出版于1969年的美国长篇小说《教父》，多年来一直是美国出版史上的畅销书，在七十年代初根据小说改编的同名电影也已成为经典。书中讲述了美国纽约五大黑势力集团之一的考利昂家族是如何采用多种极端的手段，实现并维护自己在整个美国黑势力团体中的独尊地位，深刻揭示了阳光背后的罪恶阴影与残酷的社会现实。
选取这篇文章并不是为了宣扬暴力或原谅罪行，而是希望通过其精彩生动的故事引起更多人对政治和社会进行更深层的思索，有此足矣！
文字难度：★★★
英文完整版PDF下载：http://www.joyen.net/soft/endown/read/201104/179.html
前情提要：
本篇选自《教父》的结局篇，考利昂家族经历了重大的考验，也遭受了巨大的损失。老头子去世，最得力的大儿子桑儿被对手设陷阱害死了，二儿子无甚作为，而一直深受老头子器重的三儿子迈克尔临危授命，用一系列残酷的手段挽救了家族的命运，却被妻子恺误解进而离开。而结局中恺的回归更揭示了本书的深刻内涵，发人深思——为什么迈克尔能得到谅解？究竟是个人还是社会才更加黑暗？
It was only here in these 1)dim, 2)vaulted churches that she allowed herself to think about her husband’s other life. About that terrible night a year ago when he had deliberately used all their trust and love in each other to make her believe his lie that he had not killed his sister’s husband.
只有在这里，在这阴森森的、盖有拱顶的教堂里，她才允许自己去思考她丈夫生活的另一面，思考一年前的那个可怕的晚上，当时他利用他们夫妇之间的信任和爱情硬让她相信了他的谎言，说他没有杀害他的妹夫。
She had left him because of that lie, not because of the deed. The next morning she had taken the children away with her to her parents’ house in New Hampshire. Without a word to anyone, without really knowing what action she meant to take. Michael had immediately understood. He had called her the first day and then left her alone. It was a week before the 3)limousine from New York pulled up in front of her house with Tom Hagen.
她当时离开了他，关键是因为他骗了她，而不是杀人行凶这件事本身。事情发生后的第二天清晨，她就带着孩子回她在新罕布什尔州的娘家了。临走时，她没有同任何人打招呼，也不知道自己究竟想采取什么行动。迈克尔立刻就明白过来了。他当天就打电话给她，然后又让她留在娘家。过了一星期，汤姆•黑根从纽约坐大轿车来到了她娘家门前。
She had spent a long terrible afternoon with Tom Hagen, the most terrible afternoon of her life. They had gone for a walk in the woods outside her little town and Hagen had not been gentle. They walked along the green country road. Hagen asked quietly, “Why did you run away?”
她同黑根在一起度过了一个漫长而可怕的下午，她一生中最可怕的下午。他们在她居住的那座小镇外的树林里散步，黑根的态度也并不客气。他们沿着长满青草的乡村小道走着，黑根轻声地问道：“你当时为什么跑掉？”
Kay said, “Because Michael lied to me. Because he made a fool of me when he stood Godfather to Connie’s boy. He betrayed me. I can’t love a man like that. I can’t live with it. I can’t let him be father to my children.”
恺回答说：“因为迈克尔对我撒谎了。因为他在给康妮的儿子当教父时愚弄了我。他背叛了我。这号人，我不能爱。同一个我不爱的人生活在一起，我受不了。我不能继续让他给我的孩子当爸爸。”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hagen said.
“你说的是什么意思？我听不懂，”黑根说。
She turned on him with 4)now-justified rage. “I mean that he killed his sister’s husband. Do you understand that?” She paused for a moment. “And he lied to me.”
她回过头，怒气冲冲，理直气壮，向他大发雷霆。“我说的意思是他杀害了他妹夫。这你该懂了吧？”她停了一会儿。“而且他还对我撒谎。”
They walked on for a long time in silence. Finally Hagen said, “You have no way of really knowing that’s all true. But just for the sake of argument let’s assume that it’s true. I’m not saying it is, remember. But what if I gave you what might be some justification for what he did. Or rather some possible justifications?”
接着，他们默默不语地走了好久。最后，黑根说：“你没办法去证实那件事是否全是真的。不过，只是为了辩论方便，咱们不妨假定那件事是真的。要记住，我并不是说那件事是真的。但是，如果我给你提供一些可能的辩解，以证明他干的那件事是情有可原的呢？或者就是一些可能的理由？”
Kay looked at him 5)scornfully. “That’s the first time I’ve seen the lawyer side of you, Tom. It’s not your best side.”
恺轻蔑地望着他。“这是我头一次见识你作为律师的那一面，汤姆。这可不是你这个人身上最好的一面。”
Hagen grinned. “OK. Just hear me out. What if Carlo had put Sonny on the spot, fingered him. What if Carlo beating up Connie that time was a deliberate plot to get Sonny out in the open, that they knew he would take the route over the Jones Beach Causeway? What if Carlo had been paid to help get Sonny killed? Then what?”
黑根苦笑了一下，说：“好吧，你先听我把话说完。要是卡罗调虎离山把桑儿引进埋伏圈，你会怎么想？要是卡罗殴打康妮是精心策划的阴谋，目的就是要把桑儿引诱出来，他们知道他要走琼斯堤道那条路线，你又会怎么想？要是卡罗受贿帮助人家杀害桑儿，那么，你又怎么想？”
Kay didn’t answer. Hagen went on. “And what if the 6)Don, a great man, couldn’t bring himself to do what he had to do, 7)avenge his son’s death by killing his daughter’s husband? What if that, finally, was too much for him, and he made Michael his successor, knowing that Michael would take that load off his shoulders, would take that guilt?”
恺一声不吭。黑根继续说：“还有，要是老头子这个伟大的人物本人不忍心去做他不得不做的事情，也就是替儿子报仇而杀掉女婿，你怎么想？最后，要是老头子觉得那个任务对他太沉重，而让迈克尔当他的继承人，他知道迈克尔会把担子从他肩上接过去，同时也甘愿承担罪责，你又会怎么想？”
“It was all over with,” Kay said, tears springing into her eyes. “Everybody was happy. Why couldn’t Carlo be forgiven? Why couldn’t everything go on and everybody forget?”
“那全是过去的事了，”恺说着，她热泪横流。“后来大家都相处得很和睦，为什么卡罗就不能得到宽恕呢？为什么生活就不能继续呢？为什么大家不能忘掉怨恨？”
She had led across a meadow to a tree-shaded brook. Hagen sank down on the grass and sighed. He looked around, sighed again and said, “in this world you could do it.”
她带头走过一片草地，来到一条两侧绿树成荫的小溪旁。黑根坐在草丛上，长叹了一口气。他朝四周张望了一下，又长叹了一口气，然后说：“在这个世界上，只有你才能忘掉怨恨。”
Kay said, “He’s not the man I married.”
恺说：“他变了，我同他结婚时他并不像现在这个样子。”
Hagen laughed shortly. “If he were, he’d be dead now. You’d be a widow now. You’d have no problem.”
黑根不禁失声大笑了一下。“要是他还同结婚时一样，他早就没命了。那你也早就成寡妇了，也不会有夫妻纠纷了。”
Kay 8)blazed out at him. “What the hell does that mean? Come on, Tom, speak out straight once in your life. I know Michael can’t, but you’re not Sicilian, you can tell a woman the truth, you can treat her like an equal, a fellow human being.”
恺憋了一肚子闷气突然向他爆发出来：“这话到底是什么意思？求求你，汤姆，这辈子就这一次你直话直说吧。我知道迈克尔办不到，但是你并不是西西里人，你可以对女人说实话，你可以平等地对待女人，把女人间样当作人看待。”
There was another long silence. Hagen shook his head. “You’ve got Mike wrong. You’re mad because he lied to you. Well, he warned you never to ask him about business. You’re mad because he was Godfather to Carlo’s boy. But you made him do that. Actually it was the right move for him to make if he was going to take action against Carlo. The classical tactical move to win the victim’s trust.” Hagen gave her a grim smile. “Is that straight enough talk for you?” But Kay bowed her head.
双方又沉默了好久，黑根直摇头。“你错怪了迈克尔。你因为他对你撒了个谎就气得不顾一切了。好吧，他早就告诉过你不要过问他生意上的事。你因为他给卡罗的儿子当教父就气得不行。但是要他当教父的恰恰是你。实际上如果他打算收拾卡罗的话，他那样做倒是正确的。骗取敌人的信任，这是古往今来的战术。说到这里，黑根对她狞笑了一下：“你觉得这够得上直话直说吧？”但是恺低着头默默无语。
Hagen went on. “I’ll give you some more straight talk. After the Don died, Mike was set up to be killed. Do you know who set him up? 9)Tessio. So Tessio had to be killed. Carlo had to be killed. Because 10)treachery can’t be forgiven. Michael could have forgiven it, but people never forgive themselves and so they would always be dangerous. Michael really liked Tessio. He loves his sister. But he would be 11)shirking his duty to you and his children, to his whole family, to me and my family, if he let Tessio and Carlo go free. They would have been a danger to us all, all our lives.”
黑根继续说道：“还有一些事情我也要对你直话直说。在老头子死后，迈克尔就被定为杀害对象。你可知道是谁定的吗？是忒希奥。因此忒希奥必须被杀掉。卡罗也必须被杀掉。因为背叛是不可宽恕的。迈克尔本来也可能宽恕这种行为，但是凡是犯了错误的人都绝不会宽恕自己。因此他们始终都是危险的。迈克尔其实很喜欢忒希奥，也真心地爱他妹妹。但是要是让忒希奥和卡罗逍遥法外，那他就等于对你、对他的孩子、对他的全家、对我和我的家庭推卸责任。这两个人对咱们大家，对咱们大家的生命，都是颗定时炸弹。”
Kay had been listening to this with tears running down her face. “Is that what Michael sent you up here to tell me?”
恺听着听着眼泪簌簌地流得满脸都是。“迈克尔派你到这儿来就是为了给我讲这些话吗？”
Hagen looked at her in genuine surprise. “No,” he said. “He told me to tell you you could have everything you want and do everything you want as long as you take good care of the kids.” Hagen smiled. “He said to tell you that you’re his Don. That’s just a joke.”
黑根打量着她，完全摸不着头脑。“不是，”他说，“他要我告诉你的是只要你照顾好孩子，你想要什么都行，你想干什么也都行。”说到这里，黑根笑了：“他还要我告诉你：你是他的‘老头子’。这不过是一句玩笑话。”
Kay put her hand on Hagen’s arm. “He didn’t order you to tell me all the other things?”
恺把一只手搭在黑根的胳膊上。“你刚才给我讲的那些事情，不是他命令你告诉我的吧？”
Hagen hesitated a moment as if debating whether to tell her a final truth. “You still don’t understand,” he said. “If you told Michael what I’ve told you today, I’m a dead man.” He paused again. “You and the children are the only people on this earth he couldn’t harm.”
黑根犹豫了一会儿，好像拿不定主意是否应该把最根本的真相也告诉她。“你仍然不清楚状况，”他说，“要是你把我今天给你说的话转告给迈克尔，那我肯定就没命了。”他又沉默了一会儿。“在这个世界上，只有你和你的两个孩子，他才不忍心伤害。”
From the innermost recess of the church the bell tolled for 12)repentance. As she had been taught to do, Kay struck her breast lightly with her clenched hand, the stroke of repentance. The bell tolled again and there was the 13)shuffling of feet as the 14)communicants left their seats to go to the 15)altar rail. Kay rose to join them. She knelt at the altar and from the depths of the church the bell tolled again. With her closed hand she struck her heart once more. The priest was before her. She tilted back her head and opened her mouth to receive the papery thin 16)wafer. This was the most terrible moment of all. Until it melted away and she could swallow and she could do what she came to do.
从教堂的深处传来了一阵钟声，呼唤人们忏悔。恺按照人家教给她的办法，右手握起拳头轻轻地捶击自己的胸口，这就是忏悔的表示。钟声第二次敲响了，只听到了一阵沙沙的脚步声，要领圣餐的人们纷纷离开自己的座位向祭坛前的栏杆走去。恺也站了起来随着大家一道走去。她跪在祭坛的栏杆外面，从教堂深处第三次传来了一阵钟声。她又用握拳的手轻捶胸口，神甫站在她面前。她仰起头，张开嘴，准备领取像纸一样薄的圣饼。这是最可怕的时刻。等到圣饼在嘴里溶化了，她可以咽下去的时候，她才可以做她想做的事情。
She emptied her mind of all thought of herself, of her children, of all anger, of all rebellion, of all questions. Then with a profound and deeply willed desire to believe, to be heard, as she had done every day since the murder of Carlo Rizzi, she said the necessary prayers for the soul of Michael Corleone.
她把头脑中的一切杂念都清空了，压根儿不考虑她自己，不考虑她的孩子，不考虑一切怨恨，不考虑一切反叛，也不考虑一切问题。这时，就像她从卡罗•瑞泽被谋杀以来每天所进行的那样，她为迈克尔•考利昂的灵魂念了些必要的祷告经。她念祷告经时是怀着发自内心深处的热忱而恳切的愿望的。她坚信她的祷告经能起作用，上帝也能听见。
（译文参考了译林出版社出版的《教父》，有修改。）
作者简介：
作者马里奥·普佐是土生土长的美国人，长期生活在纽约。第二次世界大战期间，曾在美军中服役。复员后，先在哥伦比亚大学研究文艺创作，后来又在社会调查学院专门研究美国社会的各个方面。他的第一部小说《明争暗斗》被认为是描写战后被占领的德国的最佳小说；第二部小说《幸运的香客》被《纽约时报》称之为“小经典作品”。《教父》是作者的第三部小说。这部小说一出版就轰动了整个美国，引起了广泛的评论和赞扬。