Английский язык с Крестным Отцом
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some legal protection in the East. It was understood that the Barzini and Tattaglia
Families would do most of the large-scale operations. With this out of the way the
conference was able to move on to other matters of a wider interest. There were many
complex problems to be solved. It was agreed that Las Vegas and Miami were to be
open cities where any of the Families could operate. They all recognized that these
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were the cities of the future. It was also agreed that no violence would be permitted in
these cities and that petty (мелкий,
discouraged. It was agreed that in momentous affairs, in executions that were
necessary but might cause too much of a public outcry, the execution must be approved
by this council. It was agreed that button men and other soldiers were to be restrained
from violent crimes and acts of vengeance against each other on personal matters. It
was agreed that Families would do each other services when requested, such as
providing executioners, technical assistance in pursuing certain courses of action such
as bribing jurors (juror ['dGur] – присяжный), which in some instances could be vital.
These discussions, informal, colloquial and on a high level, took time and were broken
by lunch and drinks from the buffet bar.
Finally Don Barzini sought to bring the meeting to an end. "That's the whole matter
then," he said. "We have the peace and let me pay my respects to Don Corleone, whom
we all have known over the years as a man of his word. If there are any more
differences we can meet again, we need not become foolish again. On my part the road
is new and fresh. I'm glad this is all settled."
Only Phillip Tattaglia was a little worried still. The murder of Santino Corleone made
him the most vulnerable person in this group if war broke out again. He spoke at length
for the first time.
"I've agreed to everything here, I'm willing to forget my own misfortune. But I would
like to hear some strict assurances from Corleone. Will he attempt any individual
vengeance? When time goes by and his position perhaps becomes stronger, will he
forget that we have sworn our friendship? How am I to know that in three or four years
he won't feel that he's been ill served, forced against his will to this agreement and so
free to break it? Will we have to guard against each other all the time? Or can we truly
go in peace with peace of mind? Would Corleone give us all his assurances as I now
give mine?"
It was then that Don Corleone gave the speech that would be long remembered, and
that reaffirmed his position as the most far-seeing statesman among them, so full of
common sense, so direct from the heart; and to the heart of the matter. In it he coined a
phrase that was to become as famous in its way as Churchill's Iron Curtain, though not
public knowledge until more than ten years later.
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For the first time he stood up to address the council. He was short and a little thin from
his "illness," perhaps his sixty years showed a bit more but there was no question that
he had regained all his former strength, and had all his wits.
"What manner of men are we then, if we do not have our reason," he said. "We are all
no better than beasts in a jungle if that were the case. But we have reason, we can
reason with each other and we can reason with ourselves. To what purpose would I
start all these troubles again, the violence and the turmoil? My son is dead and that is a
misfortune and I must bear it, not make the innocent world around me suffer with me.
And so I say, I give my honor, that I will never seek vengeance, I will never seek
knowledge of the deeds that have been done in the past. I will leave here with a pure
heart.
"Let me say that we must always look to our interests. We are all men who have
refused to be fools, who have refused to be puppets dancing on a string pulled by the
men on high. We have been fortunate here in this country. Already most of our children
have found a better life. Some of you have sons who are professors, scientists,
musicians, and you are fortunate. Perhaps your grandchildren will become the new
pezzonovanti. None of us here want to see our children follow in our footsteps, it's too
hard a life. They can be as others, their position and security won by our courage. I
have grandchildren now and I hope their children may someday, who knows, be a
governor, a President, nothing's impossible here in America. But we have to progress
with the times. The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. We have to be
cunning like the business people, there's more money in it and it's better for our children
and our grandchildren.
"As for our own deeds, we are not responsible to the .90 calibers, the pezzonovantis
who take it upon themselves to decide what we shall do with our lives, who declare
wars they wish us to fight in to protect what they own. Who is to say we should obey the
laws they make for their own interest and to our hurt? And who are they then to meddle
when we look after our own interests? Sonna cosa nostra," Don Corleone said, "these
are our own affairs. We will manage our world for ourselves because it is our world,
cosa nostra. And so we have to stick together to guard against outside meddlers.
Otherwise they will put the ring in our nose as they have put the ring in the nose of all