--- a/data/metamorphosis.txt Mon Jan 16 23:30:54 2017 +0000
+++ /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
@@ -1,1949 +0,0 @@
-I
-
-
-One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found
-himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on
-his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could
-see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff
-sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready
-to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared
-with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he
-looked.
-
-"What's happened to me?" he thought. It wasn't a dream. His room,
-a proper human room although a little too small, lay peacefully
-between its four familiar walls. A collection of textile samples
-lay spread out on the table - Samsa was a travelling salesman - and
-above it there hung a picture that he had recently cut out of an
-illustrated magazine and housed in a nice, gilded frame. It showed
-a lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur boa who sat upright,
-raising a heavy fur muff that covered the whole of her lower arm
-towards the viewer.
-
-Gregor then turned to look out the window at the dull weather.
-Drops of rain could be heard hitting the pane, which made him feel
-quite sad. "How about if I sleep a little bit longer and forget all
-this nonsense", he thought, but that was something he was unable to
-do because he was used to sleeping on his right, and in his present
-state couldn't get into that position. However hard he threw
-himself onto his right, he always rolled back to where he was. He
-must have tried it a hundred times, shut his eyes so that he
-wouldn't have to look at the floundering legs, and only stopped when
-he began to feel a mild, dull pain there that he had never felt
-before.
-
-"Oh, God", he thought, "what a strenuous career it is that I've
-chosen! Travelling day in and day out. Doing business like this
-takes much more effort than doing your own business at home, and on
-top of that there's the curse of travelling, worries about making
-train connections, bad and irregular food, contact with different
-people all the time so that you can never get to know anyone or
-become friendly with them. It can all go to Hell!" He felt a
-slight itch up on his belly; pushed himself slowly up on his back
-towards the headboard so that he could lift his head better; found
-where the itch was, and saw that it was covered with lots of little
-white spots which he didn't know what to make of; and when he tried
-to feel the place with one of his legs he drew it quickly back
-because as soon as he touched it he was overcome by a cold shudder.
-
-He slid back into his former position. "Getting up early all the
-time", he thought, "it makes you stupid. You've got to get enough
-sleep. Other travelling salesmen live a life of luxury. For
-instance, whenever I go back to the guest house during the morning
-to copy out the contract, these gentlemen are always still sitting
-there eating their breakfasts. I ought to just try that with my
-boss; I'd get kicked out on the spot. But who knows, maybe that
-would be the best thing for me. If I didn't have my parents to
-think about I'd have given in my notice a long time ago, I'd have
-gone up to the boss and told him just what I think, tell him
-everything I would, let him know just what I feel. He'd fall right
-off his desk! And it's a funny sort of business to be sitting up
-there at your desk, talking down at your subordinates from up there,
-especially when you have to go right up close because the boss is
-hard of hearing. Well, there's still some hope; once I've got the
-money together to pay off my parents' debt to him - another five or
-six years I suppose - that's definitely what I'll do. That's when
-I'll make the big change. First of all though, I've got to get up,
-my train leaves at five."
-
-And he looked over at the alarm clock, ticking on the chest of
-drawers. "God in Heaven!" he thought. It was half past six and the
-hands were quietly moving forwards, it was even later than half
-past, more like quarter to seven. Had the alarm clock not rung? He
-could see from the bed that it had been set for four o'clock as it
-should have been; it certainly must have rung. Yes, but was it
-possible to quietly sleep through that furniture-rattling noise?
-True, he had not slept peacefully, but probably all the more deeply
-because of that. What should he do now? The next train went at
-seven; if he were to catch that he would have to rush like mad and
-the collection of samples was still not packed, and he did not at
-all feel particularly fresh and lively. And even if he did catch
-the train he would not avoid his boss's anger as the office
-assistant would have been there to see the five o'clock train go, he
-would have put in his report about Gregor's not being there a long
-time ago. The office assistant was the boss's man, spineless, and
-with no understanding. What about if he reported sick? But that
-would be extremely strained and suspicious as in fifteen years of
-service Gregor had never once yet been ill. His boss would
-certainly come round with the doctor from the medical insurance
-company, accuse his parents of having a lazy son, and accept the
-doctor's recommendation not to make any claim as the doctor believed
-that no-one was ever ill but that many were workshy. And what's
-more, would he have been entirely wrong in this case? Gregor did in
-fact, apart from excessive sleepiness after sleeping for so long,
-feel completely well and even felt much hungrier than usual.
-
-He was still hurriedly thinking all this through, unable to decide
-to get out of the bed, when the clock struck quarter to seven.
-There was a cautious knock at the door near his head. "Gregor",
-somebody called - it was his mother - "it's quarter to seven.
-Didn't you want to go somewhere?" That gentle voice! Gregor was
-shocked when he heard his own voice answering, it could hardly be
-recognised as the voice he had had before. As if from deep inside
-him, there was a painful and uncontrollable squeaking mixed in with
-it, the words could be made out at first but then there was a sort
-of echo which made them unclear, leaving the hearer unsure whether
-he had heard properly or not. Gregor had wanted to give a full
-answer and explain everything, but in the circumstances contented
-himself with saying: "Yes, mother, yes, thank-you, I'm getting up
-now." The change in Gregor's voice probably could not be noticed
-outside through the wooden door, as his mother was satisfied with
-this explanation and shuffled away. But this short conversation
-made the other members of the family aware that Gregor, against
-their expectations was still at home, and soon his father came
-knocking at one of the side doors, gently, but with his fist.
-"Gregor, Gregor", he called, "what's wrong?" And after a short
-while he called again with a warning deepness in his voice: "Gregor!
-Gregor!" At the other side door his sister came plaintively:
-"Gregor? Aren't you well? Do you need anything?" Gregor answered to
-both sides: "I'm ready, now", making an effort to remove all the
-strangeness from his voice by enunciating very carefully and putting
-long pauses between each, individual word. His father went back to
-his breakfast, but his sister whispered: "Gregor, open the door, I
-beg of you." Gregor, however, had no thought of opening the door,
-and instead congratulated himself for his cautious habit, acquired
-from his travelling, of locking all doors at night even when he was
-at home.
-
-The first thing he wanted to do was to get up in peace without being
-disturbed, to get dressed, and most of all to have his breakfast.
-Only then would he consider what to do next, as he was well aware
-that he would not bring his thoughts to any sensible conclusions by
-lying in bed. He remembered that he had often felt a slight pain in
-bed, perhaps caused by lying awkwardly, but that had always turned
-out to be pure imagination and he wondered how his imaginings would
-slowly resolve themselves today. He did not have the slightest
-doubt that the change in his voice was nothing more than the first
-sign of a serious cold, which was an occupational hazard for
-travelling salesmen.
-
-It was a simple matter to throw off the covers; he only had to blow
-himself up a little and they fell off by themselves. But it became
-difficult after that, especially as he was so exceptionally broad.
-He would have used his arms and his hands to push himself up; but
-instead of them he only had all those little legs continuously
-moving in different directions, and which he was moreover unable to
-control. If he wanted to bend one of them, then that was the first
-one that would stretch itself out; and if he finally managed to do
-what he wanted with that leg, all the others seemed to be set free
-and would move about painfully. "This is something that can't be
-done in bed", Gregor said to himself, "so don't keep trying to do
-it".
-
-The first thing he wanted to do was get the lower part of his body
-out of the bed, but he had never seen this lower part, and could not
-imagine what it looked like; it turned out to be too hard to move;
-it went so slowly; and finally, almost in a frenzy, when he
-carelessly shoved himself forwards with all the force he could
-gather, he chose the wrong direction, hit hard against the lower
-bedpost, and learned from the burning pain he felt that the lower
-part of his body might well, at present, be the most sensitive.
-
-So then he tried to get the top part of his body out of the bed
-first, carefully turning his head to the side. This he managed
-quite easily, and despite its breadth and its weight, the bulk of
-his body eventually followed slowly in the direction of the head.
-But when he had at last got his head out of the bed and into the
-fresh air it occurred to him that if he let himself fall it would be
-a miracle if his head were not injured, so he became afraid to carry
-on pushing himself forward the same way. And he could not knock
-himself out now at any price; better to stay in bed than lose
-consciousness.
-
-It took just as much effort to get back to where he had been
-earlier, but when he lay there sighing, and was once more watching
-his legs as they struggled against each other even harder than
-before, if that was possible, he could think of no way of bringing
-peace and order to this chaos. He told himself once more that it
-was not possible for him to stay in bed and that the most sensible
-thing to do would be to get free of it in whatever way he could at
-whatever sacrifice. At the same time, though, he did not forget to
-remind himself that calm consideration was much better than rushing
-to desperate conclusions. At times like this he would direct his
-eyes to the window and look out as clearly as he could, but
-unfortunately, even the other side of the narrow street was
-enveloped in morning fog and the view had little confidence or cheer
-to offer him. "Seven o'clock, already", he said to himself when the
-clock struck again, "seven o'clock, and there's still a fog like
-this." And he lay there quietly a while longer, breathing lightly
-as if he perhaps expected the total stillness to bring things back
-to their real and natural state.
-
-But then he said to himself: "Before it strikes quarter past seven
-I'll definitely have to have got properly out of bed. And by then
-somebody will have come round from work to ask what's happened to me
-as well, as they open up at work before seven o'clock." And so he
-set himself to the task of swinging the entire length of his body
-out of the bed all at the same time. If he succeeded in falling out
-of bed in this way and kept his head raised as he did so he could
-probably avoid injuring it. His back seemed to be quite hard, and
-probably nothing would happen to it falling onto the carpet. His
-main concern was for the loud noise he was bound to make, and which
-even through all the doors would probably raise concern if not
-alarm. But it was something that had to be risked.
-
-When Gregor was already sticking half way out of the bed - the new
-method was more of a game than an effort, all he had to do was rock
-back and forth - it occurred to him how simple everything would be
-if somebody came to help him. Two strong people - he had his father
-and the maid in mind - would have been more than enough; they would
-only have to push their arms under the dome of his back, peel him
-away from the bed, bend down with the load and then be patient and
-careful as he swang over onto the floor, where, hopefully, the
-little legs would find a use. Should he really call for help
-though, even apart from the fact that all the doors were locked?
-Despite all the difficulty he was in, he could not suppress a smile
-at this thought.
-
-After a while he had already moved so far across that it would have
-been hard for him to keep his balance if he rocked too hard. The
-time was now ten past seven and he would have to make a final
-decision very soon. Then there was a ring at the door of the flat.
-"That'll be someone from work", he said to himself, and froze very
-still, although his little legs only became all the more lively as
-they danced around. For a moment everything remained quiet.
-"They're not opening the door", Gregor said to himself, caught in
-some nonsensical hope. But then of course, the maid's firm steps
-went to the door as ever and opened it. Gregor only needed to hear
-the visitor's first words of greeting and he knew who it was - the
-chief clerk himself. Why did Gregor have to be the only one
-condemned to work for a company where they immediately became highly
-suspicious at the slightest shortcoming? Were all employees, every
-one of them, louts, was there not one of them who was faithful and
-devoted who would go so mad with pangs of conscience that he
-couldn't get out of bed if he didn't spend at least a couple of
-hours in the morning on company business? Was it really not enough
-to let one of the trainees make enquiries - assuming enquiries were
-even necessary - did the chief clerk have to come himself, and did
-they have to show the whole, innocent family that this was so
-suspicious that only the chief clerk could be trusted to have the
-wisdom to investigate it? And more because these thoughts had made
-him upset than through any proper decision, he swang himself with
-all his force out of the bed. There was a loud thump, but it wasn't
-really a loud noise. His fall was softened a little by the carpet,
-and Gregor's back was also more elastic than he had thought, which
-made the sound muffled and not too noticeable. He had not held his
-head carefully enough, though, and hit it as he fell; annoyed and in
-pain, he turned it and rubbed it against the carpet.
-
-"Something's fallen down in there", said the chief clerk in the room
-on the left. Gregor tried to imagine whether something of the sort
-that had happened to him today could ever happen to the chief clerk
-too; you had to concede that it was possible. But as if in gruff
-reply to this question, the chief clerk's firm footsteps in his
-highly polished boots could now be heard in the adjoining room.
-From the room on his right, Gregor's sister whispered to him to let
-him know: "Gregor, the chief clerk is here." "Yes, I know", said
-Gregor to himself; but without daring to raise his voice loud enough
-for his sister to hear him.
-
-"Gregor", said his father now from the room to his left, "the chief
-clerk has come round and wants to know why you didn't leave on the
-early train. We don't know what to say to him. And anyway, he
-wants to speak to you personally. So please open up this door. I'm
-sure he'll be good enough to forgive the untidiness of your room."
-Then the chief clerk called "Good morning, Mr. Samsa". "He isn't
-well", said his mother to the chief clerk, while his father
-continued to speak through the door. "He isn't well, please believe
-me. Why else would Gregor have missed a train! The lad only ever
-thinks about the business. It nearly makes me cross the way he
-never goes out in the evenings; he's been in town for a week now but
-stayed home every evening. He sits with us in the kitchen and just
-reads the paper or studies train timetables. His idea of relaxation
-is working with his fretsaw. He's made a little frame, for
-instance, it only took him two or three evenings, you'll be amazed
-how nice it is; it's hanging up in his room; you'll see it as soon
-as Gregor opens the door. Anyway, I'm glad you're here; we wouldn't
-have been able to get Gregor to open the door by ourselves; he's so
-stubborn; and I'm sure he isn't well, he said this morning that he
-is, but he isn't." "I'll be there in a moment", said Gregor slowly
-and thoughtfully, but without moving so that he would not miss any
-word of the conversation. "Well I can't think of any other way of
-explaining it, Mrs. Samsa", said the chief clerk, "I hope it's
-nothing serious. But on the other hand, I must say that if we
-people in commerce ever become slightly unwell then, fortunately or
-unfortunately as you like, we simply have to overcome it because of
-business considerations." "Can the chief clerk come in to see you
-now then?", asked his father impatiently, knocking at the door
-again. "No", said Gregor. In the room on his right there followed
-a painful silence; in the room on his left his sister began to cry.
-
-So why did his sister not go and join the others? She had probably
-only just got up and had not even begun to get dressed. And why was
-she crying? Was it because he had not got up, and had not let the
-chief clerk in, because he was in danger of losing his job and if
-that happened his boss would once more pursue their parents with the
-same demands as before? There was no need to worry about things like
-that yet. Gregor was still there and had not the slightest
-intention of abandoning his family. For the time being he just lay
-there on the carpet, and no-one who knew the condition he was in
-would seriously have expected him to let the chief clerk in. It was
-only a minor discourtesy, and a suitable excuse could easily be
-found for it later on, it was not something for which Gregor could
-be sacked on the spot. And it seemed to Gregor much more sensible
-to leave him now in peace instead of disturbing him with talking at
-him and crying. But the others didn't know what was happening, they
-were worried, that would excuse their behaviour.
-
-The chief clerk now raised his voice, "Mr. Samsa", he called to him,
-"what is wrong? You barricade yourself in your room, give us no more
-than yes or no for an answer, you are causing serious and
-unnecessary concern to your parents and you fail - and I mention
-this just by the way - you fail to carry out your business duties in
-a way that is quite unheard of. I'm speaking here on behalf of your
-parents and of your employer, and really must request a clear and
-immediate explanation. I am astonished, quite astonished. I
-thought I knew you as a calm and sensible person, and now you
-suddenly seem to be showing off with peculiar whims. This morning,
-your employer did suggest a possible reason for your failure to
-appear, it's true - it had to do with the money that was recently
-entrusted to you - but I came near to giving him my word of honour
-that that could not be the right explanation. But now that I see
-your incomprehensible stubbornness I no longer feel any wish
-whatsoever to intercede on your behalf. And nor is your position
-all that secure. I had originally intended to say all this to you
-in private, but since you cause me to waste my time here for no good
-reason I don't see why your parents should not also learn of it.
-Your turnover has been very unsatisfactory of late; I grant you that
-it's not the time of year to do especially good business, we
-recognise that; but there simply is no time of year to do no
-business at all, Mr. Samsa, we cannot allow there to be."
-
-"But Sir", called Gregor, beside himself and forgetting all else in
-the excitement, "I'll open up immediately, just a moment. I'm
-slightly unwell, an attack of dizziness, I haven't been able to get
-up. I'm still in bed now. I'm quite fresh again now, though. I'm
-just getting out of bed. Just a moment. Be patient! It's not quite
-as easy as I'd thought. I'm quite alright now, though. It's
-shocking, what can suddenly happen to a person! I was quite alright
-last night, my parents know about it, perhaps better than me, I had
-a small symptom of it last night already. They must have noticed
-it. I don't know why I didn't let you know at work! But you always
-think you can get over an illness without staying at home. Please,
-don't make my parents suffer! There's no basis for any of the
-accusations you're making; nobody's ever said a word to me about any
-of these things. Maybe you haven't read the latest contracts I sent
-in. I'll set off with the eight o'clock train, as well, these few
-hours of rest have given me strength. You don't need to wait, sir;
-I'll be in the office soon after you, and please be so good as to
-tell that to the boss and recommend me to him!"
-
-And while Gregor gushed out these words, hardly knowing what he was
-saying, he made his way over to the chest of drawers - this was
-easily done, probably because of the practise he had already had in
-bed - where he now tried to get himself upright. He really did want
-to open the door, really did want to let them see him and to speak
-with the chief clerk; the others were being so insistent, and he was
-curious to learn what they would say when they caught sight of him.
-If they were shocked then it would no longer be Gregor's
-responsibility and he could rest. If, however, they took everything
-calmly he would still have no reason to be upset, and if he hurried
-he really could be at the station for eight o'clock. The first few
-times he tried to climb up on the smooth chest of drawers he just
-slid down again, but he finally gave himself one last swing and
-stood there upright; the lower part of his body was in serious pain
-but he no longer gave any attention to it. Now he let himself fall
-against the back of a nearby chair and held tightly to the edges of
-it with his little legs. By now he had also calmed down, and kept
-quiet so that he could listen to what the chief clerk was saying.
-
-"Did you understand a word of all that?" the chief clerk asked his
-parents, "surely he's not trying to make fools of us". "Oh, God!"
-called his mother, who was already in tears, "he could be seriously
-ill and we're making him suffer. Grete! Grete!" she then cried.
-"Mother?" his sister called from the other side. They communicated
-across Gregor's room. "You'll have to go for the doctor straight
-away. Gregor is ill. Quick, get the doctor. Did you hear the way
-Gregor spoke just now?" "That was the voice of an animal", said the
-chief clerk, with a calmness that was in contrast with his mother's
-screams. "Anna! Anna!" his father called into the kitchen through
-the entrance hall, clapping his hands, "get a locksmith here, now!"
-And the two girls, their skirts swishing, immediately ran out
-through the hall, wrenching open the front door of the flat as they
-went. How had his sister managed to get dressed so quickly? There
-was no sound of the door banging shut again; they must have left it
-open; people often do in homes where something awful has happened.
-
-Gregor, in contrast, had become much calmer. So they couldn't
-understand his words any more, although they seemed clear enough to
-him, clearer than before - perhaps his ears had become used to the
-sound. They had realised, though, that there was something wrong
-with him, and were ready to help. The first response to his
-situation had been confident and wise, and that made him feel
-better. He felt that he had been drawn back in among people, and
-from the doctor and the locksmith he expected great and surprising
-achievements - although he did not really distinguish one from the
-other. Whatever was said next would be crucial, so, in order to
-make his voice as clear as possible, he coughed a little, but taking
-care to do this not too loudly as even this might well sound
-different from the way that a human coughs and he was no longer sure
-he could judge this for himself. Meanwhile, it had become very
-quiet in the next room. Perhaps his parents were sat at the table
-whispering with the chief clerk, or perhaps they were all pressed
-against the door and listening.
-
-Gregor slowly pushed his way over to the door with the chair. Once
-there he let go of it and threw himself onto the door, holding
-himself upright against it using the adhesive on the tips of his
-legs. He rested there a little while to recover from the effort
-involved and then set himself to the task of turning the key in the
-lock with his mouth. He seemed, unfortunately, to have no proper
-teeth - how was he, then, to grasp the key? - but the lack of teeth
-was, of course, made up for with a very strong jaw; using the jaw,
-he really was able to start the key turning, ignoring the fact that
-he must have been causing some kind of damage as a brown fluid came
-from his mouth, flowed over the key and dripped onto the floor.
-"Listen", said the chief clerk in the next room, "he's turning the
-key." Gregor was greatly encouraged by this; but they all should
-have been calling to him, his father and his mother too: "Well done,
-Gregor", they should have cried, "keep at it, keep hold of the
-lock!" And with the idea that they were all excitedly following his
-efforts, he bit on the key with all his strength, paying no
-attention to the pain he was causing himself. As the key turned
-round he turned around the lock with it, only holding himself
-upright with his mouth, and hung onto the key or pushed it down
-again with the whole weight of his body as needed. The clear sound
-of the lock as it snapped back was Gregor's sign that he could break
-his concentration, and as he regained his breath he said to himself:
-"So, I didn't need the locksmith after all". Then he lay his head on
-the handle of the door to open it completely.
-
-Because he had to open the door in this way, it was already wide
-open before he could be seen. He had first to slowly turn himself
-around one of the double doors, and he had to do it very carefully
-if he did not want to fall flat on his back before entering the
-room. He was still occupied with this difficult movement, unable to
-pay attention to anything else, when he heard the chief clerk
-exclaim a loud "Oh!", which sounded like the soughing of the wind.
-Now he also saw him - he was the nearest to the door - his hand
-pressed against his open mouth and slowly retreating as if driven by
-a steady and invisible force. Gregor's mother, her hair still
-dishevelled from bed despite the chief clerk's being there, looked
-at his father. Then she unfolded her arms, took two steps forward
-towards Gregor and sank down onto the floor into her skirts that
-spread themselves out around her as her head disappeared down onto
-her breast. His father looked hostile, and clenched his fists as if
-wanting to knock Gregor back into his room. Then he looked
-uncertainly round the living room, covered his eyes with his hands
-and wept so that his powerful chest shook.
-
-So Gregor did not go into the room, but leant against the inside of
-the other door which was still held bolted in place. In this way
-only half of his body could be seen, along with his head above it
-which he leant over to one side as he peered out at the others.
-Meanwhile the day had become much lighter; part of the endless,
-grey-black building on the other side of the street - which was a
-hospital - could be seen quite clearly with the austere and regular
-line of windows piercing its facade; the rain was still
-falling, now throwing down large, individual droplets which hit the
-ground one at a time. The washing up from breakfast lay on the
-table; there was so much of it because, for Gregor's father,
-breakfast was the most important meal of the day and he would
-stretch it out for several hours as he sat reading a number of
-different newspapers. On the wall exactly opposite there was
-photograph of Gregor when he was a lieutenant in the army, his sword
-in his hand and a carefree smile on his face as he called forth
-respect for his uniform and bearing. The door to the entrance hall
-was open and as the front door of the flat was also open he could
-see onto the landing and the stairs where they began their way down
-below.
-
-"Now, then", said Gregor, well aware that he was the only one to
-have kept calm, "I'll get dressed straight away now, pack up my
-samples and set off. Will you please just let me leave? You can
-see", he said to the chief clerk, "that I'm not stubborn and I
-like to do my job; being a commercial traveller is arduous but
-without travelling I couldn't earn my living. So where are you
-going, in to the office? Yes? Will you report everything accurately,
-then? It's quite possible for someone to be temporarily unable to
-work, but that's just the right time to remember what's been
-achieved in the past and consider that later on, once the difficulty
-has been removed, he will certainly work with all the more diligence
-and concentration. You're well aware that I'm seriously in debt to
-our employer as well as having to look after my parents and my
-sister, so that I'm trapped in a difficult situation, but I will
-work my way out of it again. Please don't make things any harder
-for me than they are already, and don't take sides against me at the
-office. I know that nobody likes the travellers. They think we
-earn an enormous wage as well as having a soft time of it. That's
-just prejudice but they have no particular reason to think better of
-it. But you, sir, you have a better overview than the rest of the
-staff, in fact, if I can say this in confidence, a better overview
-than the boss himself - it's very easy for a businessman like him to
-make mistakes about his employees and judge them more harshly than
-he should. And you're also well aware that we travellers spend
-almost the whole year away from the office, so that we can very
-easily fall victim to gossip and chance and groundless complaints,
-and it's almost impossible to defend yourself from that sort of
-thing, we don't usually even hear about them, or if at all it's when
-we arrive back home exhausted from a trip, and that's when we feel
-the harmful effects of what's been going on without even knowing
-what caused them. Please, don't go away, at least first say
-something to show that you grant that I'm at least partly right!"
-
-But the chief clerk had turned away as soon as Gregor had started to
-speak, and, with protruding lips, only stared back at him over his
-trembling shoulders as he left. He did not keep still for a moment
-while Gregor was speaking, but moved steadily towards the door
-without taking his eyes off him. He moved very gradually, as if
-there had been some secret prohibition on leaving the room. It was
-only when he had reached the entrance hall that he made a sudden
-movement, drew his foot from the living room, and rushed forward in
-a panic. In the hall, he stretched his right hand far out towards
-the stairway as if out there, there were some supernatural force
-waiting to save him.
-
-Gregor realised that it was out of the question to let the chief
-clerk go away in this mood if his position in the firm was not to be
-put into extreme danger. That was something his parents did not
-understand very well; over the years, they had become convinced that
-this job would provide for Gregor for his entire life, and besides,
-they had so much to worry about at present that they had lost sight
-of any thought for the future. Gregor, though, did think about the
-future. The chief clerk had to be held back, calmed down, convinced
-and finally won over; the future of Gregor and his family depended
-on it! If only his sister were here! She was clever; she was already
-in tears while Gregor was still lying peacefully on his back. And
-the chief clerk was a lover of women, surely she could persuade him;
-she would close the front door in the entrance hall and talk him out
-of his shocked state. But his sister was not there, Gregor would
-have to do the job himself. And without considering that he still
-was not familiar with how well he could move about in his present
-state, or that his speech still might not - or probably would not -
-be understood, he let go of the door; pushed himself through the
-opening; tried to reach the chief clerk on the landing who,
-ridiculously, was holding on to the banister with both hands; but
-Gregor fell immediately over and, with a little scream as he sought
-something to hold onto, landed on his numerous little legs. Hardly
-had that happened than, for the first time that day, he began to
-feel alright with his body; the little legs had the solid ground
-under them; to his pleasure, they did exactly as he told them; they
-were even making the effort to carry him where he wanted to go; and
-he was soon believing that all his sorrows would soon be finally at
-an end. He held back the urge to move but swayed from side to side
-as he crouched there on the floor. His mother was not far away in
-front of him and seemed, at first, quite engrossed in herself, but
-then she suddenly jumped up with her arms outstretched and her
-fingers spread shouting: "Help, for pity's sake, Help!" The way she
-held her head suggested she wanted to see Gregor better, but the
-unthinking way she was hurrying backwards showed that she did not;
-she had forgotten that the table was behind her with all the
-breakfast things on it; when she reached the table she sat quickly
-down on it without knowing what she was doing; without even seeming
-to notice that the coffee pot had been knocked over and a gush of
-coffee was pouring down onto the carpet.
-
-"Mother, mother", said Gregor gently, looking up at her. He had
-completely forgotten the chief clerk for the moment, but could not
-help himself snapping in the air with his jaws at the sight of the
-flow of coffee. That set his mother screaming anew, she fled from
-the table and into the arms of his father as he rushed towards her.
-Gregor, though, had no time to spare for his parents now; the chief
-clerk had already reached the stairs; with his chin on the banister,
-he looked back for the last time. Gregor made a run for him; he
-wanted to be sure of reaching him; the chief clerk must have
-expected something, as he leapt down several steps at once and
-disappeared; his shouts resounding all around the staircase. The
-flight of the chief clerk seemed, unfortunately, to put Gregor's
-father into a panic as well. Until then he had been relatively self
-controlled, but now, instead of running after the chief clerk
-himself, or at least not impeding Gregor as he ran after him,
-Gregor's father seized the chief clerk's stick in his right hand
-(the chief clerk had left it behind on a chair, along with his hat
-and overcoat), picked up a large newspaper from the table with his
-left, and used them to drive Gregor back into his room, stamping his
-foot at him as he went. Gregor's appeals to his father were of no
-help, his appeals were simply not understood, however much he humbly
-turned his head his father merely stamped his foot all the harder.
-Across the room, despite the chilly weather, Gregor's mother had
-pulled open a window, leant far out of it and pressed her hands to
-her face. A strong draught of air flew in from the street towards
-the stairway, the curtains flew up, the newspapers on the table
-fluttered and some of them were blown onto the floor. Nothing would
-stop Gregor's father as he drove him back, making hissing noises at
-him like a wild man. Gregor had never had any practice in moving
-backwards and was only able to go very slowly. If Gregor had only
-been allowed to turn round he would have been back in his room
-straight away, but he was afraid that if he took the time to do that
-his father would become impatient, and there was the threat of a
-lethal blow to his back or head from the stick in his father's hand
-any moment. Eventually, though, Gregor realised that he had no
-choice as he saw, to his disgust, that he was quite incapable of
-going backwards in a straight line; so he began, as quickly as
-possible and with frequent anxious glances at his father, to turn
-himself round. It went very slowly, but perhaps his father was able
-to see his good intentions as he did nothing to hinder him, in fact
-now and then he used the tip of his stick to give directions from a
-distance as to which way to turn. If only his father would stop
-that unbearable hissing! It was making Gregor quite confused. When
-he had nearly finished turning round, still listening to that
-hissing, he made a mistake and turned himself back a little the way
-he had just come. He was pleased when he finally had his head in
-front of the doorway, but then saw that it was too narrow, and his
-body was too broad to get through it without further difficulty. In
-his present mood, it obviously did not occur to his father to open
-the other of the double doors so that Gregor would have enough space
-to get through. He was merely fixed on the idea that Gregor should
-be got back into his room as quickly as possible. Nor would he ever
-have allowed Gregor the time to get himself upright as preparation
-for getting through the doorway. What he did, making more noise
-than ever, was to drive Gregor forwards all the harder as if there
-had been nothing in the way; it sounded to Gregor as if there was
-now more than one father behind him; it was not a pleasant
-experience, and Gregor pushed himself into the doorway without
-regard for what might happen. One side of his body lifted itself,
-he lay at an angle in the doorway, one flank scraped on the white
-door and was painfully injured, leaving vile brown flecks on it,
-soon he was stuck fast and would not have been able to move at all
-by himself, the little legs along one side hung quivering in the air
-while those on the other side were pressed painfully against the
-ground. Then his father gave him a hefty shove from behind which
-released him from where he was held and sent him flying, and heavily
-bleeding, deep into his room. The door was slammed shut with the
-stick, then, finally, all was quiet.
-
-
-
-II
-
-
-It was not until it was getting dark that evening that Gregor awoke
-from his deep and coma-like sleep. He would have woken soon
-afterwards anyway even if he hadn't been disturbed, as he had had
-enough sleep and felt fully rested. But he had the impression that
-some hurried steps and the sound of the door leading into the front
-room being carefully shut had woken him. The light from the
-electric street lamps shone palely here and there onto the ceiling
-and tops of the furniture, but down below, where Gregor was, it was
-dark. He pushed himself over to the door, feeling his way clumsily
-with his antennae - of which he was now beginning to learn the value
-- in order to see what had been happening there. The whole of his
-left side seemed like one, painfully stretched scar, and he limped
-badly on his two rows of legs. One of the legs had been badly
-injured in the events of that morning - it was nearly a miracle that
-only one of them had been - and dragged along lifelessly.
-
-It was only when he had reached the door that he realised what it
-actually was that had drawn him over to it; it was the smell of
-something to eat. By the door there was a dish filled with
-sweetened milk with little pieces of white bread floating in it. He
-was so pleased he almost laughed, as he was even hungrier than he
-had been that morning, and immediately dipped his head into the
-milk, nearly covering his eyes with it. But he soon drew his head
-back again in disappointment; not only did the pain in his tender
-left side make it difficult to eat the food - he was only able to
-eat if his whole body worked together as a snuffling whole - but the
-milk did not taste at all nice. Milk like this was normally his
-favourite drink, and his sister had certainly left it there for him
-because of that, but he turned, almost against his own will, away
-from the dish and crawled back into the centre of the room.
-
-Through the crack in the door, Gregor could see that the gas had
-been lit in the living room. His father at this time would normally
-be sat with his evening paper, reading it out in a loud voice to
-Gregor's mother, and sometimes to his sister, but there was now not
-a sound to be heard. Gregor's sister would often write and tell him
-about this reading, but maybe his father had lost the habit in
-recent times. It was so quiet all around too, even though there
-must have been somebody in the flat. "What a quiet life it is the
-family lead", said Gregor to himself, and, gazing into the darkness,
-felt a great pride that he was able to provide a life like that in
-such a nice home for his sister and parents. But what now, if all
-this peace and wealth and comfort should come to a horrible and
-frightening end? That was something that Gregor did not want to
-think about too much, so he started to move about, crawling up and
-down the room.
-
-Once during that long evening, the door on one side of the room was
-opened very slightly and hurriedly closed again; later on the door
-on the other side did the same; it seemed that someone needed to
-enter the room but thought better of it. Gregor went and waited
-immediately by the door, resolved either to bring the timorous
-visitor into the room in some way or at least to find out who it
-was; but the door was opened no more that night and Gregor waited in
-vain. The previous morning while the doors were locked everyone had
-wanted to get in there to him, but now, now that he had opened up
-one of the doors and the other had clearly been unlocked some time
-during the day, no-one came, and the keys were in the other sides.
-
-It was not until late at night that the gaslight in the living room
-was put out, and now it was easy to see that his parents and sister had
-stayed awake all that time, as they all could be distinctly heard as
-they went away together on tip-toe. It was clear that no-one would
-come into Gregor's room any more until morning; that gave him plenty
-of time to think undisturbed about how he would have to re-arrange
-his life. For some reason, the tall, empty room where he was forced
-to remain made him feel uneasy as he lay there flat on the floor,
-even though he had been living in it for five years. Hardly aware
-of what he was doing other than a slight feeling of shame, he
-hurried under the couch. It pressed down on his back a little, and
-he was no longer able to lift his head, but he nonetheless felt
-immediately at ease and his only regret was that his body was too
-broad to get it all underneath.
-
-He spent the whole night there. Some of the time he passed in a
-light sleep, although he frequently woke from it in alarm because of
-his hunger, and some of the time was spent in worries and vague
-hopes which, however, always led to the same conclusion: for the
-time being he must remain calm, he must show patience and the
-greatest consideration so that his family could bear the
-unpleasantness that he, in his present condition, was forced to
-impose on them.
-
-Gregor soon had the opportunity to test the strength of his
-decisions, as early the next morning, almost before the night had
-ended, his sister, nearly fully dressed, opened the door from the
-front room and looked anxiously in. She did not see him straight
-away, but when she did notice him under the couch - he had to be
-somewhere, for God's sake, he couldn't have flown away - she was so
-shocked that she lost control of herself and slammed the door shut
-again from outside. But she seemed to regret her behaviour, as she
-opened the door again straight away and came in on tip-toe as if
-entering the room of someone seriously ill or even of a stranger.
-Gregor had pushed his head forward, right to the edge of the couch,
-and watched her. Would she notice that he had left the milk as it
-was, realise that it was not from any lack of hunger and bring him
-in some other food that was more suitable? If she didn't do it
-herself he would rather go hungry than draw her attention to it,
-although he did feel a terrible urge to rush forward from under the
-couch, throw himself at his sister's feet and beg her for something
-good to eat. However, his sister noticed the full dish immediately
-and looked at it and the few drops of milk splashed around it with
-some surprise. She immediately picked it up - using a rag,
-not her bare hands - and carried it out. Gregor was extremely
-curious as to what she would bring in its place, imagining the
-wildest possibilities, but he never could have guessed what his
-sister, in her goodness, actually did bring. In order to test his
-taste, she brought him a whole selection of things, all spread out
-on an old newspaper. There were old, half-rotten vegetables; bones
-from the evening meal, covered in white sauce that had gone hard; a
-few raisins and almonds; some cheese that Gregor had declared
-inedible two days before; a dry roll and some bread spread with
-butter and salt. As well as all that she had poured some water into
-the dish, which had probably been permanently set aside for Gregor's
-use, and placed it beside them. Then, out of consideration for
-Gregor's feelings, as she knew that he would not eat in front of
-her, she hurried out again and even turned the key in the lock so
-that Gregor would know he could make things as comfortable for
-himself as he liked. Gregor's little legs whirred, at last he could
-eat. What's more, his injuries must already have completely healed
-as he found no difficulty in moving. This amazed him, as more than
-a month earlier he had cut his finger slightly with a knife, he
-thought of how his finger had still hurt the day before yesterday.
-"Am I less sensitive than I used to be, then?", he thought, and was
-already sucking greedily at the cheese which had immediately, almost
-compellingly, attracted him much more than the other foods on the
-newspaper. Quickly one after another, his eyes watering with
-pleasure, he consumed the cheese, the vegetables and the sauce; the
-fresh foods, on the other hand, he didn't like at all, and even
-dragged the things he did want to eat a little way away from them
-because he couldn't stand the smell. Long after he had finished
-eating and lay lethargic in the same place, his sister slowly turned
-the key in the lock as a sign to him that he should withdraw. He
-was immediately startled, although he had been half asleep, and he
-hurried back under the couch. But he needed great self-control to
-stay there even for the short time that his sister was in the room,
-as eating so much food had rounded out his body a little and he
-could hardly breathe in that narrow space. Half suffocating, he
-watched with bulging eyes as his sister unselfconsciously took a
-broom and swept up the left-overs, mixing them in with the food he
-had not even touched at all as if it could not be used any more.
-She quickly dropped it all into a bin, closed it with its wooden
-lid, and carried everything out. She had hardly turned her back
-before Gregor came out again from under the couch and stretched
-himself.
-
-This was how Gregor received his food each day now, once in the
-morning while his parents and the maid were still asleep, and the
-second time after everyone had eaten their meal at midday as his
-parents would sleep for a little while then as well, and Gregor's
-sister would send the maid away on some errand. Gregor's father and
-mother certainly did not want him to starve either, but perhaps it
-would have been more than they could stand to have any more
-experience of his feeding than being told about it, and perhaps his
-sister wanted to spare them what distress she could as they were
-indeed suffering enough.
-
-It was impossible for Gregor to find out what they had told the
-doctor and the locksmith that first morning to get them out of the
-flat. As nobody could understand him, nobody, not even his sister,
-thought that he could understand them, so he had to be content to
-hear his sister's sighs and appeals to the saints as she moved about
-his room. It was only later, when she had become a little more used
-to everything - there was, of course, no question of her ever
-becoming fully used to the situation - that Gregor would sometimes
-catch a friendly comment, or at least a comment that could be
-construed as friendly. "He's enjoyed his dinner today", she might
-say when he had diligently cleared away all the food left for him,
-or if he left most of it, which slowly became more and more
-frequent, she would often say, sadly, "now everything's just been
-left there again".
-
-Although Gregor wasn't able to hear any news directly he did listen
-to much of what was said in the next rooms, and whenever he heard
-anyone speaking he would scurry straight to the appropriate door and
-press his whole body against it. There was seldom any conversation,
-especially at first, that was not about him in some way, even if
-only in secret. For two whole days, all the talk at every mealtime
-was about what they should do now; but even between meals they spoke
-about the same subject as there were always at least two members of
-the family at home - nobody wanted to be at home by themselves and
-it was out of the question to leave the flat entirely empty. And on
-the very first day the maid had fallen to her knees and begged
-Gregor's mother to let her go without delay. It was not very clear
-how much she knew of what had happened but she left within a quarter
-of an hour, tearfully thanking Gregor's mother for her dismissal as
-if she had done her an enormous service. She even swore
-emphatically not to tell anyone the slightest about what had
-happened, even though no-one had asked that of her.
-
-Now Gregor's sister also had to help his mother with the cooking;
-although that was not so much bother as no-one ate very much.
-Gregor often heard how one of them would unsuccessfully urge another
-to eat, and receive no more answer than "no thanks, I've had enough"
-or something similar. No-one drank very much either. His sister
-would sometimes ask his father whether he would like a beer, hoping
-for the chance to go and fetch it herself. When his father then
-said nothing she would add, so that he would not feel selfish, that
-she could send the housekeeper for it, but then his father would
-close the matter with a big, loud "No", and no more would be said.
-
-Even before the first day had come to an end, his father had
-explained to Gregor's mother and sister what their finances and
-prospects were. Now and then he stood up from the table and took
-some receipt or document from the little cash box he had saved from
-his business when it had collapsed five years earlier. Gregor heard
-how he opened the complicated lock and then closed it again after he
-had taken the item he wanted. What he heard his father say was some
-of the first good news that Gregor heard since he had first been
-incarcerated in his room. He had thought that nothing at all
-remained from his father's business, at least he had never told him
-anything different, and Gregor had never asked him about it anyway.
-Their business misfortune had reduced the family to a state of total
-despair, and Gregor's only concern at that time had been to arrange
-things so that they could all forget about it as quickly as
-possible. So then he started working especially hard, with a fiery
-vigour that raised him from a junior salesman to a travelling
-representative almost overnight, bringing with it the chance to earn
-money in quite different ways. Gregor converted his success at work
-straight into cash that he could lay on the table at home for the
-benefit of his astonished and delighted family. They had been good
-times and they had never come again, at least not with the same
-splendour, even though Gregor had later earned so much that he was
-in a position to bear the costs of the whole family, and did bear
-them. They had even got used to it, both Gregor and the family,
-they took the money with gratitude and he was glad to provide it,
-although there was no longer much warm affection given in return.
-Gregor only remained close to his sister now. Unlike him, she was
-very fond of music and a gifted and expressive violinist, it was his
-secret plan to send her to the conservatory next year even though it
-would cause great expense that would have to be made up for in some
-other way. During Gregor's short periods in town, conversation with
-his sister would often turn to the conservatory but it was only ever
-mentioned as a lovely dream that could never be realised. Their
-parents did not like to hear this innocent talk, but Gregor thought
-about it quite hard and decided he would let them know what he
-planned with a grand announcement of it on Christmas day.
-
-That was the sort of totally pointless thing that went through his
-mind in his present state, pressed upright against the door and
-listening. There were times when he simply became too tired to
-continue listening, when his head would fall wearily against the
-door and he would pull it up again with a start, as even the
-slightest noise he caused would be heard next door and they would
-all go silent. "What's that he's doing now", his father would say
-after a while, clearly having gone over to the door, and only then
-would the interrupted conversation slowly be taken up again.
-
-When explaining things, his father repeated himself several times,
-partly because it was a long time since he had been occupied with
-these matters himself and partly because Gregor's mother did not
-understand everything the first time. From these repeated explanations
-Gregor learned, to his pleasure, that despite all their misfortunes
-there was still some money available from the old days. It was not
-a lot, but it had not been touched in the meantime and some interest
-had accumulated. Besides that, they had not been using up all the
-money that Gregor had been bringing home every month, keeping only a
-little for himself, so that that, too, had been accumulating.
-Behind the door, Gregor nodded with enthusiasm in his pleasure at
-this unexpected thrift and caution. He could actually have used
-this surplus money to reduce his father's debt to his boss, and the
-day when he could have freed himself from that job would have come
-much closer, but now it was certainly better the way his father had
-done things.
-
-This money, however, was certainly not enough to enable the family
-to live off the interest; it was enough to maintain them for,
-perhaps, one or two years, no more. That's to say, it was money
-that should not really be touched but set aside for emergencies;
-money to live on had to be earned. His father was healthy but old,
-and lacking in self confidence. During the five years that he had
-not been working - the first holiday in a life that had been full of
-strain and no success - he had put on a lot of weight and become
-very slow and clumsy. Would Gregor's elderly mother now have to go
-and earn money? She suffered from asthma and it was a strain for her
-just to move about the home, every other day would be spent
-struggling for breath on the sofa by the open window. Would his
-sister have to go and earn money? She was still a child of
-seventeen, her life up till then had been very enviable, consisting
-of wearing nice clothes, sleeping late, helping out in the business,
-joining in with a few modest pleasures and most of all playing the
-violin. Whenever they began to talk of the need to earn money,
-Gregor would always first let go of the door and then throw himself
-onto the cool, leather sofa next to it, as he became quite hot with
-shame and regret.
-
-He would often lie there the whole night through, not sleeping a
-wink but scratching at the leather for hours on end. Or he might go
-to all the effort of pushing a chair to the window, climbing up onto
-the sill and, propped up in the chair, leaning on the window to
-stare out of it. He had used to feel a great sense of freedom from
-doing this, but doing it now was obviously something more remembered
-than experienced, as what he actually saw in this way was becoming
-less distinct every day, even things that were quite near; he had
-used to curse the ever-present view of the hospital across the
-street, but now he could not see it at all, and if he had not known
-that he lived in Charlottenstrasse, which was a quiet street despite
-being in the middle of the city, he could have thought that he was
-looking out the window at a barren waste where the grey sky and the
-grey earth mingled inseparably. His observant sister only needed to
-notice the chair twice before she would always push it back to its
-exact position by the window after she had tidied up the room, and
-even left the inner pane of the window open from then on.
-
-If Gregor had only been able to speak to his sister and thank her
-for all that she had to do for him it would have been easier for him
-to bear it; but as it was it caused him pain. His sister,
-naturally, tried as far as possible to pretend there was nothing
-burdensome about it, and the longer it went on, of course, the
-better she was able to do so, but as time went by Gregor was also
-able to see through it all so much better. It had even become very
-unpleasant for him, now, whenever she entered the room. No sooner
-had she come in than she would quickly close the door as a
-precaution so that no-one would have to suffer the view into
-Gregor's room, then she would go straight to the window and pull it
-hurriedly open almost as if she were suffocating. Even if it was
-cold, she would stay at the window breathing deeply for a little
-while. She would alarm Gregor twice a day with this running about
-and noise making; he would stay under the couch shivering the whole
-while, knowing full well that she would certainly have liked to
-spare him this ordeal, but it was impossible for her to be in the
-same room with him with the windows closed.
-
-One day, about a month after Gregor's transformation when his sister
-no longer had any particular reason to be shocked at his appearance,
-she came into the room a little earlier than usual and found him
-still staring out the window, motionless, and just where he would be
-most horrible. In itself, his sister's not coming into the room
-would have been no surprise for Gregor as it would have been
-difficult for her to immediately open the window while he was still
-there, but not only did she not come in, she went straight back and
-closed the door behind her, a stranger would have thought he had
-threatened her and tried to bite her. Gregor went straight to hide
-himself under the couch, of course, but he had to wait until midday
-before his sister came back and she seemed much more uneasy than
-usual. It made him realise that she still found his appearance
-unbearable and would continue to do so, she probably even had to
-overcome the urge to flee when she saw the little bit of him that
-protruded from under the couch. One day, in order to spare her even
-this sight, he spent four hours carrying the bedsheet over to the
-couch on his back and arranged it so that he was completely covered
-and his sister would not be able to see him even if she bent down.
-If she did not think this sheet was necessary then all she had to do
-was take it off again, as it was clear enough that it was no
-pleasure for Gregor to cut himself off so completely. She left the
-sheet where it was. Gregor even thought he glimpsed a look of
-gratitude one time when he carefully looked out from under the sheet
-to see how his sister liked the new arrangement.
-
-For the first fourteen days, Gregor's parents could not bring
-themselves to come into the room to see him. He would often hear
-them say how they appreciated all the new work his sister was doing
-even though, before, they had seen her as a girl who was somewhat
-useless and frequently been annoyed with her. But now the two of
-them, father and mother, would often both wait outside the door of
-Gregor's room while his sister tidied up in there, and as soon as
-she went out again she would have to tell them exactly how
-everything looked, what Gregor had eaten, how he had behaved this
-time and whether, perhaps, any slight improvement could be seen.
-His mother also wanted to go in and visit Gregor relatively soon but
-his father and sister at first persuaded her against it. Gregor
-listened very closely to all this, and approved fully. Later,
-though, she had to be held back by force, which made her call out:
-"Let me go and see Gregor, he is my unfortunate son! Can't you
-understand I have to see him?", and Gregor would think to himself
-that maybe it would be better if his mother came in, not every day
-of course, but one day a week, perhaps; she could understand
-everything much better than his sister who, for all her courage, was
-still just a child after all, and really might not have had an
-adult's appreciation of the burdensome job she had taken on.
-
-Gregor's wish to see his mother was soon realised. Out of
-consideration for his parents, Gregor wanted to avoid being seen at
-the window during the day, the few square meters of the floor did
-not give him much room to crawl about, it was hard to just lie
-quietly through the night, his food soon stopped giving him any
-pleasure at all, and so, to entertain himself, he got into the habit
-of crawling up and down the walls and ceiling. He was especially
-fond of hanging from the ceiling; it was quite different from lying
-on the floor; he could breathe more freely; his body had a light
-swing to it; and up there, relaxed and almost happy, it might happen
-that he would surprise even himself by letting go of the ceiling and
-landing on the floor with a crash. But now, of course, he had far
-better control of his body than before and, even with a fall as
-great as that, caused himself no damage. Very soon his sister
-noticed Gregor's new way of entertaining himself - he had, after
-all, left traces of the adhesive from his feet as he crawled about -
-and got it into her head to make it as easy as possible for him by
-removing the furniture that got in his way, especially the chest of
-drawers and the desk. Now, this was not something that she would be
-able to do by herself; she did not dare to ask for help from her
-father; the sixteen year old maid had carried on bravely since the
-cook had left but she certainly would not have helped in this, she
-had even asked to be allowed to keep the kitchen locked at all times
-and never to have to open the door unless it was especially
-important; so his sister had no choice but to choose some time when
-Gregor's father was not there and fetch his mother to help her. As
-she approached the room, Gregor could hear his mother express her
-joy, but once at the door she went silent. First, of course, his
-sister came in and looked round to see that everything in the room
-was alright; and only then did she let her mother enter. Gregor had
-hurriedly pulled the sheet down lower over the couch and put more
-folds into it so that everything really looked as if it had just
-been thrown down by chance. Gregor also refrained, this time, from
-spying out from under the sheet; he gave up the chance to see his
-mother until later and was simply glad that she had come. "You can
-come in, he can't be seen", said his sister, obviously leading her
-in by the hand. The old chest of drawers was too heavy for a pair
-of feeble women to be heaving about, but Gregor listened as they
-pushed it from its place, his sister always taking on the heaviest
-part of the work for herself and ignoring her mother's warnings that
-she would strain herself. This lasted a very long time. After
-labouring at it for fifteen minutes or more his mother said it would
-be better to leave the chest where it was, for one thing it was too
-heavy for them to get the job finished before Gregor's father got
-home and leaving it in the middle of the room it would be in his way
-even more, and for another thing it wasn't even sure that taking the
-furniture away would really be any help to him. She thought just
-the opposite; the sight of the bare walls saddened her right to her
-heart; and why wouldn't Gregor feel the same way about it, he'd been
-used to this furniture in his room for a long time and it would make
-him feel abandoned to be in an empty room like that. Then, quietly,
-almost whispering as if wanting Gregor (whose whereabouts she did
-not know) to hear not even the tone of her voice, as she was
-convinced that he did not understand her words, she added "and by
-taking the furniture away, won't it seem like we're showing that
-we've given up all hope of improvement and we're abandoning him to
-cope for himself? I think it'd be best to leave the room exactly the
-way it was before so that when Gregor comes back to us again he'll
-find everything unchanged and he'll be able to forget the time in
-between all the easier".
-
-Hearing these words from his mother made Gregor realise that the
-lack of any direct human communication, along with the monotonous
-life led by the family during these two months, must have made him
-confused - he could think of no other way of explaining to himself
-why he had seriously wanted his room emptied out. Had he really
-wanted to transform his room into a cave, a warm room fitted out
-with the nice furniture he had inherited? That would have let him
-crawl around unimpeded in any direction, but it would also have let
-him quickly forget his past when he had still been human. He had
-come very close to forgetting, and it had only been the voice of his
-mother, unheard for so long, that had shaken him out of it. Nothing
-should be removed; everything had to stay; he could not do without
-the good influence the furniture had on his condition; and if the
-furniture made it difficult for him to crawl about mindlessly that
-was not a loss but a great advantage.
-
-His sister, unfortunately, did not agree; she had become used to the
-idea, not without reason, that she was Gregor's spokesman to his
-parents about the things that concerned him. This meant that his
-mother's advice now was sufficient reason for her to insist on
-removing not only the chest of drawers and the desk, as she had
-thought at first, but all the furniture apart from the all-important
-couch. It was more than childish perversity, of course, or the
-unexpected confidence she had recently acquired, that made her
-insist; she had indeed noticed that Gregor needed a lot of room to
-crawl about in, whereas the furniture, as far as anyone could see,
-was of no use to him at all. Girls of that age, though, do become
-enthusiastic about things and feel they must get their way whenever
-they can. Perhaps this was what tempted Grete to make Gregor's
-situation seem even more shocking than it was so that she could do
-even more for him. Grete would probably be the only one who would
-dare enter a room dominated by Gregor crawling about the bare walls
-by himself.
-
-So she refused to let her mother dissuade her. Gregor's mother
-already looked uneasy in his room, she soon stopped speaking and
-helped Gregor's sister to get the chest of drawers out with what
-strength she had. The chest of drawers was something that Gregor
-could do without if he had to, but the writing desk had to stay.
-Hardly had the two women pushed the chest of drawers, groaning, out
-of the room than Gregor poked his head out from under the couch to
-see what he could do about it. He meant to be as careful and
-considerate as he could, but, unfortunately, it was his mother who
-came back first while Grete in the next room had her arms round the
-chest, pushing and pulling at it from side to side by herself
-without, of course, moving it an inch. His mother was not used to
-the sight of Gregor, he might have made her ill, so Gregor hurried
-backwards to the far end of the couch. In his startlement, though,
-he was not able to prevent the sheet at its front from moving a
-little. It was enough to attract his mother's attention. She stood
-very still, remained there a moment, and then went back out to
-Grete.
-
-Gregor kept trying to assure himself that nothing unusual was
-happening, it was just a few pieces of furniture being moved after
-all, but he soon had to admit that the women going to and fro, their
-little calls to each other, the scraping of the furniture on the
-floor, all these things made him feel as if he were being assailed
-from all sides. With his head and legs pulled in against him and
-his body pressed to the floor, he was forced to admit to himself
-that he could not stand all of this much longer. They were emptying
-his room out; taking away everything that was dear to him; they had
-already taken out the chest containing his fretsaw and other tools;
-now they threatened to remove the writing desk with its place
-clearly worn into the floor, the desk where he had done his homework
-as a business trainee, at high school, even while he had been at
-infant school--he really could not wait any longer to see whether
-the two women's intentions were good. He had nearly forgotten they
-were there anyway, as they were now too tired to say anything while
-they worked and he could only hear their feet as they stepped
-heavily on the floor.
-
-So, while the women were leant against the desk in the other room
-catching their breath, he sallied out, changed direction four times
-not knowing what he should save first before his attention was
-suddenly caught by the picture on the wall - which was already
-denuded of everything else that had been on it - of the lady dressed
-in copious fur. He hurried up onto the picture and pressed himself
-against its glass, it held him firmly and felt good on his hot
-belly. This picture at least, now totally covered by Gregor, would
-certainly be taken away by no-one. He turned his head to face the
-door into the living room so that he could watch the women when they
-came back.
-
-They had not allowed themselves a long rest and came back quite
-soon; Grete had put her arm around her mother and was nearly
-carrying her. "What shall we take now, then?", said Grete and
-looked around. Her eyes met those of Gregor on the wall. Perhaps
-only because her mother was there, she remained calm, bent her face
-to her so that she would not look round and said, albeit hurriedly
-and with a tremor in her voice: "Come on, let's go back in the
-living room for a while?" Gregor could see what Grete had in mind,
-she wanted to take her mother somewhere safe and then chase him down
-from the wall. Well, she could certainly try it! He sat unyielding
-on his picture. He would rather jump at Grete's face.
-
-But Grete's words had made her mother quite worried, she stepped to
-one side, saw the enormous brown patch against the flowers of the
-wallpaper, and before she even realised it was Gregor that she saw
-screamed: "Oh God, oh God!" Arms outstretched, she fell onto the
-couch as if she had given up everything and stayed there immobile.
-"Gregor!" shouted his sister, glowering at him and shaking her fist.
- That was the first word she had spoken to him directly since his
-transformation. She ran into the other room to fetch some kind of
-smelling salts to bring her mother out of her faint; Gregor wanted
-to help too - he could save his picture later, although he stuck
-fast to the glass and had to pull himself off by force; then he,
-too, ran into the next room as if he could advise his sister like in
-the old days; but he had to just stand behind her doing nothing; she
-was looking into various bottles, he startled her when she turned
-round; a bottle fell to the ground and broke; a splinter cut
-Gregor's face, some kind of caustic medicine splashed all over him;
-now, without delaying any longer, Grete took hold of all the bottles
-she could and ran with them in to her mother; she slammed the door
-shut with her foot. So now Gregor was shut out from his mother,
-who, because of him, might be near to death; he could not open the
-door if he did not want to chase his sister away, and she had to
-stay with his mother; there was nothing for him to do but wait; and,
-oppressed with anxiety and self-reproach, he began to crawl about,
-he crawled over everything, walls, furniture, ceiling, and finally
-in his confusion as the whole room began to spin around him he fell
-down into the middle of the dinner table.
-
-He lay there for a while, numb and immobile, all around him it was
-quiet, maybe that was a good sign. Then there was someone at the
-door. The maid, of course, had locked herself in her kitchen so
-that Grete would have to go and answer it. His father had arrived
-home. "What's happened?" were his first words; Grete's appearance
-must have made everything clear to him. She answered him with
-subdued voice, and openly pressed her face into his chest: "Mother's
-fainted, but she's better now. Gregor got out." "Just as I
-expected", said his father, "just as I always said, but you women
-wouldn't listen, would you." It was clear to Gregor that Grete had
-not said enough and that his father took it to mean that something
-bad had happened, that he was responsible for some act of violence.
-That meant Gregor would now have to try to calm his father, as he
-did not have the time to explain things to him even if that had been
-possible. So he fled to the door of his room and pressed himself
-against it so that his father, when he came in from the hall, could
-see straight away that Gregor had the best intentions and would go
-back into his room without delay, that it would not be necessary to
-drive him back but that they had only to open the door and he would
-disappear.
-
-His father, though, was not in the mood to notice subtleties like
-that; "Ah!", he shouted as he came in, sounding as if he were both
-angry and glad at the same time. Gregor drew his head back from the
-door and lifted it towards his father. He really had not imagined
-his father the way he stood there now; of late, with his new habit
-of crawling about, he had neglected to pay attention to what was
-going on the rest of the flat the way he had done before. He really
-ought to have expected things to have changed, but still, still, was
-that really his father? The same tired man as used to be laying
-there entombed in his bed when Gregor came back from his business
-trips, who would receive him sitting in the armchair in his
-nightgown when he came back in the evenings; who was hardly even
-able to stand up but, as a sign of his pleasure, would just raise
-his arms and who, on the couple of times a year when they went for a
-walk together on a Sunday or public holiday wrapped up tightly in
-his overcoat between Gregor and his mother, would always labour his
-way forward a little more slowly than them, who were already walking
-slowly for his sake; who would place his stick down carefully and,
-if he wanted to say something would invariably stop and gather his
-companions around him. He was standing up straight enough now;
-dressed in a smart blue uniform with gold buttons, the sort worn by
-the employees at the banking institute; above the high, stiff collar
-of the coat his strong double-chin emerged; under the bushy
-eyebrows, his piercing, dark eyes looked out fresh and alert; his
-normally unkempt white hair was combed down painfully close to his
-scalp. He took his cap, with its gold monogram from, probably, some
-bank, and threw it in an arc right across the room onto the sofa,
-put his hands in his trouser pockets, pushing back the bottom of his
-long uniform coat, and, with look of determination, walked towards
-Gregor. He probably did not even know himself what he had in mind,
-but nonetheless lifted his feet unusually high. Gregor was amazed
-at the enormous size of the soles of his boots, but wasted no time
-with that - he knew full well, right from the first day of his new
-life, that his father thought it necessary to always be extremely
-strict with him. And so he ran up to his father, stopped when his
-father stopped, scurried forwards again when he moved, even
-slightly. In this way they went round the room several times
-without anything decisive happening, without even giving the
-impression of a chase as everything went so slowly. Gregor remained
-all this time on the floor, largely because he feared his father
-might see it as especially provoking if he fled onto the wall or
-ceiling. Whatever he did, Gregor had to admit that he certainly
-would not be able to keep up this running about for long, as for
-each step his father took he had to carry out countless movements.
-He became noticeably short of breath, even in his earlier life his
-lungs had not been very reliable. Now, as he lurched about in his
-efforts to muster all the strength he could for running he could
-hardly keep his eyes open; his thoughts became too slow for him to
-think of any other way of saving himself than running; he almost
-forgot that the walls were there for him to use although, here, they
-were concealed behind carefully carved furniture full of notches and
-protrusions - then, right beside him, lightly tossed, something flew
-down and rolled in front of him. It was an apple; then another one
-immediately flew at him; Gregor froze in shock; there was no longer
-any point in running as his father had decided to bombard him. He
-had filled his pockets with fruit from the bowl on the sideboard and
-now, without even taking the time for careful aim, threw one apple
-after another. These little, red apples rolled about on the floor,
-knocking into each other as if they had electric motors. An apple
-thrown without much force glanced against Gregor's back and slid off
-without doing any harm. Another one however, immediately following
-it, hit squarely and lodged in his back; Gregor wanted to drag
-himself away, as if he could remove the surprising, the incredible
-pain by changing his position; but he felt as if nailed to the spot
-and spread himself out, all his senses in confusion. The last thing
-he saw was the door of his room being pulled open, his sister was
-screaming, his mother ran out in front of her in her blouse (as his
-sister had taken off some of her clothes after she had fainted to
-make it easier for her to breathe), she ran to his father, her
-skirts unfastened and sliding one after another to the ground,
-stumbling over the skirts she pushed herself to his father, her arms
-around him, uniting herself with him totally - now Gregor lost his
-ability to see anything - her hands behind his father's head begging
-him to spare Gregor's life.
-
-
-
-III
-
-
-No-one dared to remove the apple lodged in Gregor's flesh, so it
-remained there as a visible reminder of his injury. He had suffered
-it there for more than a month, and his condition seemed serious
-enough to remind even his father that Gregor, despite his current
-sad and revolting form, was a family member who could not be treated
-as an enemy. On the contrary, as a family there was a duty to
-swallow any revulsion for him and to be patient, just to be patient.
-
-Because of his injuries, Gregor had lost much of his mobility -
-probably permanently. He had been reduced to the condition of an
-ancient invalid and it took him long, long minutes to crawl across
-his room - crawling over the ceiling was out of the question - but
-this deterioration in his condition was fully (in his opinion) made
-up for by the door to the living room being left open every evening.
- He got into the habit of closely watching it for one or two hours
-before it was opened and then, lying in the darkness of his room
-where he could not be seen from the living room, he could watch the
-family in the light of the dinner table and listen to their
-conversation - with everyone's permission, in a way, and thus quite
-differently from before.
-
-They no longer held the lively conversations of earlier times, of
-course, the ones that Gregor always thought about with longing when
-he was tired and getting into the damp bed in some small hotel room.
- All of them were usually very quiet nowadays. Soon after dinner,
-his father would go to sleep in his chair; his mother and sister
-would urge each other to be quiet; his mother, bent deeply under the
-lamp, would sew fancy underwear for a fashion shop; his sister, who
-had taken a sales job, learned shorthand and French in the evenings
-so that she might be able to get a better position later on.
-Sometimes his father would wake up and say to Gregor's mother
-"you're doing so much sewing again today!", as if he did not know
-that he had been dozing - and then he would go back to sleep again
-while mother and sister would exchange a tired grin.
-
-With a kind of stubbornness, Gregor's father refused to take his
-uniform off even at home; while his nightgown hung unused on its peg
-Gregor's father would slumber where he was, fully dressed, as if
-always ready to serve and expecting to hear the voice of his
-superior even here. The uniform had not been new to start with, but
-as a result of this it slowly became even shabbier despite the
-efforts of Gregor's mother and sister to look after it. Gregor
-would often spend the whole evening looking at all the stains on
-this coat, with its gold buttons always kept polished and shiny,
-while the old man in it would sleep, highly uncomfortable but
-peaceful.
-
-As soon as it struck ten, Gregor's mother would speak gently to his
-father to wake him and try to persuade him to go to bed, as he
-couldn't sleep properly where he was and he really had to get his
-sleep if he was to be up at six to get to work. But since he had
-been in work he had become more obstinate and would always insist on
-staying longer at the table, even though he regularly fell asleep
-and it was then harder than ever to persuade him to exchange the
-chair for his bed. Then, however much mother and sister would
-importune him with little reproaches and warnings he would keep
-slowly shaking his head for a quarter of an hour with his eyes
-closed and refusing to get up. Gregor's mother would tug at his
-sleeve, whisper endearments into his ear, Gregor's sister would
-leave her work to help her mother, but nothing would have any effect
-on him. He would just sink deeper into his chair. Only when the
-two women took him under the arms he would abruptly open his eyes,
-look at them one after the other and say: "What a life! This is what
-peace I get in my old age!" And supported by the two women he would
-lift himself up carefully as if he were carrying the greatest load
-himself, let the women take him to the door, send them off and carry
-on by himself while Gregor's mother would throw down her needle and
-his sister her pen so that they could run after his father and
-continue being of help to him.
-
-Who, in this tired and overworked family, would have had time to
-give more attention to Gregor than was absolutely necessary? The
-household budget became even smaller; so now the maid was dismissed;
-an enormous, thick-boned charwoman with white hair that flapped
-around her head came every morning and evening to do the heaviest
-work; everything else was looked after by Gregor's mother on top of
-the large amount of sewing work she did. Gregor even learned,
-listening to the evening conversation about what price they had
-hoped for, that several items of jewellery belonging to the family
-had been sold, even though both mother and sister had been very fond
-of wearing them at functions and celebrations. But the loudest
-complaint was that although the flat was much too big for their
-present circumstances, they could not move out of it, there was no
-imaginable way of transferring Gregor to the new address. He could
-see quite well, though, that there were more reasons than
-consideration for him that made it difficult for them to move, it
-would have been quite easy to transport him in any suitable crate
-with a few air holes in it; the main thing holding the family back
-from their decision to move was much more to do with their total
-despair, and the thought that they had been struck with a misfortune
-unlike anything experienced by anyone else they knew or were related
-to. They carried out absolutely everything that the world expects
-from poor people, Gregor's father brought bank employees their
-breakfast, his mother sacrificed herself by washing clothes for
-strangers, his sister ran back and forth behind her desk at the
-behest of the customers, but they just did not have the strength to
-do any more. And the injury in Gregor's back began to hurt as much
-as when it was new. After they had come back from taking his father
-to bed Gregor's mother and sister would now leave their work where
-it was and sit close together, cheek to cheek; his mother would
-point to Gregor's room and say "Close that door, Grete", and then,
-when he was in the dark again, they would sit in the next room and
-their tears would mingle, or they would simply sit there staring
-dry-eyed at the table.
-
-Gregor hardly slept at all, either night or day. Sometimes he would
-think of taking over the family's affairs, just like before, the
-next time the door was opened; he had long forgotten about his boss
-and the chief clerk, but they would appear again in his thoughts,
-the salesmen and the apprentices, that stupid teaboy, two or three
-friends from other businesses, one of the chambermaids from a
-provincial hotel, a tender memory that appeared and disappeared
-again, a cashier from a hat shop for whom his attention had been
-serious but too slow, - all of them appeared to him, mixed together
-with strangers and others he had forgotten, but instead of helping
-him and his family they were all of them inaccessible, and he was
-glad when they disappeared. Other times he was not at all in the
-mood to look after his family, he was filled with simple rage about
-the lack of attention he was shown, and although he could think of
-nothing he would have wanted, he made plans of how he could get into
-the pantry where he could take all the things he was entitled to,
-even if he was not hungry. Gregor's sister no longer thought about
-how she could please him but would hurriedly push some food or other
-into his room with her foot before she rushed out to work in the
-morning and at midday, and in the evening she would sweep it away
-again with the broom, indifferent as to whether it had been eaten or
-- more often than not - had been left totally untouched. She still
-cleared up the room in the evening, but now she could not have been
-any quicker about it. Smears of dirt were left on the walls, here
-and there were little balls of dust and filth. At first, Gregor
-went into one of the worst of these places when his sister arrived
-as a reproach to her, but he could have stayed there for weeks
-without his sister doing anything about it; she could see the dirt
-as well as he could but she had simply decided to leave him to it.
-At the same time she became touchy in a way that was quite new for
-her and which everyone in the family understood - cleaning up
-Gregor's room was for her and her alone. Gregor's mother did once
-thoroughly clean his room, and needed to use several bucketfuls of
-water to do it - although that much dampness also made Gregor ill
-and he lay flat on the couch, bitter and immobile. But his mother
-was to be punished still more for what she had done, as hardly had
-his sister arrived home in the evening than she noticed the change
-in Gregor's room and, highly aggrieved, ran back into the living
-room where, despite her mothers raised and imploring hands, she
-broke into convulsive tears. Her father, of course, was startled
-out of his chair and the two parents looked on astonished and
-helpless; then they, too, became agitated; Gregor's father, standing
-to the right of his mother, accused her of not leaving the cleaning
-of Gregor's room to his sister; from her left, Gregor's sister
-screamed at her that she was never to clean Gregor's room again;
-while his mother tried to draw his father, who was beside himself
-with anger, into the bedroom; his sister, quaking with tears,
-thumped on the table with her small fists; and Gregor hissed in
-anger that no-one had even thought of closing the door to save him
-the sight of this and all its noise.
-
-Gregor's sister was exhausted from going out to work, and looking
-after Gregor as she had done before was even more work for her, but
-even so his mother ought certainly not to have taken her place.
-Gregor, on the other hand, ought not to be neglected. Now, though,
-the charwoman was here. This elderly widow, with a robust bone
-structure that made her able to withstand the hardest of things in
-her long life, wasn't really repelled by Gregor. Just by chance one
-day, rather than any real curiosity, she opened the door to Gregor's
-room and found herself face to face with him. He was taken totally
-by surprise, no-one was chasing him but he began to rush to and fro
-while she just stood there in amazement with her hands crossed in
-front of her. From then on she never failed to open the door
-slightly every evening and morning and look briefly in on him. At
-first she would call to him as she did so with words that she
-probably considered friendly, such as "come on then, you old
-dung-beetle!", or "look at the old dung-beetle there!" Gregor never
-responded to being spoken to in that way, but just remained where he
-was without moving as if the door had never even been opened. If
-only they had told this charwoman to clean up his room every day
-instead of letting her disturb him for no reason whenever she felt
-like it! One day, early in the morning while a heavy rain struck the
-windowpanes, perhaps indicating that spring was coming, she began to
-speak to him in that way once again. Gregor was so resentful of it
-that he started to move toward her, he was slow and infirm, but it
-was like a kind of attack. Instead of being afraid, the charwoman
-just lifted up one of the chairs from near the door and stood there
-with her mouth open, clearly intending not to close her mouth until
-the chair in her hand had been slammed down into Gregor's back.
-"Aren't you coming any closer, then?", she asked when Gregor turned
-round again, and she calmly put the chair back in the corner.
-
-Gregor had almost entirely stopped eating. Only if he happened to
-find himself next to the food that had been prepared for him he
-might take some of it into his mouth to play with it, leave it there
-a few hours and then, more often than not, spit it out again. At
-first he thought it was distress at the state of his room that
-stopped him eating, but he had soon got used to the changes made
-there. They had got into the habit of putting things into this room
-that they had no room for anywhere else, and there were now many
-such things as one of the rooms in the flat had been rented out to
-three gentlemen. These earnest gentlemen - all three of them had
-full beards, as Gregor learned peering through the crack in the door
-one day - were painfully insistent on things' being tidy. This
-meant not only in their own room but, since they had taken a room in
-this establishment, in the entire flat and especially in the
-kitchen. Unnecessary clutter was something they could not tolerate,
-especially if it was dirty. They had moreover brought most of their
-own furnishings and equipment with them. For this reason, many
-things had become superfluous which, although they could not be
-sold, the family did not wish to discard. All these things found
-their way into Gregor's room. The dustbins from the kitchen found
-their way in there too. The charwoman was always in a hurry, and
-anything she couldn't use for the time being she would just chuck in
-there. He, fortunately, would usually see no more than the object
-and the hand that held it. The woman most likely meant to fetch the
-things back out again when she had time and the opportunity, or to
-throw everything out in one go, but what actually happened was that
-they were left where they landed when they had first been thrown
-unless Gregor made his way through the junk and moved it somewhere
-else. At first he moved it because, with no other room free where
-he could crawl about, he was forced to, but later on he came to
-enjoy it although moving about in that way left him sad and tired to
-death, and he would remain immobile for hours afterwards.
-
-The gentlemen who rented the room would sometimes take their evening
-meal at home in the living room that was used by everyone, and so
-the door to this room was often kept closed in the evening. But
-Gregor found it easy to give up having the door open, he had, after
-all, often failed to make use of it when it was open and, without
-the family having noticed it, lain in his room in its darkest
-corner. One time, though, the charwoman left the door to the living
-room slightly open, and it remained open when the gentlemen who
-rented the room came in in the evening and the light was put on.
-They sat up at the table where, formerly, Gregor had taken his meals
-with his father and mother, they unfolded the serviettes and picked
-up their knives and forks. Gregor's mother immediately appeared in
-the doorway with a dish of meat and soon behind her came his sister
-with a dish piled high with potatoes. The food was steaming, and
-filled the room with its smell. The gentlemen bent over the dishes
-set in front of them as if they wanted to test the food before
-eating it, and the gentleman in the middle, who seemed to count as
-an authority for the other two, did indeed cut off a piece of meat
-while it was still in its dish, clearly wishing to establish whether
-it was sufficiently cooked or whether it should be sent back to the
-kitchen. It was to his satisfaction, and Gregor's mother and
-sister, who had been looking on anxiously, began to breathe again
-and smiled.
-
-The family themselves ate in the kitchen. Nonetheless, Gregor's
-father came into the living room before he went into the kitchen,
-bowed once with his cap in his hand and did his round of the table.
-The gentlemen stood as one, and mumbled something into their beards.
- Then, once they were alone, they ate in near perfect silence. It
-seemed remarkable to Gregor that above all the various noises of
-eating their chewing teeth could still be heard, as if they had
-wanted to show Gregor that you need teeth in order to eat and it was
-not possible to perform anything with jaws that are toothless
-however nice they might be. "I'd like to eat something", said
-Gregor anxiously, "but not anything like they're eating. They do
-feed themselves. And here I am, dying!"
-
-Throughout all this time, Gregor could not remember having heard the
-violin being played, but this evening it began to be heard from the
-kitchen. The three gentlemen had already finished their meal, the
-one in the middle had produced a newspaper, given a page to each of
-the others, and now they leant back in their chairs reading them and
-smoking. When the violin began playing they became attentive, stood
-up and went on tip-toe over to the door of the hallway where they
-stood pressed against each other. Someone must have heard them in
-the kitchen, as Gregor's father called out: "Is the playing perhaps
-unpleasant for the gentlemen? We can stop it straight away." "On
-the contrary", said the middle gentleman, "would the young lady not
-like to come in and play for us here in the room, where it is, after
-all, much more cosy and comfortable?" "Oh yes, we'd love to",
-called back Gregor's father as if he had been the violin player
-himself. The gentlemen stepped back into the room and waited.
-Gregor's father soon appeared with the music stand, his mother with
-the music and his sister with the violin. She calmly prepared
-everything for her to begin playing; his parents, who had never
-rented a room out before and therefore showed an exaggerated
-courtesy towards the three gentlemen, did not even dare to sit on
-their own chairs; his father leant against the door with his right
-hand pushed in between two buttons on his uniform coat; his mother,
-though, was offered a seat by one of the gentlemen and sat - leaving
-the chair where the gentleman happened to have placed it - out of
-the way in a corner.
-
-His sister began to play; father and mother paid close attention,
-one on each side, to the movements of her hands. Drawn in by the
-playing, Gregor had dared to come forward a little and already had
-his head in the living room. Before, he had taken great pride in
-how considerate he was but now it hardly occurred to him that he had
-become so thoughtless about the others. What's more, there was now
-all the more reason to keep himself hidden as he was covered in the
-dust that lay everywhere in his room and flew up at the slightest
-movement; he carried threads, hairs, and remains of food about on
-his back and sides; he was much too indifferent to everything now to
-lay on his back and wipe himself on the carpet like he had used to
-do several times a day. And despite this condition, he was not too
-shy to move forward a little onto the immaculate floor of the living
-room.
-
-No-one noticed him, though. The family was totally preoccupied with
-the violin playing; at first, the three gentlemen had put their
-hands in their pockets and come up far too close behind the music
-stand to look at all the notes being played, and they must have
-disturbed Gregor's sister, but soon, in contrast with the family,
-they withdrew back to the window with their heads sunk and talking
-to each other at half volume, and they stayed by the window while
-Gregor's father observed them anxiously. It really now seemed very
-obvious that they had expected to hear some beautiful or
-entertaining violin playing but had been disappointed, that they had
-had enough of the whole performance and it was only now out of
-politeness that they allowed their peace to be disturbed. It was
-especially unnerving, the way they all blew the smoke from their
-cigarettes upwards from their mouth and noses. Yet Gregor's sister
-was playing so beautifully. Her face was leant to one side,
-following the lines of music with a careful and melancholy
-expression. Gregor crawled a little further forward, keeping his
-head close to the ground so that he could meet her eyes if the
-chance came. Was he an animal if music could captivate him so? It
-seemed to him that he was being shown the way to the unknown
-nourishment he had been yearning for. He was determined to make his
-way forward to his sister and tug at her skirt to show her she might
-come into his room with her violin, as no-one appreciated her
-playing here as much as he would. He never wanted to let her out of
-his room, not while he lived, anyway; his shocking appearance
-should, for once, be of some use to him; he wanted to be at every
-door of his room at once to hiss and spit at the attackers; his
-sister should not be forced to stay with him, though, but stay of
-her own free will; she would sit beside him on the couch with her
-ear bent down to him while he told her how he had always intended to
-send her to the conservatory, how he would have told everyone about
-it last Christmas - had Christmas really come and gone already? - if
-this misfortune hadn't got in the way, and refuse to let anyone
-dissuade him from it. On hearing all this, his sister would break
-out in tears of emotion, and Gregor would climb up to her shoulder
-and kiss her neck, which, since she had been going out to work, she
-had kept free without any necklace or collar.
-
-"Mr. Samsa!", shouted the middle gentleman to Gregor's father,
-pointing, without wasting any more words, with his forefinger at
-Gregor as he slowly moved forward. The violin went silent, the
-middle of the three gentlemen first smiled at his two friends,
-shaking his head, and then looked back at Gregor. His father seemed
-to think it more important to calm the three gentlemen before
-driving Gregor out, even though they were not at all upset and
-seemed to think Gregor was more entertaining than the violin playing
-had been. He rushed up to them with his arms spread out and
-attempted to drive them back into their room at the same time as
-trying to block their view of Gregor with his body. Now they did
-become a little annoyed, and it was not clear whether it was his
-father's behaviour that annoyed them or the dawning realisation that
-they had had a neighbour like Gregor in the next room without
-knowing it. They asked Gregor's father for explanations, raised
-their arms like he had, tugged excitedly at their beards and moved
-back towards their room only very slowly. Meanwhile Gregor's sister
-had overcome the despair she had fallen into when her playing was
-suddenly interrupted. She had let her hands drop and let violin and
-bow hang limply for a while but continued to look at the music as if
-still playing, but then she suddenly pulled herself together, lay
-the instrument on her mother's lap who still sat laboriously
-struggling for breath where she was, and ran into the next room
-which, under pressure from her father, the three gentlemen were more
-quickly moving toward. Under his sister's experienced hand, the
-pillows and covers on the beds flew up and were put into order and
-she had already finished making the beds and slipped out again
-before the three gentlemen had reached the room. Gregor's father
-seemed so obsessed with what he was doing that he forgot all the
-respect he owed to his tenants. He urged them and pressed them
-until, when he was already at the door of the room, the middle of
-the three gentlemen shouted like thunder and stamped his foot and
-thereby brought Gregor's father to a halt. "I declare here and
-now", he said, raising his hand and glancing at Gregor's mother and
-sister to gain their attention too, "that with regard to the
-repugnant conditions that prevail in this flat and with this family"
-- here he looked briefly but decisively at the floor - "I give
-immediate notice on my room. For the days that I have been living
-here I will, of course, pay nothing at all, on the contrary I will
-consider whether to proceed with some kind of action for damages
-from you, and believe me it would be very easy to set out the
-grounds for such an action." He was silent and looked straight
-ahead as if waiting for something. And indeed, his two friends
-joined in with the words: "And we also give immediate notice." With
-that, he took hold of the door handle and slammed the door.
-
-Gregor's father staggered back to his seat, feeling his way with his
-hands, and fell into it; it looked as if he was stretching himself
-out for his usual evening nap but from the uncontrolled way his head
-kept nodding it could be seen that he was not sleeping at all.
-Throughout all this, Gregor had lain still where the three gentlemen
-had first seen him. His disappointment at the failure of his plan,
-and perhaps also because he was weak from hunger, made it impossible
-for him to move. He was sure that everyone would turn on him any
-moment, and he waited. He was not even startled out of this state
-when the violin on his mother's lap fell from her trembling fingers
-and landed loudly on the floor.
-
-"Father, Mother", said his sister, hitting the table with her hand
-as introduction, "we can't carry on like this. Maybe you can't see
-it, but I can. I don't want to call this monster my brother, all I
-can say is: we have to try and get rid of it. We've done all that's
-humanly possible to look after it and be patient, I don't think
-anyone could accuse us of doing anything wrong."
-
-"She's absolutely right", said Gregor's father to himself. His
-mother, who still had not had time to catch her breath, began to
-cough dully, her hand held out in front of her and a deranged
-expression in her eyes.
-
-Gregor's sister rushed to his mother and put her hand on her
-forehead. Her words seemed to give Gregor's father some more
-definite ideas. He sat upright, played with his uniform cap between
-the plates left by the three gentlemen after their meal, and
-occasionally looked down at Gregor as he lay there immobile.
-
-"We have to try and get rid of it", said Gregor's sister, now
-speaking only to her father, as her mother was too occupied with
-coughing to listen, "it'll be the death of both of you, I can see it
-coming. We can't all work as hard as we have to and then come home
-to be tortured like this, we can't endure it. I can't endure it any
-more." And she broke out so heavily in tears that they flowed down
-the face of her mother, and she wiped them away with mechanical hand
-movements.
-
-"My child", said her father with sympathy and obvious understanding,
-"what are we to do?"
-
-His sister just shrugged her shoulders as a sign of the helplessness
-and tears that had taken hold of her, displacing her earlier
-certainty.
-
-"If he could just understand us", said his father almost as a
-question; his sister shook her hand vigorously through her tears as
-a sign that of that there was no question.
-
-"If he could just understand us", repeated Gregor's father, closing
-his eyes in acceptance of his sister's certainty that that was quite
-impossible, "then perhaps we could come to some kind of arrangement
-with him. But as it is ..."
-
-"It's got to go", shouted his sister, "that's the only way, Father.
-You've got to get rid of the idea that that's Gregor. We've only
-harmed ourselves by believing it for so long. How can that be
-Gregor? If it were Gregor he would have seen long ago that it's not
-possible for human beings to live with an animal like that and he
-would have gone of his own free will. We wouldn't have a brother
-any more, then, but we could carry on with our lives and remember
-him with respect. As it is this animal is persecuting us, it's
-driven out our tenants, it obviously wants to take over the whole
-flat and force us to sleep on the streets. Father, look, just
-look", she suddenly screamed, "he's starting again!" In her alarm,
-which was totally beyond Gregor's comprehension, his sister even
-abandoned his mother as she pushed herself vigorously out of her
-chair as if more willing to sacrifice her own mother than stay
-anywhere near Gregor. She rushed over to behind her father, who had
-become excited merely because she was and stood up half raising his
-hands in front of Gregor's sister as if to protect her.
-
-But Gregor had had no intention of frightening anyone, least of all
-his sister. All he had done was begin to turn round so that he
-could go back into his room, although that was in itself quite
-startling as his pain-wracked condition meant that turning round
-required a great deal of effort and he was using his head to help
-himself do it, repeatedly raising it and striking it against the
-floor. He stopped and looked round. They seemed to have realised
-his good intention and had only been alarmed briefly. Now they all
-looked at him in unhappy silence. His mother lay in her chair with
-her legs stretched out and pressed against each other, her eyes
-nearly closed with exhaustion; his sister sat next to his father
-with her arms around his neck.
-
-"Maybe now they'll let me turn round", thought Gregor and went back
-to work. He could not help panting loudly with the effort and had
-sometimes to stop and take a rest. No-one was making him rush any
-more, everything was left up to him. As soon as he had finally
-finished turning round he began to move straight ahead. He was
-amazed at the great distance that separated him from his room, and
-could not understand how he had covered that distance in his weak
-state a little while before and almost without noticing it. He
-concentrated on crawling as fast as he could and hardly noticed that
-there was not a word, not any cry, from his family to distract him.
-He did not turn his head until he had reached the doorway. He did
-not turn it all the way round as he felt his neck becoming stiff,
-but it was nonetheless enough to see that nothing behind him had
-changed, only his sister had stood up. With his last glance he saw
-that his mother had now fallen completely asleep.
-
-He was hardly inside his room before the door was hurriedly shut,
-bolted and locked. The sudden noise behind Gregor so startled him
-that his little legs collapsed under him. It was his sister who had
-been in so much of a rush. She had been standing there waiting and
-sprung forward lightly, Gregor had not heard her coming at all, and
-as she turned the key in the lock she said loudly to her parents "At
-last!".
-
-"What now, then?", Gregor asked himself as he looked round in the
-darkness. He soon made the discovery that he could no longer move
-at all. This was no surprise to him, it seemed rather that being
-able to actually move around on those spindly little legs until then
-was unnatural. He also felt relatively comfortable. It is true
-that his entire body was aching, but the pain seemed to be slowly
-getting weaker and weaker and would finally disappear altogether.
-He could already hardly feel the decayed apple in his back or the
-inflamed area around it, which was entirely covered in white dust.
-He thought back of his family with emotion and love. If it was
-possible, he felt that he must go away even more strongly than his
-sister. He remained in this state of empty and peaceful rumination
-until he heard the clock tower strike three in the morning. He
-watched as it slowly began to get light everywhere outside the
-window too. Then, without his willing it, his head sank down
-completely, and his last breath flowed weakly from his nostrils.
-
-When the cleaner came in early in the morning - they'd often asked
-her not to keep slamming the doors but with her strength and in her
-hurry she still did, so that everyone in the flat knew when she'd
-arrived and from then on it was impossible to sleep in peace - she
-made her usual brief look in on Gregor and at first found nothing
-special. She thought he was laying there so still on purpose,
-playing the martyr; she attributed all possible understanding to
-him. She happened to be holding the long broom in her hand, so she
-tried to tickle Gregor with it from the doorway. When she had no
-success with that she tried to make a nuisance of herself and poked
-at him a little, and only when she found she could shove him across
-the floor with no resistance at all did she start to pay attention.
-She soon realised what had really happened, opened her eyes wide,
-whistled to herself, but did not waste time to yank open the bedroom
-doors and shout loudly into the darkness of the bedrooms: "Come and
-'ave a look at this, it's dead, just lying there, stone dead!"
-
-Mr. and Mrs. Samsa sat upright there in their marriage bed and had
-to make an effort to get over the shock caused by the cleaner before
-they could grasp what she was saying. But then, each from his own
-side, they hurried out of bed. Mr. Samsa threw the blanket over his
-shoulders, Mrs. Samsa just came out in her nightdress; and that is
-how they went into Gregor's room. On the way they opened the door
-to the living room where Grete had been sleeping since the three
-gentlemen had moved in; she was fully dressed as if she had never
-been asleep, and the paleness of her face seemed to confirm this.
-"Dead?", asked Mrs. Samsa, looking at the charwoman enquiringly,
-even though she could have checked for herself and could have known
-it even without checking. "That's what I said", replied the
-cleaner, and to prove it she gave Gregor's body another shove with
-the broom, sending it sideways across the floor. Mrs. Samsa made a
-movement as if she wanted to hold back the broom, but did not
-complete it. "Now then", said Mr. Samsa, "let's give thanks to God
-for that". He crossed himself, and the three women followed his
-example. Grete, who had not taken her eyes from the corpse, said:
-"Just look how thin he was. He didn't eat anything for so long.
-The food came out again just the same as when it went in". Gregor's
-body was indeed completely dried up and flat, they had not seen it
-until then, but now he was not lifted up on his little legs, nor did
-he do anything to make them look away.
-
-"Grete, come with us in here for a little while", said Mrs. Samsa
-with a pained smile, and Grete followed her parents into the bedroom
-but not without looking back at the body. The cleaner shut the door
-and opened the window wide. Although it was still early in the
-morning the fresh air had something of warmth mixed in with it. It
-was already the end of March, after all.
-
-The three gentlemen stepped out of their room and looked round in
-amazement for their breakfasts; they had been forgotten about.
-"Where is our breakfast?", the middle gentleman asked the cleaner
-irritably. She just put her finger on her lips and made a quick and
-silent sign to the men that they might like to come into Gregor's
-room. They did so, and stood around Gregor's corpse with their
-hands in the pockets of their well-worn coats. It was now quite
-light in the room.
-
-Then the door of the bedroom opened and Mr. Samsa appeared in his
-uniform with his wife on one arm and his daughter on the other. All
-of them had been crying a little; Grete now and then pressed her
-face against her father's arm.
-
-"Leave my home. Now!", said Mr. Samsa, indicating the door and
-without letting the women from him. "What do you mean?", asked the
-middle of the three gentlemen somewhat disconcerted, and he smiled
-sweetly. The other two held their hands behind their backs and
-continually rubbed them together in gleeful anticipation of a loud
-quarrel which could only end in their favour. "I mean just what I
-said", answered Mr. Samsa, and, with his two companions, went in a
-straight line towards the man. At first, he stood there still,
-looking at the ground as if the contents of his head were
-rearranging themselves into new positions. "Alright, we'll go
-then", he said, and looked up at Mr. Samsa as if he had been
-suddenly overcome with humility and wanted permission again from
-Mr. Samsa for his decision. Mr. Samsa merely opened his eyes wide
-and briefly nodded to him several times. At that, and without
-delay, the man actually did take long strides into the front
-hallway; his two friends had stopped rubbing their hands some time
-before and had been listening to what was being said. Now they
-jumped off after their friend as if taken with a sudden fear that
-Mr. Samsa might go into the hallway in front of them and break the
-connection with their leader. Once there, all three took their hats
-from the stand, took their sticks from the holder, bowed without a
-word and left the premises. Mr. Samsa and the two women followed
-them out onto the landing; but they had had no reason to mistrust
-the men's intentions and as they leaned over the landing they saw how
-the three gentlemen made slow but steady progress down the many
-steps. As they turned the corner on each floor they disappeared and
-would reappear a few moments later; the further down they went, the
-more that the Samsa family lost interest in them; when a butcher's
-boy, proud of posture with his tray on his head, passed them on his
-way up and came nearer than they were, Mr. Samsa and the women came
-away from the landing and went, as if relieved, back into the flat.
-
-They decided the best way to make use of that day was for relaxation
-and to go for a walk; not only had they earned a break from work but
-they were in serious need of it. So they sat at the table and wrote
-three letters of excusal, Mr. Samsa to his employers, Mrs. Samsa
-to her contractor and Grete to her principal. The cleaner came in
-while they were writing to tell them she was going, she'd finished
-her work for that morning. The three of them at first just nodded
-without looking up from what they were writing, and it was only when
-the cleaner still did not seem to want to leave that they looked up
-in irritation. "Well?", asked Mr. Samsa. The charwoman stood in
-the doorway with a smile on her face as if she had some tremendous
-good news to report, but would only do it if she was clearly asked
-to. The almost vertical little ostrich feather on her hat, which
-had been a source of irritation to Mr. Samsa all the time she had
-been working for them, swayed gently in all directions. "What is it
-you want then?", asked Mrs. Samsa, whom the cleaner had the most
-respect for. "Yes", she answered, and broke into a friendly laugh
-that made her unable to speak straight away, "well then, that thing
-in there, you needn't worry about how you're going to get rid of it.
- That's all been sorted out." Mrs. Samsa and Grete bent down over
-their letters as if intent on continuing with what they were
-writing; Mr. Samsa saw that the cleaner wanted to start describing
-everything in detail but, with outstretched hand, he made it quite
-clear that she was not to. So, as she was prevented from telling
-them all about it, she suddenly remembered what a hurry she was in
-and, clearly peeved, called out "Cheerio then, everyone", turned
-round sharply and left, slamming the door terribly as she went.
-
-"Tonight she gets sacked", said Mr. Samsa, but he received no reply
-from either his wife or his daughter as the charwoman seemed to have
-destroyed the peace they had only just gained. They got up and went
-over to the window where they remained with their arms around each
-other. Mr. Samsa twisted round in his chair to look at them and sat
-there watching for a while. Then he called out: "Come here, then.
-Let's forget about all that old stuff, shall we. Come and give me a
-bit of attention". The two women immediately did as he said,
-hurrying over to him where they kissed him and hugged him and then
-they quickly finished their letters.
-
-After that, the three of them left the flat together, which was
-something they had not done for months, and took the tram out to the
-open country outside the town. They had the tram, filled with warm
-sunshine, all to themselves. Leant back comfortably on their seats,
-they discussed their prospects and found that on closer examination
-they were not at all bad - until then they had never asked each
-other about their work but all three had jobs which were very good
-and held particularly good promise for the future. The greatest
-improvement for the time being, of course, would be achieved quite
-easily by moving house; what they needed now was a flat that was
-smaller and cheaper than the current one which had been chosen by
-Gregor, one that was in a better location and, most of all, more
-practical. All the time, Grete was becoming livelier. With all the
-worry they had been having of late her cheeks had become pale, but,
-while they were talking, Mr. and Mrs. Samsa were struck, almost
-simultaneously, with the thought of how their daughter was
-blossoming into a well built and beautiful young lady. They became
-quieter. Just from each other's glance and almost without knowing
-it they agreed that it would soon be time to find a good man for
-her. And, as if in confirmation of their new dreams and good
-intentions, as soon as they reached their destination Grete was the
-first to get up and stretch out her young body.