The Godfather 教父 Chapter 29

 Michael Corleone had taken precautions against every eventuality. His planning was faultless, his security impeccable. He was patient, hoping to use the full year to prepare. But he was not to get his necessary year because fate itself took a stand against him, and in the most surprising fashion. For it was the Godfather, the great Don himself, who failed Michael Corleone., , On one sunny Sunday morning, while the women were at church, Don Vito Corleone dressed in his gardening uniform: baggy ¹ gray trousers, a faded blue shirt, battered ² dirty-brown fedora decorated by a stained gray silk hatband. The Don had gained considerable weight in his few years and worked on his tomato vines, he said, for the sake of his health. But he deceived no one., , The truth was, he loved tending his garden; he loved the sight of it early on a morning. It brought back his childhood in Sicily sixty years ago, brought it back without the terror, the sorrow of his own father's death. Now the beans in their rows grew little white flowers on top; strong green stalks of scallion fenced everything in. At the foot of the garden a spouted ³ barrel stood guard. It was filled with liquidy cow manure ⁴, the finest garden fertilizer. Also in that lower part of the garden were the square wooden frames he had built with his own hands, the sticks cross-tied with thick white string. Over these frames crawled the tomato vines., , , The Don hastened to water his garden. It must be done before the sun waxed too hot and turned the water into a prism of fire that could burn his lettuce ⁵ leaves like paper. Sun was more important than water, water also was important; but the two, imprudently mixed, could cause great misfortune., , The Don moved through his garden hunting for ants. If ants were present, it meant that lice were in his vegetables and the ants were going after the lice and he would have to spray., ,Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦 ，而不是无礼 。,He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。