Chapter 19 Section Fourteen (1)

The old man was a real man at twelve.He was a short, dark, gaunt man who had lived in the queer, Paimorous Sicilian village of Corleone.His birth name was Vito Andurini, but when some people killed the father first and then tried to kill the son, his mother sent him to America to live with a friend.When he arrived in a strange country, he changed his surname to Corleone in order to maintain some connection with his native land.But that was one of the few expressions of affection he made. In Sicily, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Mafia acted as a second government, far more powerful than the official Roman government.Vito Corleone's father had a feud with another villager, who sued the gang.The father refused to give in and killed the local gang leader in a fit of rage during a public brawl.A week later he was found dead, riddled with horn irons.A month after the burial, the gang organization sent several team members with guns to inquire about the young baby Vito.They concluded that he was close to adulthood, and that he might avenge his father in some future year.Twelve-year-old Vito was hidden by relatives and smuggled to the United States.In the United States, he stayed with Abbandando's family. Abbandando's son, Jinke, was later the old man's staff.

Young Vito came to work at the Abbandando Grocery Store on Ninth Road in the Hell's Kitchen area of ​​New York.When Vito was eighteen, he married an Italian girl who had just arrived from Sicily.The girl was only sixteen years old at the time, she was a good cook and a capable housewife.They made their home in a suite on Tenth Avenue near Thirty-fifth Street in a compound, just a few blocks from where Vito worked.Two years later they had their first child, whom they named Sandino.Because Sandino showed a special convincing attitude towards his father, relatives and friends all called him Sonny.

One of the neighbors was named Fanucci.He was a heavy-set, forbidding-looking Italian who usually dressed in expensive light-colored clothes and a cream-colored fedora.This man was known as "Dark Talon," a member of a branch of the Mafia.This branch of the organization specializes in extorting money from households and shops by violent means.However, since most of the nearby residents also lived on murder, Fanucci could only work on elderly couples who were not protected by boys.Some shopkeepers pay a meager amount as a convenience.However, Fanucci was a hungry man who did not spare criminals, even those who illegally sold Italian national lottery tickets and those who operated casinos in their own houses. Pay him a little tribute.The tribute did not stop despite the objections of the young Jinco, who said he was going to get rid of Fanucci, and his father forbade him to cause trouble.Vito Corleone saw all this, but did not interfere emotionally at all.

One day Fanucci was suddenly attacked by a group of young men, who cut a long gash in his throat, from below the left ear to below the right ear, though not deep enough to reach the Fatal, but enough to scare him and cause him to bleed a lot.Vito saw with his own eyes that Fanucci was bleeding from the long semicircular gash as he tried to escape from the three men who wanted to punish him.He never forgot the look of Fanucci as he ran for his life, clutching the cream fedora under his chin, catching the blood from the hat as he ran.As if he didn't want to have his clothes stained with blood, or leave a shameful stain on the ground.

But this attack was also a fluke for Fanucci.It turned out that the three young men didn't really want to kill him. They were just a few stubborn young men who wanted to teach him a lesson so that he would stop extorting money.And Fanucci himself proved himself a murderer.A few weeks later, the young man with the knife was shot dead, and the families of the other two young men paid Fanucci a sum of compensation and asked him to swear never to take revenge.This time, the tribute increased, and Fanucci became a partner in hosting the street casino.As for Vito Corleone, it was none of his business and he soon forgot about it.

During World War I, when imported olive oil was scarce, Fanucci supplied not only olive oil but also imported salami, ham and cheese to Abbandando's grocery store, thus gaining the store's part of the equity.Then he put one of his nephews in the store, and Vito Corleone lost his job out of nowhere. By this time the second child, Frederico, had been born, and Vito Corleone had four mouths begging him for food.Up to this point he had been a taciturn, very forbearing young man, always keeping his thoughts to himself.Young Genco Abbandando, son of the grocer, was his closest friend, and Vito blamed his friend for the behavior of his friend's father, which Vito and his friend They were all surprised.Jinke blushed and swore to Vito that Vito didn't have to worry about food. He also said that he planned to steal from the grocery store to ensure his friend's needs.However, this self-recommendation was flatly rejected by Vito, because it was too shameful that a son should steal his father.

But on the other hand, the young Vito felt an uncontrollable anger towards the daunting Fanucci from the bottom of his heart.He never showed that anger in any way, but he was biding his time.He worked on the railroad for several months.Soon the war was over, construction slowed down, and he could only earn a few days a month.Also, most of the foremen were Irish and American, and used to abuse the workers with foul language.Vito endured it all the time, without changing his face, as if he couldn't understand, but despite his impure accent, his hearing was still very good. One evening, Vito was having dinner with his family when he heard someone knocking on the window.Outside the window is a narrow alley, and on the other side of the alley is another house.Vito opened the curtains and was surprised. It turned out that Peter Clemenza, a young man from the neighbor, leaned out of the window on the other side of the alley and handed over a small package wrapped in white cloth.

"Hey man," Clemenza said, "save this thing for me until I need it, quick, catch it." Vito mechanically reached out to catch the packet.Clemenza looked tense and anxious.He was in some kind of trouble, and Vito's help was instinctive.But he took the packet to the kitchen and opened it, and there were five greased guns.He put the gun in his bedroom closet to see what happened.He later learned that Clemenza had been taken by the police. Vito didn't tell anyone about it, and of course his terrified wife didn't dare to talk nonsense even in small talk, for fear of sending her husband to jail.Two days later, Peter Clemenza came back again, met Vito and asked casually, "Is my stuff still with you?"

Vito nodded, he had a habit of being silent.When Clemenza came to Vito's house, the host brought him a glass of wine, and at the same time dug out the small bag from the bedroom closet. Clemenza watched Vito kindly and warily as he drank. "Have you looked inside?" Vito shook his head expressionlessly. "I'm never interested in things that don't concern me," he said. Then they drank together until it got dark.They find each other like-minded.Clemenza is a good talker, Vito Corleone is a good listener.They became friends casually. A few days later, Clemenza asked Vito Corleone's wife if she would like a fine rug for the living room floor.He took Vito to help him lift the rug.

Clemenza led Vito to an apartment with a porch with two marble columns and steps of white marble.He unlocked the door with the key and walked into a sumptuous suite, and Clemenza said, "Go over there and roll this thing up for me." The rug was wool and dark red.Vito Corleone marveled at Clemenza's generosity, and together they rolled the rug into a bundle, Clemenza lifting one end, Vito the other, and they lifted it up and walked toward the door. Just then, the apartment doorbell rang, and Clemenza dropped the rug and strode to the window.He drew the curtains a little, looked out, and immediately drew his gun.It wasn't until this moment that Vito Corleone, who was stunned, realized that they had stolen the rug from a stranger's house.

The doorbell rang again, and Vito walked over to Clemenza so he too could see what was wrong outside.They saw a uniformed policeman standing at the door, who rang the bell again, shrugged his shoulders, and descended the marble steps into the street. Clemenza snorted in satisfaction and said, "Come on, lift it up, let's go." As soon as the policeman turned the corner, they carried the rug and walked slowly sideways out of the thick oak door into the street.Thirty minutes later they were cutting the rug for the living room of Vito Corleone's apartment.There was enough left over for the bedroom, and Clemenza, a journeyman, carried the necessary rugs in the pockets of his too-big-fitting jacket (even though he wasn't very fat at the time, he loved to wear baggy clothes). cropping tool. Time is passing, but the situation is not getting better.The Corleones can't afford a nice rug.Without a job, the wife and children would starve to death.Vito also received a few packets of food from his friend Jinke, but he was thinking about the future.At last Clemenza and Tessio, another young rascal in the neighborhood, came to him, and they both had a good impression of him and his manner, and they knew he was a desperado.They proposed to him that he join their team of robbers who stopped by and robbed cars full of silk clothes.After the cars were loaded at the factory on Thirty-first Street, they were stopped and robbed.It's not dangerous, truck drivers are very sensible workers, when they see a gun, they behave like angels and wait on the sidewalk to let the looters take the car away and put the goods in a friend's warehouse .Some goods could be sold to Italian wholesalers, and some goods could be retailed door-to-door in Italian immigrant enclaves—such as Arthur Road in the Bronx, Mulberry Street in Manhattan and Chelsea—and sold to those who waited. There are poor Italian families who want to buy cheap goods. The girls of these poor families can't afford such exquisite clothes at ordinary times.Clemenza and Tessio needed Vito's drive because they knew he had been driving the Abbandando grocery delivery truck.At the time, skilled car drivers were rare. Against his better analytical judgment, Vito Corleone reluctantly accepted their advice.After bargaining, it was finally determined that he would earn at least a thousand dollars for his participation.But his two young companions struck him as reckless and ill-planned, and the sale of stolen goods was reckless, sloppy indeed.But he thought they were good characters and reliable.Peter Clemenza, who had already shown the characteristics of being broad-minded and fat, won him a certain amount of trust, while Tessio, who was thin and gloomy, won full trust. Things are going well.Vito Corleone felt no horror, much to his own surprise, when the two lads pulled out their guns and forced the driver of the motorbike full of silks to get out of the car.In addition, he was also deeply impressed by the calmness and composure displayed by Clemenza and Tessio.They were not nervous, but they joked with the driver, saying that if he behaved well, they were going to send his wife some clothes.Because Vito thought it would be foolish for him to come forward and sell clothes around, he sold all the clothes he got all at once to the people who specialize in stolen goods.He got only seven hundred dollars, but that was a considerable amount of money in 1919. On the street the next day, Vito met Fanucci in the cream suit and white fedora and blocked his way.Fanucci did not cover his semicircular wound at all, and the white circular wound was clearly visible.His eyebrows were thick and dark, and his face was rough, and when he laughed, he looked queer and kind. He spoke with a heavy Sicilian idiom. "Ah, young man," he said to Vito, "I hear you've made a fortune. You, and two of your friends. But don't you think you've been mean to me? Besides, this The location is also mine, you should at least give me some wine money." He uttered a favorite Sicilian proverb used by the Mafia: "A bird with a beak wants to eat." The so-called sharp mouth means to ask for a share of the spoils. Vito Corleone, as was his custom, did not answer.In fact, he already understood the intention of quoting that proverb, and he was waiting for the other party to make a clear request. Fanucci smiled at him, showing his gold teeth, his gallows-noose scar stretched tight under his face.He wiped his face with his handkerchief and unbuttoned his jacket, as if to cool himself, but in fact to light the gun in his belt.Then he sighed and said: "Give me five hundred dollars, and I'll forget the insult. Young man, you don't know how to be polite to a man like me." Vito Corleone smiled at him, and even though he was a young man with no blood on his hands, there was something chillingly sinister in his smile.Fanucci was stunned for a while and went on: "Otherwise, the police will come to trouble you, and your wife and children will also be implicated, making you short of food and clothing. Of course, if my information on the amount of money you get is inaccurate, then I can pay less A little. But not less than three hundred dollars. Don't try to trick me." Vito Corleone spoke.His tone of voice was reasonable, without any hint of anger.He was courteous and courteous, befitting a young man addressing such an eminent man as Fanucci.He said softly: "My share of the money is with two of my friends. I have to tell them about it." Fanucci felt relieved. "You can tell your two friends, just say I wish they'd let me wet my lips. Don't be afraid, just tell them that." He added reassuringly, "Clemenza and I They know each other well, and he knows the rules. Just listen to him, he's more experienced in these kinds of things." Vito Corleone shrugged, deliberately embarrassed. "Of course, of course," he said, "you know, I'm a complete beginner at this kind of thing, and thank you, you're teaching me like a godfather." Fanucci was impressed. "You're a nice lad," he said, taking Vito's hand and squeezing it tightly with his own hairy hands: "You know how to respect your elders," he said, "it's a virtue for young people. Next time you see me, you should talk first, huh? That's fine. I can help you if you have any plans. " It was years later that Vito Corleone realized that the reason he had been able to act so tactfully with Fanucci at that time was because his father had been killed by gangsters in Sicily because of his violent temper.But, in the circumstances, all he felt was rage.This man wanted to rob him of the money he had earned by risking his life and prison time.He was not afraid at the time, he thought Fanucci was a mad fool.Based on his observations of Clemenza, the sturdy Sicilian would rather die than lose a penny of the money he had snatched.Clemenza was ready to kill a policeman in order to steal a rug, and Tessio, with his thin body, could scare people like a poisonous snake. That night, in Clemenza's room across the airway, Vito Corleone had another lesson in the course of his incipient training; Clemenza swore and Tessio scowled.But then they both talked about whether Fanucci would be content with receiving only two hundred dollars, which Tessio thought he would be. Clemenza still stands by his views. "No, that bastard with the scarred face will find out how much we got. Fanucci's three hundred and won't do anything less. We've got to pay the full amount." Vito is surprised, but careful not to let his emotions show. "Why do we have to give him money? What can he do with the three of us? Three of us are better than one, and we have guns. Why should we hand over the money we earn?" Clemenza patiently explained: "Fanucci has a gang, and they are real beasts. He also has a back door in the police station, and he wants us to tell him the plan, so he can let the police Come and clean us up, and the police will appreciate it, too. That's what he did, he got the charter directly from Maranzala, and he's in charge of the area." Maranzala was a reported villain, the leader of a criminal syndicate specializing in racketeering, gambling, and armed robbery. Clemenza served out the drink he had made for everyone to drink.His wife brought a plate of salami and olives and a piece of Italian bread.She put her things on the table, and went down with the chair to sit with her companions at the door of the house.She is a young Italian girl who has only been in the United States for a few years, so she can't understand English very well. Vito Corleone is drinking with two of his friends.He has never used his reasoning and analysis skills so seriously before.He was also amazed at the clarity of his thinking.He reviewed everything he knew about Fanucci.He thought back to the day Fanucci had had a long slit in his throat, and he had come running down the street holding his fedora to catch the bleeding.He recalled the assassination of the man who cut his throat with a knife, and the payment of compensation by two other young men to cancel the possible sentence.Suddenly, he decided that Fanucci didn't have a big back door, and couldn't possibly have one.A man who informs the police cannot be a great man.A person who is willing to accept bribes and refuses to take revenge cannot be a great person.A real backbone of the gang will kill the other two.There was nothing special about Fanucci, he was just lucky.After he killed one, he knew that the other two were wary and couldn't kill them, so he was willing to accept bribes.It is only because of his brute strength that he can extort tribute from the shops and dealers who set up casinos in the courtyard.But Vito Corleone knew of at least one casino that had never paid Fanucci tribute, and the owner of that casino had never been hurt. In this way, Fanucci is isolated.Or to put it more clearly, he just temporarily hired a few assassins with guns to perform specific tasks on the basis of strict cash transactions.This reasoning and analysis played another decisive role in Vito Corleone, determining his own future life path. From this experience came his mantra: A man has only one destiny.He might also decide that night to pay Fanucci tribute, so that he might resume his career as a grocery clerk and, after a few years, start his own grocery store.However, fate decided that he would become an old man, and fate sent Fanucci to him to push him on the path of his own destiny. When the three of them had finished the bottle of wine, Vito said to Clemenza and Tessio, "If you two are willing, give me two hundred dollars each, and I will pass it on to Fanucci. , Isn’t that enough? I promise, if I just give him the money, he will accept it. Then, I will be responsible for everything, and I will solve this problem to the satisfaction of both of you. " Clemenza's eyes twinkled suspiciously. Vito said to him calmly: "I will never deceive anyone I have accepted as my friend. Tomorrow you can tell Fanucci directly, if he asks you for money, let him ask for it, but don't give it to him." , and don’t have any quarrels with him. Just tell him that you have to get the money first, then give it to me, and I will pass it to him. Let him have an illusion that you are willing to pay whatever he wants Yes, don’t haggle with him, I’ll be responsible for the exact amount of mushrooms with him. If he’s really a dangerous person like we said, it’s pointless to provoke him to get angry.” That's where they end.The next day, Clemenza spoke directly to Fanucci to see if what Vito had said was true.Then Clemenza came to Vito's house and handed him two hundred dollars.He said, staring at Vito Corleone, "Fanucci told me it would be no less than three hundred dollars, and see what you can do to get him to accept less than three hundred dollars." Vito Corleone said confidently: "This has nothing to do with you, just remember that I have done something for you." Soon Tessio came along, more subtle, cunning, smarter, and less blatant than Clemenza.He sensed that something was wrong, not quite appropriate, and he was a little worried.He said to Vito Corleone, "Be careful dealing with that old 'black hand' bastard, he's as unreliable as a preacher. Do you want me to be here as a witness when you pay him?" Vito Corleone shook his head.He didn't even feel the need to answer.He said simply to Tessio: "Please tell Fanucci that I intend to hand over the money to him at my house at nine o'clock this evening: I intend to toast him a glass of wine and then negotiate with him, reason, persuade He takes less money." Tessio shook his head. "You won't have that much luck. Fanucci never backs down." "I'm going to reason with him," Vito Corleone said. What he said would become a famous saying in the next few years, the signal before a fatal blow was delivered.Later, when he became an old man and invited the other party to sit down and reason with him, he said this, and they understood that this was the last chance to solve the problem without bloodshed. Vito Corleone told his wife she was to take Sonny and Freddie out in the street after supper and never let them come back without his permission.Her responsibility was to stand guard at the gate of the apartment. He and Fanucci had some business to do, and no one else was allowed to interfere.He was very angry when he saw the fear on her face, and said to her patiently and calmly: "You thought you married a fool when you got married, didn't you?" She said nothing.She was silent because she was frightened, not of Fanucci but of her husband.He was visibly changing before her eyes, hour after hour, into a man radiating a dangerous magic.He has always been taciturn, and when he speaks, he is always gentle and reasonable.This kind of character is really rare among young Sicilian men.Now what she saw helplessly was that the protective color of an unknown person who was indifferent to the world was falling off.Now he was about to embark on the path of his destiny.It was too late for him to start on the path of his destiny.He's twenty-five now, but he made a splash right from the start. Vito Corleone is determined to assassinate Fanucci.This would add another seven hundred dollars to his savings.The three hundred dollars he had promised himself to the Black Hand terrorist, plus the two hundred dollars from Tessio and the two hundred from Clemenza, made exactly seven hundred dollars.If he didn't kill Fanucci, he'd have to pay the full seven hundred dollars in cash.To him, Fanucci was not worth seven hundred dollars alive.He certainly wasn't willing to pay seven hundred dollars to keep Fanucci alive.If Fanucci urgently needed seven hundred dollars for an operation to save his life, he would not pay the surgeon seven hundred dollars for Fanucci.He had never been personally favored by Fanucci, they were not blood, and he did not love Fanucci.So why should he pay Fanucci seven hundred dollars? The next inevitable development was that Fanucci wanted to take the seven hundred dollars from him by force, so why shouldn't he kill Fanucci?There is no doubt that the earth would still turn without a man like Fanucci. Of course, there are some realities that must be taken into consideration. Fanucci really has several powerful accomplices who want to avenge him. Fanucci himself is also a dangerous person, and it is not so easy to kill him.Plus, there's the police and the electric chair.But Vito Corleone had been living under a death sentence since his father's murder.When he was still twelve years old, he escaped from his executioner, traveled across the ocean, came to a strange country, and took a strange surname.After several years of sober observation, he is convinced that he has more wisdom and courage than others, but he has never had the opportunity to display his wisdom and courage. However, before taking the first step toward his destiny, he hesitated.He even wrapped the seven hundred dollar bills into a separate pouch, which he put in his easy-to-reach pant pocket, but he put the money in the left pant pocket.In the right pant pocket, he carried the pistol Clemenza had given him to use while robbing trucks. Fanucci came at exactly nine o'clock in the evening, and Vito Corleone brought out the jug of house wine that Clemenza had given him. Fanucci put his white fedora on the table next to the wine jug.He loosened his wide, colorful tie, and the specks of tomato juice were hidden in the colorful patterns, which were hardly noticeable.The summer nights were sweltering, the kerosene lamps were not so bright, and there was no sound in the apartment.But Vito Corleone was icy cold, and to show he was keeping his word, he handed over the roll of notes and looked intently at Fanucci.He counted the money first, then took out his wide leather wallet and stuffed the money into it.Fanucci took a few sips from his glass and said, "You still owe me two hundred dollars." His thick-browed face was expressionless. Vito Corleone said in a calm and reasonable tone, "I'm in a bit of a handicap. I've been unemployed. Let me be a few weeks behind." It was an admissible solution, and Fanucci, having got most of the money, could wait.You can even persuade him: either don't ask for more; or wait a few more days.While drinking, he said with a smile: "Oh, you are a very shrewd young man. What's the matter? I haven't seen you before. You young man is so unknown that it is not good for me. I can find some work to let you If you do it, it’s a very lucrative job.” Vito Corleone nodded politely and refilled the big glass from the purple jug to show that he was interested in what the man had to say, but Fanucci himself thought he There are more important things to say below me, so I stand up from the chair and shake Vito's hand. "Good-bye, boy," he said, "don't feel sorry. If there's anything you want me to do, just let me know. Well, you've done a pretty thing for yourself tonight." Without moving, Vito let Fanucci down the stairs and out the door.The throngs of people in the street were witnesses who could testify that Fanucci had left the Corleone house safely, and Vito watched from the window.He saw Fanucci turn the corner and reached Eleventh Avenue, and decided he was going back to his apartment, maybe to leave the money at home, and then go out into the street, and maybe put down his gun too. .Vito Corleone walked out of his home, up the stairs, and onto the roof.He walked over the rooftops of the block, down the fire escape of an empty factory building, and into the backyard.He kicked open the back door, went in, and came out the front again, across the street to Fanucci's courtyard-like apartment. This courtyard-style apartment living area only extends westward to Tenth Road.The Eleventh Route consists mainly of warehouses and workshops, all of which are leased by the business houses that depend on the New York Central Railroad for their shipments. The rivers are dotted like honeycombs.Fanucci's apartment was one of the few remaining houses in this empty area, and it was inhabited mostly by bachelor train attendants, yard workers, and the cheapest whores.Such people are not honest like the Italians, they don't sit and talk in the street; they sit in beer taverns, eating and drinking their money.Vito Corleone, therefore, easily slipped across the deserted Eleventh Avenue and into the foyer of Fanucci's apartment, where he drew the gun he had never used. , waiting for Fanucci. He was watching through the glass door in the foyer, anticipating Fanucci's return from Tenth Avenue.Clemenza had shown him the safety on the gun, and he tried the trigger with the gun unloaded.When he was a boy of less than nine years old in Sicily, he used to go hunting with his father, and he used to fire that cumbersome musket called a "wolf gun" locally.It was because he had the ability to use a "wolf gun" when he was a child that those who murdered his father sentenced him to death. Now, hiding in the dark of the hall, he saw the white figure of Fanucci crossing the road and walking towards the gate.Vito took a few steps back, his shoulders pressed against the door leading to the stairs, and he raised his gun, ready to fire.His gun hand was outstretched, only two steps away from the outer door.The door swung in and opened.Fanucci, white and broad and reeking, appeared in the square of light coming through the door, and Vito Corleone fired. The sound of gunfire was heard through the open door and into the street, shaking the building.Fanucci gripped the door and, trying desperately to stand upright, reached for his gun.He struggled so hard that the buttons of his jacket were undone, and the jacket flew open, his gun coming out, but blood was dripping like spider webs from the front of his shirt.Vito Corleone, paying close attention, as if inserting a needle into a vein, fired a second bullet at the web of blood. Fanucci bent his legs, knelt down, and propped the door open.He uttered a terrible "ah!" Vito put the gun against Fanucci's sweaty suet-like cheek, and fired a shot slightly upwards, aimed at the skull. Within five seconds, Fanucci collapsed. Go down, dead, his body blocking the open door. Vito very calmly took out a large leather wallet from the dead man's coat pocket and stuffed it into his shirt.Then he crossed the street, entered the empty factory building opposite, walked through the factory building to the backyard, climbed the fire escape, and came to the roof.From the roof he looked down at the street. Fanucci's body was still lying in the doorway, and there was no one else in sight.Two of the windows in the apartment were thrown open, and he could see heads poking out, but since he couldn't see their faces, they couldn't see his face either.And this kind of person will not provide information to the police.Fanucci's body might lie there until dawn, or until someone on the night patrol accidentally tripped over him.Surely no one in that apartment would want to come forward and trouble themselves for suspicion or questioning by the police; they would lock their doors and pretend they didn't hear anything. He walked unhurriedly from one roof to the next, and finally came to the skylight of his own roof, and down there was his apartment.He opened the door, walked in, and locked the door behind him.He opened the wallet and searched it. Except for the seven hundred dollars he had handed to Fanucci, there were only a few one-dollar bills and a five-dollar bill in it. Stuck in the wallet lid was an old five-dollar gold coin, most likely auspicious money.If Fanucci were a rich villain, he certainly wouldn't take his wealth with him.This situation confirmed some of Vito's guesses. He knew that he must get rid of the wallet and the pistol (he also knew clearly at the time that he must get rid of the gold in the wallet).他又上了屋顶，走过几段屋脊，把皮夹子朝下甩到一个通气道里去了，然后把枪的子弹退出来，把枪筒子在屋脊上拼命地砸，但怎么也砸不坏。他把枪调过头来，又把枪托在烟囱壁上拼命地砸，枪托喀嚓一下成了两截、又砸了几下，手枪的枪筒和枪柄裂开了，成了互不相连的两截。他把枪筒甩进一个通气道，把枪柄甩进另一个通气道，枪筒和枪柄从五层楼落到地下并没有发出多大的响声，而是陷进了下面稀软的垃圾堆里了。明天早晨，会有更多的垃圾从窗子里倒出来，会把什么都盖起来的，真是侥幸。维托回到了自己家里。 他有点儿发抖，但却完全能够控制自己。他换了身上的衣服，惟恐穿着的衣服溅上血。他用碱水和很浓的褐色洗衣肥皂水把衣服浸湿，把衣服放在洗涤槽下面的金属洗衣板上刷干净。然后他又用碱水和肥皂水把桶和洗涤槽冲洗干净。他在卧室的一角发现了一堆刚洗好的衣服，就把自己的衣服也混杂在这一堆衣服里，然后穿着干净衬衫和裤子下楼来，到公寓门前同老婆孩子和邻居一起谈笑风生了。 其实这一切措施都证明是不必要的。警察在天亮发现了那具尸体之后，也从来没有盘问过维托·考利昂。更使他感到惊讶的是，他们根本还不知道法怒其在击毙的当天晚上曾经来到过他家。他原来预计这就是一种“不在出事现场”的证明：法怒其是活着离开这栋公寓的。他后来只听说警方对法怒其被谋杀一事倒感到很高兴，而并不急于追查凶手。他们认定这又是一起歹徒凶杀案，所以只查问了那些有敲诈记录的和有暴行历史的流氓。因为维托从来没有犯过案，所以他根本不在考虑之列。 但是，假使他已经智胜了警察，那么他的同伙却是另一个问题。彼得·克莱门扎和忒希奥两个都在事后一两周内躲着不见他的面，然而在一个傍晚他俩上门找他来了，是带着明显的敬意来的。维托·考利昂很礼貌，但却毫无表情地接待了他俩，还给他们端来了酒。 克莱门扎首先开口说话。他轻声地说：“没有人再在第九路商店老板那里征收贡钱了，没有人再在附近玩纸牌和摆赌场的人那里征收保护费了。” 维托·考利昂目不转睛地盯着这两个人，一言不发。忒希奥开口了。 “咱们不妨把法怒其的生意接过来，原来给法怒其交钱的人也会给咱们交钱的。” 维托·考利昂耸了耸肩。 “这个问题干吗找我？对这类事我不感兴趣。” 克莱门扎放声大笑，即使在年轻时候，他一笑起来就有心宽体胖的那种爽朗劲儿。他对维托·考利昂说：“为了抢卡车上的丝绸衣服，我给你的那支手枪现在怎么样啦？如今你不再需要了，就还给我吧。” 维托·考利昂非常沉着，胸有成竹地从衣袋里掏出一迭钞票，抽出了五张十元的钞票。“拿去，我给你钱。在抢卡车后我就把那支枪甩掉了。”说罢，他笑眯眯地瞅着这两个人。 在当时，维托·考利昂自己并不理解那种笑眯眯的客观效果。正因为没有威胁之意，所以才真正令人不寒而栗。他笑眯眯的，好像是随便开开玩笑而已。但是，因为这是生死攸关的问题，他才流露出那种神情。他一向是通情达理，喜怒哀乐不形于色，因此突然一下揭开面纱，露出自己的内在本质，真也令人生畏。 克莱门扎摇摇头。 “我不要钱，”他说。 维托又把钱揣进自己的衣袋。他等着，他们之间心照不宣。他俩知道他干掉了法怒其，虽然他们对任何人都没有说过，几周之内附近一带居民全都知道了。维托·考利昂被大家尊之为“值得尊敬的人”。但是他并没有试图把“法怒其保护费和贡款”接过来。 随之而来的事态发展，就是不可避免的了。一天晚上，维托的老婆把邻居一个寡妇领到了家里。这个妇女是个意大利人，论为人，是无可指责的。为了给自己那几个失去了父亲的孩子维持一个温暖的家庭，她受尽了千辛万苦。她那个十六岁的儿子把自己的工资袋原封不动地带回家，按照意大利的方式交给她；她那个十六岁的女儿是个裁缝，也是把领来的工资原封不动地交给她。全家在晚上都加班加点干活。把钮扣缝到纸板上。他们像奴隶一样辛苦，却赚不了几个钱。这位妇女的名字叫哥伦布太大。 维托·考利昂的老婆说：“这位太大有件事想求你。她无可奈何。” 维托·考利昂一听，还以为人家想向他要些钱，钱他是准备给的。但是，实际情况看来是这样的：哥伦布夫人有只狗，她的幺儿子喜欢极了。有人埋怨说，那只狗晚上老是叫，就告诉哥伦布夫人，要她把狗搞掉，她满口答应了。后来房东发现她骗了他，非常生气，就通知她搬出去。她答应这次真的把狗搞掉，而且确实已经把狗处理掉了。但是，房东仍不肯收回催她搬出去的通知。她务必自己主动搬出，不然警察就会受命前来撵她出去。而当她把那只狗送给住在长岛的亲戚时，她那可怜的幺儿子哭得像什么似的。一切都白费劲，她眼看没有地方住了。 维托·考利昂态度很谦和地问她：“干吗找我帮助你呢？” 哥伦布夫人向他老婆那边点了点头：“是她叫我来求你的。” He was taken aback.暗杀法怒其的那天晚上，他换下来的衣服是自己洗的，老婆可从来没有问过他呀。在他失业的时候，家里那么多钱是从哪儿来的，她也从来没有问过。即使现在，她的面容仍然毫无表情。维托对哥伦布夫人说：“我可以给你些钱来帮助你搬家，你要我办的也就是这个问题吧？” 这位妇女摇摇头，她两眼泪汪汪的。 “我的朋友都住在这儿，同我一起在意大利长大的娘儿们也都住在这儿，我怎么能搬到别的地方同生人住在一起？我想要你给房东说说，允许我继续住下来。” 维托点点头。“那就行了，你用不着搬家，明天早上我就给他说说。” 他老婆对他微笑了一下，他表面上没有理睬，但心里却很高兴。哥伦布夫人看上去心里仍然不踏实。 “你有把握让房东答应吗？”