Jack Woltz always slept alone. He had a bed big enough for ten people and a
Bedroom large enough for a movie ballroom scene, but he had slept alone since
The death of his first wife ten years before. This did not mean he no longer used
Women. He was physically a vigorous man despite his age, but he could be
Aroused now only by very young girls and had learned that a few hours in the
Evening were all the youth of his body and his patience could tolerate.
On this Thursday morning, for some reason, he awoke early. The light of dawn
Made his huge bedroom as misty as a foggy meadowland. Far down at the foot of
His bed was a familiar shape and Woltz struggled up on his elbows to get a
Clearer look. It had the shape of a horse's head. Still groggy, Woltz reached and
Flicked on the night table lamp.
The shock of what he saw made him physically ill. It seemed as if a great
Sledgehammer had struck him on the chest, his heartbeat jumped erratically and
He became nauseous. His vomit spluttered on the thick flair rug.
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Severed from its body, the black silky head of the great horse Khartoum was
Stuck fast in a thick cake of blood. White, reedy tendons showed. Froth covered
The muzzle and those apple-sized eyes that had glinted like gold, were mottled the
Color of rotting fruit with dead, hemorrhaged blood. Woltz was struck by a purely
Animal terror and out of that terror he screamed for his servants and out of that
Terror he called Hagen to make his uncontrolled threats. His maniacal raving
Alarmed the butler, who called Woltz's personal physician and his second in
Command at the studio. But Woltz regained his senses before they arrived.
He had been profoundly shocked. What kind of man could destroy an animal
Worth six hundred thousand dollars? Without a word of warning. Without any
Negotiation to have the act, its order, countermanded. The ruthlessness, the
Sheer disregard for any values, implied a man who considered himself completely
His own law, even his own God. And a man who backed up this kind of will with
The power and cunning that held his own stable security force of no account. For
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By this time Woltz had learned that the horse's body had obviously been heavily
Drugged before someone leisurely hacked the huge triangular head off with an ax.
The men on night duty claimed that they had heard nothing. To Woltz this seemed
Impossible. They could be made to talk. They had been bought off and they could
Be made to tell who had done the buying.
1 Woltz was not a stupid man, he was merely a supremely egotistical one (только
крайне: «в высшей степени» эгоистичный; supreme [sju'pri:m] – высший,
высочайший). He had mistaken the power he wielded in his world to be more potent
than the power of Don Corleone. He had merely needed some proof (доказательство)
that this was not true. He understood this message. That despite all his wealth, despite
all his contacts with the President of the United States, despite all his claims of
friendship with the director of the FBI, an obscure importer of Italian olive oil (obscure
[∂b’skju∂] – темный, тусклый, плохо освещенный; незаметный, никому не
известный) would have him killed (мог бы его убить). Would actually have him killed!
Because he wouldn't give Johnny Fontane a movie part he wanted. It was incredible.
People didn't have any right to act that way. There couldn't be any kind of world if
people acted that way. It was insane (безумно, абсурдно [ın'seın]). It meant you
couldn't do what you wanted with your own money, with the companies you owned, the
power you had to give orders. It was ten times worse than communism. It had to be
smashed (это должно бы быть сокрушено). It must never be allowed (это никогда,
вовсе не должно быть позволено).
2 Woltz let the doctor give him a very mild sedation (легкое успокоительное; mild
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[maıld] – мягкий, спокойный; неострый, некрепкий). It helped him calm down again
(успокоиться) and to think sensibly (разумно). What really shocked him was the
casualness (легкость /поступка/; casually – ненароком, мимоходом) with which this
man Corleone had ordered the destruction of a world-famous horse worth six hundred
thousand dollars. Six hundred thousand dollars! And that was just for openers (только
начало; opener – начальное событие /в серии событий/; for openers – для начала).
Woltz shuddered (содрогнулся). He thought of this life he had built up. He was rich. He
could have the most beautiful women in the world by crooking his finger (поманив
пальцем: «согнув палец») and promising a contract. He was received by kings and
queens. He lived a life as perfect as money and power could make it. It was crazy to
risk all this because of a whim (из-за каприза). Maybe he could get to Corleone. What
was the legal penalty for killing a race-horse? He laughed wildly and his doctor and
servants watched him with nervous anxiety (с беспокойством, тревогой [жŋg’zaı∂tı]).
Another thought occurred to him (пришла: «случилась» ему в голову). He would be
the laughingstock (посмешищем) of California merely because someone had
contemptuously defied his power (презрительно бросил вызов его власти; to defy
[dı’faı] – вызывать, бросать вызов) in such arrogant fashion (таким высокомерным,
наглым образом). That decided him (это решило дело, заставило его принять
решение). That and the thought that maybe, maybe they wouldn't kill him. That they
had something much more clever and painful in reserve (хитрое и болезненное в
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запасе).
3 Woltz gave the necessary orders. His personal confidential staff swung into action
(его личная доверенная команда бросилась выполнять). The servants and the
doctor were sworn to secrecy (поклялись хранить тайну, принесли присягу о
соблюдении секретности) on pain of incurring the studio's and Woltz's undying enmity
(под угрозой навлечения на себя вечной вражды; to incur [ın’k∂:] – подвергаться,
навлекать на себя). Word was given to the press that the racehorse Khartoum had
died of an illness contracted during his shipment from England (от болезни,
полученной при его переправке). Orders were given to bury the remains (захоронить
останки) in a secret place on the estate (на территории имения).
4 Six hours later Johnny Fontane received a phone call from the executive producer
(от исполнительного директора) of the film telling him to report for work (явиться на
работу; to report – сообщать; докладывать; являться, представать) the following
Monday.
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