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。）
