Before she left, she went to the prison doctor and to the warden and to the priest and to each of them she said, “Look, this man is going to die on your hands if you don’t watch him carefully and treat him properly.” She told them what the doctor’s prognosis had been at the Kings County Hospital. The thirty days were almost up. “If he dies, look at the disgrace and the talk there will be. Dying right in your institution for lack of care. I’ll be the first one to say it. I’ll shout it from the skies!”
离开之前，她去看了监狱医生、监狱长、牧师，对他们每个人说: “瞧着吧，如果你不细心照看这人，不好好对待他，他会死在你们手里的。她告知他们，国王县医院医生的诊断结果。三十天就快到了。“如果他死了，这也一定是你们的耻辱，一定会有流言蜚语。在你们这样的机构里死去，死于缺乏护理。我是会第一个说出来，向老天喊出来!”
It was no good, though. As soon as I got back to my cell I knew it was no good. It took months and years to get a case through the courts, and I was down to the hours and days. The response to my refusal to be operated on was to move me from the hospital block to the invalid block. If I was so anxious to die, they were as much as saying, I could go ahead and die.
不过这并没有什么好处。一回到牢房，就知道那并没有用。花了经年累月的时间，才把案子提交法庭直至审理。而让我失望，却只花了几天几小时。对我拒绝动手术的响应，是把我从医院病房搬回了牢房。如果我很想死，他们一定会说，只要你想，你可以的。
When Katherine got back to New York she whipped off an angry four-page letter to Governor Rockefeller which began, “On December 9, 1969, at Attica State Prison, three members of the New York State Parole Board, sitting as a Committee, pronounced a death sentence upon my client William Sutton.” She explained to him that I had sought to finalize the 1930 parole, “so as to take advantage of superlative medical and surgical services proffered to him gratis by a first-rate hospital in New York City and specialists connected with that hospital in an attempt to save his life.” She pointed out as forcefully as possible that the opinions and decisions of any number of “eminent elected jurists in two states” had been overruled by a parole board whose members had been appointed, and ended by saying, “I appeal to you because I am sure that unless you intervene, the death sentence of the parole board will be carried out for William Sutton will not live to keep his date in August of 1971.”
凯瑟琳回到纽约后，她匆匆给洛克菲勒州长，写了一封长达四页，充满愤怒的信。信的开头写道: “1969年12月9日，在阿提卡州的监狱，纽约州假释委员会的三名成员，设立了一个专门委员会，对我的委托人威廉·萨顿宣布了死刑。她向他解释说，萨顿曾试图敲定1930年的假释，“便于纽约市一家一流的医院，免费为他提供的优秀的医疗和外科手术，医院有关的专家也试图挽救他的生命。” 她尽可能有力地指出，两个州任意民选杰出专家的意见与决定，已完全被假释委员会的成员所操控，最后她写道, “我呼吁你，是因为我相信，除非你干预。否则，假释委员会所宣告的死刑将会执行，威廉·萨顿不会活到1971年8月。”
The letter received an enormous amount of publicity, and when she followed it up by appearing on television to ask the viewers to write to Rockefeller, hundreds of letters were sent to him. As much as I appreciated her efforts, I didn’t believe it would do any good. In the history of the parole board, it had never been pressured into changing a decision. Pete Hamill of the New York Post wrote an open letter to Governor Rockefeller in his column on behalf of the Free Willie Sutton Committee (which consisted of himself and four other writers and was, I suspect, formed ad lib and ad hoc around the corner table of a West Side tavern). The newspaper was handed to me, open to the column, by one of the guards on the morning of December 24, the day after it had appeared. Christmas Eve day. I read it and as one who had made out a lot of writs myself, I could see that it was a powerful plea. One by one, he hit every significant point: my age, my health, the thirty-five years I had already spent in prison, and the undisputed fact that I had never hurt anyone. But more than that, he was able to hit exactly the right tone:
“We know what Willie did, but then he never made any secret of it. . . . When asked for an occupation, he once told a judge: ‘It was of an illegal nature. It was a bank robbing.’ There were times when he was less than cooperative with authorities, but this was at least based upon principle. . . .”
这封信受到了大量的宣传，随后她上了电视，同时呼吁观众给州长洛克菲勒写信，洛因此而收到了数百封信。虽然很感激她如此地努力，但我并不相信这会有什么改变。在假释委员会的过往历史上，从来没有人能迫使它改变决定。《纽约邮报》的皮特·哈米尔在他的专栏里，代表威廉萨顿自由委员会给洛州长也写了一封公开信（威廉萨顿自由委员会，我猜想，是由其本人和其他四个作家组成，是呼吁自由和特别事件拐点的“西点酒馆”)。在报纸出版的第二天，也是圣诞节前夕——12月24日上午，一名卫兵把它交到了我手上。打开专栏并读完后，自己作为一个犯罪亲历者，我可以看出这是一个多么有力的请求。一个接一个，他击中了每一个重要的点：年龄、健康，在监狱里度过的35年，以及我从未伤害过任何人，这一无可争议的事实。但更重要的是，他准确无误地打开了正确的腔调:
“我们都知道威利做了什么，然而他也从来没有隐瞒过……”当被问及职业时，他曾告诉法官: “这是非法的，这是抢劫银行。“有时他不愿与当局合作，但这至少是基于原则……”
He wrote: “In his extracurricular activities he was always a gentleman, a suave dresser, an expert on psychology, Irish history, and chess, and a gallant with women. He had an aversion to steam table food to be sure and three times broke out of jail. . . .”
He wrote: “If the state prisons are anything they must be institutions which go beyond punishment. There is much lip service to this concept these days; acknowledging that this man has paid for his crimes would be a chance to show it. If Willie Sutton had been a GE board member or a former water commissioner, instead of the son of an Irish blacksmith, he would be on the street now.”
他写道: “在萨顿的课外活动中，他一直是一个绅士，温文尔雅的化妆师，在心理学、爱尔兰历史和象棋方面的专家，勇于和女人打交道的人。他对蒸饭桌上的食物很反感，有三次越狱了……
“如果国家监狱是有什么意义的机构，那必定是在超越惩罚之外的事物。现如今，有很多关于理念方面的口头宣传；承认这个人已经为他的罪行付出了代价，这也是展示这一点的机会。如果威利·萨顿是通用电气董事会成员或前水务专员，而不是爱尔兰铁匠的儿子，他现在已经自由地走在了街头。
He wrote: “This is frankly an appeal for mercy and human feeling. Willie Sutton should be able to sit and watch the ducks in Prospect Park one more time or go to Nathan’s for a hot dog, or call up some old girl for a drink. . . . Letting Willie out won’t gain you a vote, but it would be a hell of a thing if the old bank robber could take a look at the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center for one last time.”
“坦率地说，这是对仁慈和人类情感的呼吁。威利·萨顿应该准许，再有机会坐下来，看看愿景公园里的鸭子，或者去内森餐厅吃个热狗，或者邀请个老女孩来喝一杯……让威利出去不会给你带来选票，但是如果这个银行老劫匪能，只能最后一次见到洛克菲勒中心的圣诞树，那就真是太糟糕了。”
I don’t know whether Katherine’s letter or the Hamill column had any effect. But I don’t know that they didn’t, either. All I do know is that a few hours later they practically threw me out of the place.
我不确定是凯瑟琳的信，还是哈米尔专栏产生了影响。但我不知道他们也没有搞清楚。我只知道几个小时后，他们很快把我赶出了那个地方。
Sometime before noon, the tier officer came down to my cell and told methat the front office had sent for my records. “I don’t want to raise your hopes, Willie, because I can always be wrong. But they only do this when they’re getting ready to release somebody.” About an hour later he stopped by again, even more excited. “Don’t quote me, but I think you’re going home. There’s a lot of activity going on.”
All right, I wouldn’t quote him. I figured they were getting ready to ship me to Sing Sing so they could operate immediately in case I changed my mind. Within minutes, though, he was back again. “This is it, Willie, they want you down in administration.”
中午前的某个点，值班员来到牢房，告诉前厅办公室派人来取我的病历。“我不想给你太多的希望，威利，因为我总是会错的。但他们只有在准备释放某人时，才会这样做。大约一小时后，他又过来了，更加兴奋。“别说是我说的，但我想你差不多该回家了。有很多工作已经在进行。”
好吧，我不会说是他说的。我估摸着，他们正准备派我去Sing Sing，万一我改变主意，他们就可以马上采取行动了。没有过几分钟，他又再一次回来了。“就是这样的，威利，他们让你现在下去行政部。”
Mr. Lenox, the officer in charge of the clothing department, was waiting for me. “Come in and sit down,” he said. “You want a cup of coffee?”
负责服装部的Lenox先生正在等我。“进来坐下吧，你想喝杯咖啡吗?”他说。
I sat down and for the first time, really, there was a little bit of hope beginning to percolate inside me along with the coffee. “Willie,” he said, beaming broadly. “I was notified to measure you for a civilian suit.” That’s what they do when you’re being released. They measure you up for a civilian suit and topcoat. He stuck out his hand. “Congratulations.”
我坐了下来，第一次真实地感受到有那么一点希望，开始随着咖啡渗透到内心里。“威利，”他笑着说。“我接到通知，要为你量一件便服。“当你被释放的时候，他们就会让你穿上。”他们会给你量身、制作套装和外套。他伸出手来“恭喜你。”
It was as quick as that. I went back up for a bath and shave and was processed through. What that means is that they take your prints and picture again when you’re leaving, because if you’ve been there a long time there can be a great change in your appearance. On the way back to the administration to pick up my suit, I stopped in at the parole agent’s office to find out what the rush was all about. “Well,” he said. “They found a decision that they overlooked and it gives you more time off your sentence than they originally thought.”
就是这么快，然后我回去洗了个澡，刮了胡子，一切都搞定了。这意味着，他们会在你离开的时给你拍照，因为如果你在那里呆了很长时间，你的外表会有很大的变化。在回行政部门取衣服的路上，我在假释官的办公室停了下来，想弄清楚为什么这么匆忙。“好吧, ”他说。“他们发现自己忽略了一个决定，这使得你呆的时间比他们原来设想的更多。”
“What’s the name of the decision?” I asked. Because naturally I wondered what we could have overlooked.
“Offhand, I can’t tell you. It came out a long time ago.”
That didn’t make any sense at all. But what was I going to do, argue with him?
“这个决定叫什么名字?””我问。我当然很自然地想知道，究竟是忽略了什么。
“管它是什么呢，我不能告诉你。它很久以前就出来了。
那完全毫无理由。但我能做什么？和他争论?
Back to administration. Given the suit and topcoat. Handed a check for $169, half the amount I had earned through the fifteen years I had been confined there. Given the $40 check that everybody gets upon their release, the price of a bus ticket to New York City. And then I was being ushered through the front gate into the frigid December air.
回到行政部时，剔除西装和外套的费用，他们递给我一张169美元的支票，这是我在那儿15年总共所挣钱数的一半。还得到一张40美元的支票，这是每个人在获释后都能得到的，相当于一张去纽约的汽车票价格。然后我被领着穿过监狱的最前门，进入了寒冷的十二月空气中。
The parole board never would admit that they had changed their decision. Paul D. McGinnis, the State Correction Commissioner, answered all questions by stating that he personally had ordered my release after checking through my records and finding that I was entitled by law to be set free. His decision, he insisted, had been based upon information not available to the parole board, although exactly what information was never made clear. Any more than it was ever made clear by what authority a commissioner of correction was entitled to go around discharging prisoners.
假释委员会永远不会承认他们改变了主意。州矫正专员保罗·d·麦克金尼斯(Paul D. McGinnis)回答了所有的问题，他说，在检查了我的记录，发现我在法律上有权被释放后，他亲自下令释放了我。他坚持说到，他的决定是基于假释委员会无法获得相应的信息，尽管确切的信息还是没说清。更不清楚的是，一名惩教专员是如何被法律赋予权力，可以到各处去释放犯人。
The story I heard in later years was that McGinnis, who didn’t want me to die in his prison, called Rockefeller to urge him to give me a Christmas pardon, and Rockefeller, who had been trying desperately to pressure the parole board into getting him off the hook, either told him straight out or left him with the unmistakable impression that if he wanted to go ahead on his own and present everybody with an accomplished fact, not only wouldn’t anybody be mad at him they would be downright grateful. Needless to say, the parole board eventually did have to quietly legitimize it and place me under their control.
在几年之后，我听到了这样的故事。麦金尼斯，他不想让我死在监狱，然后致电给洛克菲勒，敦促他给我一个圣诞谅解。和洛克菲勒一直在拼命缓和假释委员会上的压力，为让他摆脱困境，直接告诉他或让他明白无误的印。,如果他想继续在自己位置上和一起完成这些事实，不仅不会有人生他的气，他们还会万分感激。不用说，假释委员会最终不得不悄悄地让它合法化，把我置于他们的控制之下。
There was a television crew waiting for me just outside the gate, along with a clutch of reporters. A microphone was stuck into my face, and the first question I was asked was, “How does it feel to be a free man again?”
I told them, quite truthfully, that it was going to take a little time before I realized that I was.
A car was honking in the background, and when I looked over I could see that it was a friend of mine from Buffalo, Dominick Tassarella. Dominick had been an inmate at Attica for about three years, we had remained in touch, and he was such a good guy that whenever Katherine was coming up to see me he would be there at the train station in Batavia to drive her to the Marleys. The bewildering thing about seeing him there was that as an ex-con, Dominick wasn’t supposed to come to the prison. Any more than I, as an ex-con, was supposed to associate with him. It was Katherine who had called him, of course. Not to pick her up this time, but to pick me up.
有一个电视摄制组在门外等着我，还有一群记者。麦克风卡在了我的脸上，被问到的第一个问题是: “重获自由感觉如何?”
我非常诚实地告诉他们，我需要一点时间,才能意识到我是真的获得了自由。
一辆汽车在后面鸣响，当我朝前看的时候，看到的是在布法罗的一个朋友，多米尼克·塔萨雷拉。多米尼克在阿提卡已经住了大约三年了，我们一直保持着联系，他是个好人。无论什么时候，凯瑟琳来看我，他都会到巴达维亚的火车站，接送她去玛丽家。在那里见到他让人困惑的是，多米尼克是个有前科的犯人，不应该来监狱。更何况是，我曾作为协犯，曾协助他作案。当然是凯瑟琳给他打的电话，这次不用去接她，而是来接我。
Katherine had been cleaning up her house for Christmas, the first time she had done any housework in months when the phone rang and the caller identified himself as Commissioner McGinnis.
凯瑟琳正在打扫她的房子，准备过圣诞节，这是她几个月来第一次做家务。这时电话铃响了，打电话的人自称是麦克金尼斯局长。
Katherine, who had been getting a lot of crank calls, said, “Cut the baloney,” and slammed the receiver down.
A few moments later it rang again. “This is Commissioner McGinnis,” he repeated. “You know who I am, don’t you, Katherine? I’m calling to tell you that Willie Sutton is going to be on the front steps of Attica prison at four o’clock.” If she didn’t believe it, she could call up Attica herself. “In fact,” he said, “turn on the radio. It will be coming over in about ten minutes.” He had put out the story with a two-thirty release time on it to make sure he’d have time to notify her first.
凯瑟琳接到了很多古怪的电话，她说，“别胡扯了”，然后砰的一声把话筒放下。
过了一会儿，它又响了。“我是麦金尼斯局长，”他重复道。“你知道我是谁，是不是，凯瑟琳?”我打电话是想告诉你威利·萨顿四点会出现在阿提卡监狱的门前台阶上。如果不相信，她可以亲自打电话给阿提卡。“事实上，”他说，“打开收音机。大约十分钟后也会到了。为了确保事先通知她，他把这个故事在两点半的发布时间之前，放了出来。
She put in a call to the warden’s office, got the dep, and said, “Do you realize it’s zero degrees outside? What’s all this I hear that he’s going to be on the front step at four o’clock?”
That was the way it was going to be, the dep said. “He’s being discharged at four o’clock sharp. Make your arrangements.”
“What arrangements? I don’t know anybody who lives in Buffalo except a convict friend of Willie’s.”
That, he said, was against the rules.
Katherine told him what he could do with his rules.
她放下电话，立即给监狱长办公室打了个电话，找到了副局长，说:“你知道外面的温度是零摄氏度吗?”我听说他四点钟走上台阶，这是怎么回事?”
他说:“事情就是这样的。”“他四点钟已经被免罪了。”你可以安排相关的事了”
“什么安排?除了威利的一个苦役犯朋友之外，我不认识任何住在布法罗的人。
他说，这是违反规定的。
凯瑟琳告诉他可以怎样处理他的规则。
After she had thrown her fur coat over her dungarees and gone out to her office, she realized that she had no money and that the banks were closed. So she did the first thing that came to her mind. She picked up the phone, called the New York Daily News, and said, “You have a plane, don’t you? Good. Well, I have a client in Buffalo who’s going to be on the steps of Attica prison at four o’clock. That’s right, Willie Sutton.” Their plane for an exclusive story, even up. It wasn’t until she had hung up that she remembered that she had never flown in a plane before and was in deathly fear of flying. They were supposed to pick her up in fifteen minutes. When I called her from the first tavern Dominick and I saw she was still in her office, waiting. In fact, she was in the middle of being interviewed over television. Dominick was taking me home with him to spend Christmas Eve with his family, I told her. They were having a party there for their closest friends and their kids.
当她把裘皮大衣披在工装裤上，走到办公室时，她意识到自己没有钱了，可银行关门了。于是做了想到的第一件事。她拿起电话，给《纽约每日新闻》(New York Daily News)打了电话，说: “你有飞机，是吗?”好。我在布法罗有个客户，四点钟前要去阿提卡监狱。没错，是威利·萨顿。他们的飞机是为做独家报道才能起飞的。直到挂断电话，她才想起自己以前从未坐过飞机，非常害怕飞行。他们预期在十五分钟内接上她。当我从第一家多明尼克酒馆给她打电话时，我晓得她还在办公室里等着。事实上，她正在接受电视采访。多米尼克要带我回家和他的家人一起过平安夜，我告诉她。他们在那里为最亲密的朋友和孩子们举行聚会。
They made it seem as if the party had been planned especially to welcome me out, Dominick and his wife, Josie. The things you miss most in prison. A home, a family, white tablecloth, and happy, laughing children. A real Italian feast, with a long table piled high with food. The first thing Dominick did was hand me a huge goblet of sparkling red wine so that we could drink a toast in celebration of my release. And then another toast to Katherine. And then a toast to all the people who had written to Rockefeller . . . and a toast to Pete Hamill and the Free Willie Sutton Committee . . . and a toast to all the people who had prayed for me . . . and then I sat down, all woozy, and realized, amidst the laughter, that I couldn’t go that route anymore.
他们让我觉得这个聚会，好像是特意为我准备的，多米尼克和他的妻子乔西。你在监狱里最怀念的东西。一个家，一个家庭，白色的桌布，快乐的，欢笑的孩子。一顿真正的意大利大餐，长长的桌子上堆满了食物。多米尼克做的第一件事，就是递给我一大杯起泡的红酒，这样我们就可以喝一杯来庆祝我的释放。然后再为凯瑟琳干杯，然后向所有给洛克菲勒写信的人敬酒……为皮特哈米尔和自由威利萨顿委员会干杯……为所有为我祈祷的人干杯……然后我坐下来，头昏目眩，可却意识到，在笑声中，我再也不会走回之前的路了。
网友评论