hagen handed him the list. Don Corleone nodded and said, “Leave Bonasera to the end.”

      Hagen went directly out into the garden and pointed to the baker, Nazorine.

      Don Corleone greeted the baker with an embrace. They had played together as children in Italy and had grown up in friendship. Every Easter freshly baked pies arrived at Don Corleone’s home. On Christmas, on family birthdays, rich creamy pastries showed the Nazorines’ respect. Now the time had come for the baker to ask for his rights as a loyal friend, and Don Corleone looked forward with great pleasure to meeting his request.

      He gave the baker a Di Nobili cigar and a glass of yellow Strega[28] and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. He knew from bitter experience what courage it took to ask a favor from a fellow man.

      The baker told the story of his daughter and Enzo. Only Godfather Corleone could help this loving couple. He was their last hope.

      The Don walked Nazorine up and down the room, his hand on the baker’s shoulder, his head nodding with understanding to keep up the man’s courage. When the baker had finished, Don Corleone smiled at him and said, “My dear friend, put all your worries aside.” He went on to explain very carefully what must be done. The Congressman of the district must be petitioned. The Congressman

21

морская пехота

22

Они все с прошениями.

23

простая, сельская обстановка

24

прозвище итальянских эмигрантов

25

Им придётся о нём позаботиться.

26

промокнул потный лоб босса шёлковым платком

27

Оркестр ушёл на перерыв.

28

разновидность итальянского ликёра