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way to the table. Their aides sat behind them, the Consiglioris up close so that they

could offer any advice when needed.

Don Corleone was the first to speak and he spoke as if nothing had happened. As if

he had not been grievously wounded and his eldest son slain (to slay-slew-slain –

убивать /книжн./), his empire in a shambles (в развалинах, руинах), his personal

family scattered, Freddie in the West and under the protection of the Molinari Family

and Michael secreted in the wastelands (пустынные, невозделанные земли) of Sicily.

He spoke naturally, in Sicilian dialect.

"I want to thank you all for coming," he said. "I consider it a service done to me

personally and I am in the debt of each and every one of you. And so I will say at the

beginning that. I am here not to quarrel or convince, but only to reason and as a

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reasonable man do everything possible for us all to part friends here too. I give my word

on that, and some of you who know me well know I do not give my word lightly. Ah, well,

let's get down to business. We are all honorable men here, we don't have to give each

other assurances as if we were lawyers."

He paused. None of the others spoke. Some were smoking cigars, others sipping their

drinks. All of these men were good listeners, patient men. They had one other thing in

common. They were those rarities, men who had refused to accept the rule of organized

society, men who refused the dominion of other men. There was no force, no mortal

man who could bend them to their will unless they wished it. They were men who

guarded their free will with wiles (wile – хитрость, уловка, обман) and murder. Their

wills could be subverted (to suvert [sΛb’v∂:t] – ниспровергнуть; разрушить) only by

death. Or the utmost reasonableness.

Don Corleone sighed. "How did things ever go so far?" he asked rhetorically. "Well, no

matter. A lot of foolishness has come to pass. It was so unfortunate, so unnecessary.

But let me tell what happened, as I see it."

He paused to see if someone would object to his telling his side of the story.

"Thank God my health has been restored and maybe I can help set this affair aright.

Perhaps my son was too rash, too headstrong, I don't say no to that. Anyway let me just

say that Sollozzo came to me with a business affair in which he asked me for my money

and my influence. He said he had the interest of the Tattaglia Family. The affair involved

drugs, in which I have no interest. I'm a quiet man and such endeavors (endeavor

[ın'dev∂] – попытка, старание, стремление) are too lively for my taste. I explained this

to Sollozzo, with all respect for him and the Tattaglia Family. I gave him my 'no' with all

courtesy. I told him his business would not interfere with mine, that I had no objection to

his earning his living in this fashion. He took it ill and brought misfortune down on all our

heads. Well, that's life. Everyone here could tell his own tale of sorrow. That's not to my

purpose."

Don Corleone paused and motioned to Hagen for a cold drink, which Hagen swiftly

furnished him. Don Corleone wet his mouth. "I'm willing to make the peace," he said.

"Tattaglia has lost a son, I have lost a son. We are quits. What would the world come to

if people kept carrying grudges against all reason? That has been the cross of Sicily,

where men are so busy with vendettas they have no time to earn bread for their families.

It's foolishness. So I say now, let things be as they were before. I have not taken any

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steps to learn who betrayed and killed my son. Given peace, I will not do so. I have a

son who cannot come home and I must receive assurances that when I arrange matters

so that he can return safely that there will be no interference, no danger from the

authorities. Once that's settled maybe we can talk about other matters that interest us

and do ourselves, all of us, a profitable service today." Corleone gestured expressively,

submissively, with his hands. "That is all I want."

It was very well done. It was the Don Corleone of old. Reasonable. Pliant (гибкий,

податливый, уступчивый; to ply – сгибать, делать складку). Soft-spoken. But every

man there had noted that he had claimed good health, which meant he was a man not

to be held cheaply despite the misfortunes of the Corleone Family. It was noted that he

had said the discussion of other business was useless until the peace he asked for was

given. It was noted that he had asked for the old status quo, that he would lose nothing

despite his having got the worst of it over the past year. However, it was Emilio Barzini

who answered Don Corleone, not Tattaglia. He was curt and to the point without being

rude or insulting.

"That is all true enough," Barzini said. "But there's a little more. Don Corleone is too

modest. The fact is that Sollozzo and the Tattaglias could not go into their new business

without the assistance of Don Corleone. In fact, his disapproval injured them. That's not

his fault of course. The fact remains that judges and politicians who would accept favors

from Don Corleone, even on drugs, would not allow themselves to be influenced by

anybody else when it came to narcotics. Sollozzo couldn't operate if he didn't have

some insurance of his people being treated gently. We all know that. We would all be

poor men otherwise. And now that they have increased the penalties the judges and the

prosecuting attorneys drive a hard bargain when one of our people get in trouble with

narcotics. Even a Sicilian sentenced to twenty years might break the omerta and talk his

brains out. That can't happen. Don Corleone controls all that apparatus. His refusal to

let us use it is not the act of a friend. He takes the bread out of the mouths of our

families. Times have changed, it's not like the old days where everyone can go his own

way. If Corleone had all the judges in New York, then he must share them or let us

others use them. Certainly he can present a bill for such services, we're not communists,

after all. But he has to let us draw water from the well. It's that simple."

When Barzini had finished talking there was a silence. The lines were now drawn,

there could be no return to the old status quo. What was more important was that

Barzini by speaking out was saying that if peace was not made he would openly join the

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Tattaglia in their war against the Corleone. And he had scored a telling point. Their lives

and their fortunes depended upon their doing each other services, the denial of a favor

asked by a friend was an act of aggression. Favors were not asked lightly and so could

not be lightly refused.

Don Corleone finally spoke to answer. "My friends," he said, "I didn't refuse out of

spite (назло, со злобы, с досады). You all know me. When have I ever refused an

accommodation (согласование, соглашение, компромисс)? That's simply not in my

nature. But I had to refuse this time. Why? Because I think this drug business will

destroy us in the years to come. There is too much strong feeling about such traffic in

this country. It's not like whiskey or gambling or even women which most people want

and is forbidden them by the pezzonovante of the church and the government. But

drugs are dangerous for everyone connected with them. It could jeopardize

(подвергнуть риску) all other business. And let me say I'm flattered by the belief that I

am so powerful with the judges and law officials, I wish it were true. I do have some

influence but many of the people who respect my counsel might lose this respect if

drugs become involved in our relationship. They are afraid to be involved in such

business and they have strong feelings about it. Even policemen who help us in

gambling and other things would refuse to help us in drugs. So to ask me to perform a

service in these matters is to ask me to do a disservice to myself. But I'm willing to do

even that if all of you think it proper in order to adjust other matters."

When Don Corleone had finished speaking the room became much more relaxed with

more whisperings and cross talk. He had conceded (to concede – уступать; допускать

/возможность, правильность чего-либо/ [k∂n'si:d]) the important point. He would offer

his protection to any organized business venture in drugs. He was, in effect, agreeing

almost entirely to Sollozzo's original proposal if that proposal was endorsed (to endorse

[ın’do:s] – расписываться на обороте документа; подтверждать, одобрять) by the

national group gathered here. It was understood that he would never participate in the

operational phase, nor would he invest his money. He would merely use his protective

influence with the legal apparatus. But this was a formidable concession.

The Don of Los Angeles, Frank Falcone, spoke to answer. "There's no way of

stopping our people from going into that business. They go in on their own and they get

in trouble. There's too much money in it to resist. So it's more dangerous if we don't go

in. At least if we control it we can cover it better, organize it better, make sure it causes

less trouble. Being in it is not so bad, there has to be control, there has to be protection,

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there has to be organization, we can't have everybody running around doing just what

they please like a bunch of anarchists."

The Don of Detroit, more friendly to Corleone than any of the others, also now spoke

against his friend's position, in the interest of reasonableness. "I don't believe in drugs,"

he said. "For years I paid my people extra so they wouldn't do that kind of business. But

it didn't matter, it didn't help. Somebody comes to them and says, 'I have powders, if

you put up the three-, four-thousand-dollar investment we can make fifty thousand

distributing.' Who can resist such a profit? And they are so busy with their little side

business they neglect the work I pay them to do. There's more money in drugs. It's

getting bigger all the time. There's no way to stop it so we have to control the business

and keep it respectable. I don't want any of it near schools, I don't want any of it sold to

children. That is an infamita. In my city I would try to keep the traffic in the dark people,

the colored. They are the best customers, the least troublesome and they are animals

anyway. They have no respect for their wives or their families or for themselves. Let

them lose their souls with drugs. But something has to be done, we just can't let people

do as they please and make trouble for everyone."

This speech of the Detroit Don was received with loud murmurs of approval. He had

hit the nail on the head. You couldn't even pay people to stay out of the drug traffic. As

for his remarks about children, that was his well-known sensibility, his

tenderheartedness speaking. After all, who would sell drugs to children? Where would

children get the money? As for his remarks about the coloreds, that was not even heard.

The Negroes were considered of absolutely no account, of no force whatsoever. That

they had allowed society to grind them into the dust proved them of no account and his

mentioning them in any way proved that the Don of Detroit had a mind that always

wavered (to waver – колебаться, колыхаться, развеваться) toward irrelevancies

(irrelevance – неуместность [ı'relıv∂ns]).

All the Dons spoke. All of them deplored the traffic in drugs as a bad thing that would

cause trouble but agreed there was no way to control it. There was, simply, too much

money to be made in the business, therefore it followed that there would be men who

would dare anything to dabble (плескаться, барахтаться; заниматься чем-либо

поверхностно) in it. That was human nature.

It was finally agreed. Drug traffic would be permitted and Don Corleone must give it

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, незначительный) criminals of all types were to be

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 ['dGu∂r∂] – 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