[Music]
metamorphosis by Franz Kafka part 1 when
Gregor Samsa woke one morning from
uneasy dreams he found himself
transformed in his bed into a monstrous
insect he was lying on his hard shell
like back and when he lifted his head a
little he could see his dome-shaped
brown body banded with reinforcing
arches on top of which the blanket
maintained its precarious hold his
numerous legs pitifully thin in relation
to the rest of his bulk danced
ineffectually before his eyes what has
happened to me he thought it was not a
dream his room a normal though rather
too small human room lay peacefully
between the four familiar walls above
the table on which a collection of cloth
samples had been laid out Samsa was a
traveling salesman hung the picture that
he had recently cut out of a magazine
and mounted in a pretty gilt frame it
showed a lady in a fur hat and boa
Gregor's eyes then focused on the window
and the gloomy weather you could hear
raindrops beating on the metal
windowsill God he thought what a
strenuous profession I've chosen Oh
wretched traveling these early mornings
are very bad for the brain the man needs
his sleep Oh to hell with it all if it
hadn't been for my parents I'd have had
in my notice in long ago oh well there's
still a gleam of hope once I've got the
money together to pay back what they owe
my boss it might take another five or
six years I'll definitely do it I'll
make a fresh start
meanwhile though I had better get up my
train leaves at five and he looked
across to the alarm clock that was
ticking on the chest of drawers god
almighty he thought it was half-past six
and the hands were
moving steadily forwards like the alarm
not at run you can see from the bed that
it had been set correctly to go off at
forward must have rung yes but was it
possible to sleep calmly through that
furniture shaking racket well he hadn't
exactly slept calmly but that probably
meant he had slept all the more soundly
but what should he do now the next train
left at 7:00 to catch that would mean a
frantic rush and the samples had not
been packed and he wasn't exactly
feeling especially fresh and mobile and
even if he did catch the train he could
expect a thundering trade from his boss
because the office-boy would have met
the five o'clock train and reported his
absence long ago the boy was his boss's
Lackey a spineless mindless creature
while he was considering all this there
was a cautious tap at the door near the
top of his bed gregor called the voice
it was his mother it's quarter to seven
didn't you ever train to catch
that gentle voice Gregor gave a start
when he heard his own voice answer it
was unmistakably his own but mingling
with it as if from below was a painful
not to be suppressed squeak that uttered
the words clearly only for a second it
had been Gregor's intention to answer at
length and explain everything but in the
circumstances he confined himself to
saying yes yes thank you mother
I'm just getting up due to the wooden
door the change in Gregor's voice was
presumably not noticeable from the
outside for his mother went shuffling
off but this brief exchange had alerted
the other members of the family to the
fact that Gregor was still at home and
already his father was knocking at one
of the side doors with his fists
Gregor Gregor Oh what is it at the door
on the other side however came the soft
plaintive voice of his sister Gregor
aren't you well do you need anything
just coming you replied in both
directions and tried through
c18 as clearly as possible and leaving
long pauses between the words to make
his voice sound as inconspicuous as
possible his father went back to his
breakfast
but his sister whispered Greco open up
please but Gregor had no intention of
opening the door and congratulated
himself on his prudent habit adopted
from his travels of locking all the
doors at night even when he was at home
first of all he wanted to get up in
peace and quiet and only then think
about what to do next he recalled fairly
often having felt some slight pain in
bed possibly as a result of lying
awkwardly which had turned out to be
purely illusory once he was up and he
was curious to see how the mornings
imaginings would gradually dissolve
discarding the blanket was simple enough
he only needed to inflate himself a
little and it fell to the floor but
after that things became more difficult
because of his extraordinary girth he
would have needed arms and hands to lift
himself up instead he had only his
numerous legs that were in constant and
multifarious motion and over which he
had no control
he tried at first to get the lower part
of his body out of the bed but this
lower part which he had incidentally not
yet seen proved too cumbersome progress
was so slow and when at last having
become almost wild he mustered all his
strength and thrust himself recklessly
forward it turned out that he had chosen
the wrong direction he bumped violently
against the bottom end of the bed and
the searing pain he felt informed in
that it was precisely this lower part of
his body that might fall the time being
be the most sensitive so he tried to get
the upper part of his body out of that
first twisting his head round to the
edge of the bed that was easy enough and
despite his girth and great weight his
body slowly followed the movement of his
head but when at long last he had got
his head out over the side in midair he
became afraid of continued
in this manner for if he were to fall
like that it would take a miracle for
him not to sustained a head injury
seven o'clock already he said to himself
as the alarm rang once more and for a
short time he lay still breathing
quietly hoping perhaps that such total
silence might bring about a return to
normal everyday reality but then he said
to himself before it strength 7:15 I
must at all costs be right out of bed
and he now set about rocking the whole
length of his body evenly out of bed if
he let himself fall in this way his head
which he intended to lift sharply as he
fell would presumably be unharmed his
back seemed to be hard hitting the
carpet would probably cause him no
damage when Gregor was already
protruding halfway out of the bed it
occurred to him how simple everything
would be if somebody came to his aid two
strong people he had in mind his father
and the maid would be quite enough well
quite apart from the fact that the doors
were locked cold he really called for
help
despite his great predicament he was
unable to suppress a smile at the
thought he had already reached the stage
where if he rocked fairly vigorously he
could scarcely keep his balance and he
would very soon have to make up his mind
once and for all when there was a ring
at the apartment door someone from the
office he said to himself and almost
froze while his little legs danced even
faster for a moment all was silent
they're not answering
Gregor said to himself seized by some
insane hope but then of course as always
the maid strode purposefully to the door
and opened it gregor only needed to hear
the visitors first word of greeting to
know who it was the chief clerk himself
why was Gregor of all people condemned
to work for a firm where the slightest
lapse promptly aroused the greatest
suspicion was it necessary for the chief
clerk to come in person and more as a
consequence of the agitation caused by
these thoughts than as a
result of true resolve Gregor swung
himself out of bed with all his might
there was a loud thump but it was not a
true bang his fall had been muffled by
the carpet and his back was also more
elastic than Gregor supposed he had not
however been sufficiently careful with
his head which he banged and which he
twisted round and rubbed on the carpet
in irritation and pain something's
fallen in there said the chief clerk in
the room on the left
Gregor tried to imagine whether
something similar to what had just
happened to him might one day happen to
the chief Clark he had to admit this
possibility gregor his father now said
from the room on the left the chief
clerk has come to enquire you didn't
catch the early train he'd like to have
a word with you in person so please open
up the morning Herr Samsa came meanwhile
the friendly voice of the chief Clark
he's not well sir said Gregor's mother
why else would he miss a train that boy
thinks of nothing but his work almost
makes me angry that he never goes out in
the evening fretwork provides his only
amusement he made a little picture frame
for example which took him two or three
evenings you'll be amazed at how pretty
it is
I'm glad by the way that you've come sir
we'd never have persuaded Gregor to
unlock the door by ourselves he's so
stubborn just coming said Gregor slowly
and deliberately I do Madame can think
of no other explanation said the chief
clerk I hope it's nothing serious
although I have to say that we
businessman a very often obliged for
business reasons simply to shrug off a
minor in disposition can the chief Clark
come in now his father asked impatiently
no said Gregor in the room on the left
and embarrassed silence fell in the room
on the right
his sister began to sob why was she
crying
because he was not getting up to let the
chief clerk in because he was in danger
of losing his job and because his boss
would then start hounding his parents
again about those old debts there was
surely no need to worry about such
things Gregor was still present and
hadn't the faintest intention of
deserting his family as Samsa the chief
clerk now calls out in a louder voice
what is wrong you barricade yourself in
your room answer nothing but yes or no
added addition hi I only mentioned this
in passing neglect your professional
duties in a frankly quite outrageous
manner your superior intimated to me
this morning a possible explanation for
your absence
concerning the cash payments that you
would be entrusted to collect I
virtually gave him my word of honor that
there could be no truth in such an
explanation but faced here with your
incomprehensible obstinacy I find myself
losing absolutely all inclination to
defend you in any way whatsoever and
your position is far from secure my
original intention was to tell you all
this privately but as you are causing me
to waste my time here so endlessly I see
no reason why your good parents should
not hear it as well so your achievements
have recently been most unsatisfactory
it is of course not the best season for
doing business we recognize that but
there is no such thing here Sam sir
there can be no such thing as a season
for doing no business at all but sir
cried Gregor distraught and forgetting
everything else in his agitation a hole
in the door immediately at once
a slight indisposition her bout of
dizziness prevented me from getting up
but now I feel perfectly fit again all
these accusations are of yours are quite
unfounded and no one has said a word
about them to me and perhaps you haven't
seen the last batch of orders I said
anyway I'll catch the 8 o'clock train
don't waste another moment sir I'll be
in the office myself in no time would
you kindly pass that on it said my
respects to the bus and while Gregor was
blurting all this out and hardly knew
what he was saying he had managed to
reach the chest of drawers without
difficulty as a consequence perhaps of
the practice he had acquired in bed and
was now trying to haul himself upright
he really did intend to show himself and
speak with the chief clerk he was
anxious to find out what the others
would say when they saw him if they took
fright Gregor would have no further
responsibility and he could relax if on
the other hand they took it all in their
stride he could if he hurried actually
be at the station by 8:00 at first he
kept sliding down the smooth surface of
the chest of drawers but at last he gave
himself a final heave and stood upright
he now let himself slump against the
back of a nearby chair gripping it round
the edge with his little legs having
thus gained control over himself he fell
silent for he was now able to listen to
what the chief Clarke was saying he
understood a single word the chief
Clarke was asking his parents he isn't
trying to make fools of us is he god
forbid cried his mother already in tears
perhaps he's seriously ill greater
greater she then cried mother called his
sister from the other side they were
communicating through Gregor's room you
must go to the doctor at once Gregor is
ill didn't you hear him talking just now
that was the voice of an animal said the
chief Clarke
Anna honor his father was shut in
through the hallway into the kitchen get
a locksmith immediately and already the
two girls were running through the hall
and tearing open the Apartment door but
Gregor had become much calmer it was
true then that they could no longer
understand his words though they had
seemed clearer than before
perhaps because his ears had become
attuned to them but at least they could
now believe that all was not quite right
with him and were prepared to help
he felt integrated once more into human
society and hope for great and startling
contributions from both the doctor and
the locksmith without really making any
clear distinction between them complete
silence had fallen in the adjoining room
Gregor slowly dragged himself towards
the door
pushing the chair in front of him then
he let go of it and threw himself
against the door where he propped
himself up the pads on the bottom of his
little legs were slightly adhesive he
then set about turning the key in the
lock with his mouth his jaws were very
strong with their help he actually got
the key moving ignoring the fact that he
was undoubtedly doing himself some
damage for a brown liquid issued from
his mouth listen said the chief clerk in
the next room he's turning the key that
was a great encouragement to Gregor and
imagining that they were all following
his efforts with the tense excitement he
bit furiously on the key with all his
strength as it turned he danced round
the lock he was now holding himself up
by his mouth alone and as the situation
demanded either clung to the key or
pressed it down again with the full
weight of his body with a sigh of relief
he said to himself I didn't either
locksmith after all and laid his head on
the handle to pull the door open by
opening it in this way the door was
actually open while he himself was still
not visible first he had to edge his way
round the wing of the door and with the
utmost care if he wasn't to fall flat on
his back
he was still preoccupied with this
tricky maneuver and had no time to
attend to anything else when he heard
the chief clerk utter aloud it sounded
like a rush of wind and now he could see
him standing closest to the door
pressing his hand to his mouth backing
slowly away his mother in spite of the
chief Clark's presence she was standing
there with her
all undone and tousled from the night
looked first with clasped hands at his
father then took two steps towards
Gregor and slumped down his father
looked hostile and clenched a fist as if
he intended to beat Gregor back into his
room then looked uncertainly around the
living room shaded his eyes with his
hands and wept until his powerful chest
shook Gregor did not in fact enter the
room at all but leaned against the
inside of the firmly bolted wing of the
door so all that could be seen was half
of his body and above it his head tilted
to one side in the meantime it had grown
much lighter clearly visible on the
other side of the street was a section
of the endless grey black building
opposite it was a hospital hanging on
the wall opposite was a photograph of
Gregor from his army days which showed
him as a leftenant a carefree smile on
his lips inviting respect for his
bearing and uniform the door to the
hallway was open and since the front
door was open - it was possible to see
out onto the landing and to the top of
the stairs
Right Said Gregor well aware that he was
the only one to have retained his
composure I shall now get dressed and be
off are you willing to let me work where
are you going sir to the office will you
make a faithful report of all this I
have my parents and sisters to think
about I'm in a tight spot but I'll work
my way out of it
don't make things harder for me than
they already are speak up for me in the
firm you sir you have a better view of
things than the rest of the staff and
between you and me than the head of the
firm himself who in his capacity as
implied can easily allow his judgment to
add to the disadvantage of an employee
and you know very well that the
Traveling Salesman whose how to the
office practically all year round can
fall prey to costly coincidences and
unfounded complaints against which he's
completely unable to defend himself sir
don't go away without telling me that
you think I'm at least partly right but
the chief car could handle
wriggles very first words merely staring
back at him with curled lips over his
quivering shoulder he was already in the
hallway and to judge from the sudden
movement with which he finally stepped
from the living room one might have
thought he'd just scorched the sole of
his foot Gregor realized that he could
in no circumstances allow the chief
Clark to depart in this frame of mind of
his position in the firm were not to be
seriously endangered his parents did not
understand these things too well in the
course of many years they had formed the
conviction that Gregor was set up for
life in this firm and besides they were
so preoccupied with their own immediate
worries that they had completely lost
the ability to look ahead the chief
clerk must be restrained calmed down
convinced and finally won over Gregor's
future and that of his family depended
on it if only his sister had been there
she was clever and surely the chief
Clark this lady's man would have allowed
himself to be swayed by her but since
his sister was not there Gregor had to
act on his own and without stopping to
think that he was still wholly
unfamiliar with his present powers of
locomotion without stopping to think
that his words had possibly even
probably not been understood again he
let go of the wing of the door he shoved
himself through the opening he wanted to
get to the chief Clark but promptly fell
as he groped for support on to his
numerous little links with a short cry
no sooner had this happened than for the
first time that morning he felt a sense
of physical well-being his little legs
had firm ground beneath them they obeyed
him completely as he noted to his joy
they were even eager to carry him
wherever he wanted to go and he already
believed that an end all his suffering
was finally at hand but at that same
moment his mother who had seemed so
utterly self-absorbed suddenly lept into
the air arm stretched out wide crying
mother mother said Gregor softly and
looked up at her at this his mother let
out another scream and fled into the
arms of his father who came rushing up
to her but Gregor now had no time for
his parents
the chief Clark was already on the
stairs he darted forwards the chief
clerk must have suspected something for
he lept down several steps and
disappeared he was still yelling oh and
it echoed through the whole staircase
unfortunately his father who till then
had remained relatively composed seemed
quite bewildered by the chief Clark's
flight for instead of running after him
or at least not obstructing Gregor in
his pursuit he seized in his right hand
the chief Clark's cane which had been
left behind picked up with his left hand
a large newspaper from the table and
stamping his feet and brandishing both
cane and newspaper began to drive Gregor
back into his room Gregor's entreaties
were to no avail
none were even understood relentlessly
his father drove him back hissing like a
savage Gregor however still had no
practice in walking backwards and was
making very slow progress only he had
been allowed to turn round he could have
reached his room in no time at all but
he was frightened of making his father
impatient finally however Gregor had no
alternative for he noticed with horror
that in Reverse he could not even keep
going in one direction so he now began
with repeated and anguished sideways
glances at his father to turn round as
quickly as he could which was in reality
very slowly if only his father had not
kept making those intolerable hissing
noises it threw Gregor into utter
confusion he'd almost turned himself
round when with his mind continually on
the hissing he made an error and started
turning the other way but when he
finally succeeded in facing the doorway
it became clear to him that his body was
too broad to pass through as it was his
father of course in his present state of
mind did not even consider opening the
other wing of the door in order to give
Gregor sufficient room he was obsessed
by the one idea of getting Gregor
Days run as quickly as possible he drove
him on as if there were no obstacle it
was now beyond a joke and Gregor thrust
himself come what may into the doorway
one side of his body rose up he lay
lopsided in the doorway one of his
flanks was rubbed quite raw the white
door was stained with ugly blotches soon
he would be stuck fast unable to move
our native his little legs on one side
hung quivering in the air those on the
other squashed painfully against the
floor at which point his father dealt
him a truly liberating blow from behind
and bleeding profusely
Gregor flew into his room
not until dusk the Gregor woke from his
deep coma-like sleep he would certainly
have woken not much later even without
being disturbed for he felt sufficiently
rested and refreshed but it seemed to
him that he had been roused by hurried
steps and a cautious closing of the door
that led into the hall the light of the
electric street lamps flickered patently
on the ceiling and the other parts of
the furniture but down where Gregor lay
it was dark
slowly still groping awkwardly with his
feelers which he was only now beginning
to appreciate he dragged himself over to
the door to see what had been happening
there his left side felt like one long
unpleasantly tore turning scar and he
was reduced to limping on his twin rows
of legs one leg moreover had been
seriously damaged in the course of the
morning's events it was almost a miracle
that only one had been damaged and
trailed limply after him only when he
reached the door did he notice what had
actually lured him there it was the
smell of something to eat for there
stood a bowl brimming with sweetened
milk in which little slices of white
bread were floating he could almost have
laughed for joy because he was even
hungrier than he had been in the morning
and he promptly dipped his head into the
milk almost up to his eyes but he soon
drew it back again and disappointment
not merely because eating caused him
difficulties due to his tender left side
he could only eat of his whole panting
body participated but because he did not
care for the milk at all despite it
normally being his favourite drink for
which reason his sister had certainly
put it down for him indeed he turned
away from the bowl with a repugnance and
crawled back into the middle of the room
in the living room the gas had already
been lit as Gregor could see through the
crack in the door but whereas it this
time of day his father always used to
read the loud extracts from his evening
paper to his mother and sometimes his
sister as well
everything now was utterly silent what a
quiet life the family has been leading
Gregor said to himself and felt so proud
as he sat there staring into the
darkness that he had been able to
provide his parents and sister with a
life of this sort in such a pleasant
apartment but what if all the peace the
prosperity the contentment were now to
come to a terrible end in order not to
lose himself in such thoughts
Gregor chose to move about and crawled
back and forth across the room during
the long evening first one of the side
doors and then the other was opened
slightly and quickly shut again
somebody had presumably needed to come
in but it had too many misgivings Gregor
now stationed himself directly in front
of the living room door determined
somehow to get his hesitant visitor into
the room or at least to discover who it
might be but the door was not opened
again and Gregor waited in vain in the
morning when the doors had been locked
everyone had wanted to come in now when
he had opened one door and the others
had clearly been opened during the day
no one came anymore and the keys
moreover were now on the outside it
wasn't until late in the evening that
the light was turned off in the living
room and it became clear that his
parents and sister had stayed up all
that time for all three of them could
now be distinctly heard moving away on
tiptoe certainly no one would now come
into Gregor's room until morning he
therefore had a long time to consider in
peace and quiet how best to reorganize
his life but the high ceiling spacious
room in which he was obliged to live
flat on the floor filled him with an
anguish he could not account for since
it was after all the room he had lived
in for the past five years and with the
half-conscious change of direction and
not without a slight feeling of shame he
scuttled under the couch where although
his back was a little squashed and he
could not raise his head
or he immediately felt quite comfortable
and was only sorry that his body was too
broad to fit completely under the couch
there he stayed the whole night either
dozing and being continually jolted
awake by pangs of hunger or in worries
and vague hopes all of which however led
to the conclusion that for the time
being he had to stay calm and by
exercising patience and being as
considerate as possible to his family
make bearable the unpleasantness that he
was compelled to cause them in his
present condition by early next morning
it was still almost night gregor had an
opportunity to test the firmness of his
new resolve for his sister almost fully
dressed opened the door from the hall
and looked uneasily in she did not see
him immediately but when she spotted him
beneath the couch
good heavens he had to be somewhere he
couldn't have just flown away she got
such a fright that she lost control of
herself and slammed the door shut again
from the outside but as if regretting
her behavior she immediately opened the
door again and tiptoed into the room as
though she were visiting someone
seriously ill or even a stranger Gregor
had stuck his head out almost to the
edge of the couch and was observing her
would she noticed that he had left the
milk standing though not because he had
no appetite far from it and would she
bring in some other food that suited him
better if she didn't do so of her own
accord he would rather starve than bring
it to her attention although in fact he
felt the tremendous urge to dart out
from under the couch threw himself at
his sister's feet and beg her to bring
him something good to eat
his sister however noticed immediately
and with astonishment the still full
bowl from which only a little milk had
splattered all around picked it up
admittedly not with her bare hands but
with a cloth and carried it out Gregor
was extremely curious to know what she
would bring instead and indulged in all
manner of speculation but never could he
have guessed was his sister in the
nice of her heart actually did in order
to find out what he liked she brought
him a whole selection of things all
spread out on an old newspaper old half
rotten vegetables bones leftover from
supper surrounded by congealed white
sauce some raisins and almonds some
cheese that two days earlier Gregor had
declared inedible a slice of dry bread a
slice of bread and butter and another
spread with butter unsalted in addition
to all this she also put down the bowl
which had probably been permanently
assigned to Gregor and into it she had
poured some water and that of a sense of
delicacy since she knew that Gregor
would not eat in her presence she
hastily withdrew and even turned the key
in the lock to let Gregor know that he
could make himself as comfortable as he
wished
Gregor's little legs word as he made his
way to the food his wounds moreover must
have completely healed by now for he
felt no further impediment which
astonished him and he remembered how
more than a month earlier he had cut his
finger ever so slightly with a knife and
how this finger had still been hurting
him only the day before yesterday might
I have grown less sensitive he thought
already sucking greedily on the cheese
which had attracted him immediately and
more forcibly than all the other food in
quick succession and with tears of
contentment welling in his eyes he
devoured the cheese the vegetables and
the sauce the fresh food on the other
hand did not appeal to him he couldn't
even stand the smell
and he actually dragged the things he
did not wish to eat a little further off
he had long finished everything and was
just lying lazily on the same spot when
as a sign that he should withdraw his
sister slowly turned the key that
immediately made him start despite the
fact that he was almost dozing off and
he scuttled back beneath the couch but
it took enormous self-control to stay
under the couch even for the short time
that his sister was in the room
since the copious meal had balota DS
body a little and he could hardly
breathe in that cramped space in between
brief bouts of suffocation
he watched with slightly bulging eyes as
his unsuspecting sister took a broom and
swept up not only the remains of what he
had eaten but even the food that Gregor
had not touched as if it too were now
unusable and then dumped everything he
still e into a bucket which she covered
with a wooden lid before carrying
everything out she had hardly turned her
back when Gregor came out from under the
couch to stretch and distend his belly
this was how Gregor now received his
food each day once in the morning while
his parents and the maid was still
asleep
and again when everyone had had lunch
for then his parents took another short
nap and the maid was sent on some errand
or rather by his sister they surely did
not want him to starve either but
perhaps the only way they could bear to
find out about his eating habits was by
hearsay what pretext had been used on
that first morning to get the doctor and
the locksmith out of the apartment
Gregor was quite unable to discover for
since the others could not understand
what he said it did not occur to anyone
not even his sister that he might be
able to understand other people and so
when his sister was in his room he had
to content himself with hearing her
intermittent sighs and invitations to
the Saints it was only later when she
had begun to get used to everything they
could never of course be any question of
a complete adjustment that Gregor
sometimes seized on a remark that was
meant to be friendly or could be so
interpreted really liked his food today
she would say when Gregor had licked his
bowl clean and when the opposite was
true which gradually occurred more and
more frequently she would say almost
sadly he's left everything again but
although Gregor could not discover
anything directly he did overhear a fair
amount from the adjoining rooms and
whenever he heard voices he would run at
to the appropriate door and press his
whole body against it especially in the
early days there was no conversation
that did not in some way if only
clandestinely refer to him for two whole
days there were consultations to be
heard at every meal about how they
should now proceed but the same topic
was also discussed between meals for at
least two members of the family were
always at home probably because no one
wanted to be at home alone because
leaving the apartment completely empty
was out of the question
besides the maid had on the very first
day it was not quite clear what or how
much he knew of what had happened gone
to his mother and begged on her bended
knees to be dismissed at once and when
she took her leave a quarter of an hour
later she thanked them in tears for her
dismissal as if it had been the greatest
favor ever conferred on her and vowed
without any prompting a fearful oath
that she would never breathe a word to
anyone now Gregor sister with her
mother's help had to do the cooking as
well although that did not of course
involve much work since they ate
practically nothing time it again Gregor
heard one of them vainly exhorting the
other to eat and never getting any other
answer than thank you I've had enough
for something similar they didn't seem
to drink anything uh neither his sister
often asked his father if he wanted a
beer and kindly offered to fetch it
herself and when his father made no
reply she said in order to remove any
misgivings he might have that she could
send the janitors wife to fetch it
whereupon his father uttered a decisive
no and that was the last they heard of
it in the course of the very first day
his father explained fully the family's
financial situation and prospects to
both mother and sister from time to time
he rose from the table and took some
receipt or notebook out of his small ver
time safe that he had held onto even
after the collapse of his business five
years earlier he could be heard opening
the complicated lock and closing it once
he had taken out what
is looking for these explanations by his
father were to some extent the first
encouraging news Gregor had heard since
his imprisonment he had always assumed
that his father had been left with
nothing at all from that business or at
least his father had never told him
anything to the contrary and Gregor
himself had never asked him
Fraggles sole concern in those days had
been to do everything in his power to
help his family forget as quickly as
possible the commercial disaster that
had plunged them all into utter despair
and so he had set to work with quite
exceptional zeal and risen almost
overnight from jr. Clark to travelling
salesmen in which capacity he naturally
had many more possibilities of earning
money since his successes could be
immediately translated by way of
commission into ready cash
that could be laid on the table at home
before the astonished and delighted eyes
of his family those had been wonderful
times which had never been repeated at
least not so gloriously although Gregor
subsequently earned so much money that
he was in a position to meet the entire
family's expenses and actually did so
they had simply got used to it the
family as well as Gregor they accepted
the money with gratitude he gave it with
pleasure but no special feelings of
warmth were engendered anymore only his
sister had remained close to Gregor and
it had been his secret plan that she who
unlike him loved music and could play
the violin most movingly
she'd be sent next year to the
conservatory
regardless of the great expense it would
entail and which he would somehow meet
during Gregor's short stays in town the
Conservatoire would often crop up in
conversations with his sister but never
is anything more than a beautiful dream
which could not possibly be fulfilled
and their parents did not even like to
hear these innocent illusions gregor
however had very fixed ideas on the
subject and intended to make the solemn
announcement on Christmas
such were the thoughts utterly futile in
his present condition that passed
through his mind as he clung there
upright glued to the door and listened
sometimes out of general exhaustion he
could not pay attention any longer and
let his head bump carelessly against the
door but he immediately held it up again
for even the tiny noise this made had
been heard in the next room and reduced
them all to silence what on earth is he
up to now said his father after a while
obviously turning towards the door and
only then with the interrupted
conversation gradually be resumed
Gregor now became thoroughly acquainted
for his father was in the habit of
repeating himself frequently in his
explanations partly because he had not
concerned himself with these matters for
quite some time and partly because his
mother could not always grasp things on
first hearing with the fact that despite
all their misfortune a sum of money
admittedly very small was still intact
from the old days but besides that the
money Gregor had brought home every
month he had kept only a few golden for
himself had not all been used up and had
accumulated into a modest capital Gregor
nodded vigorously behind his door
delighted at this unexpected foresight
and thrift he could in fact have used
this surplus money to pay off more of
his father's debts to his boss
thus springing much closer the day when
he could quit his job but as things
stood the way his father had arranged it
was undoubtedly better yet his money was
by no means sufficient for the family
even to consider living off the interest
it might have serve iced to support them
for one or at most two years but that
was all it was therefore merely a sum
that should not actually be touched but
rather put aside for an emergency money
to live on had to be earned
now Gregoire's father though in good
health was an old man
who had not worked for five years I
could not in any case be expected to
take on too much during those five years
the first holiday of his arduous yet
unsuccessful life he had put on a lot of
fat and had consequently become very
sluggish and was Gregor's old mother now
supposed to go out and earn money when
suffering as she did from asthma she
founded a strain even to walk around the
flat and spent every other day lying on
the sofa by the open window gasping for
breath and was his sister now to go out
to work who at 17 was still a child and
whose way of life no one would have
begrudge her persisting as it did of
dressing prettily sleeping late helping
in the house enjoying a few modest
amusements and above all playing the
violin whenever the conversation turned
to this need to earn money Gregor would
first let go of the door and then throw
himself down on the cool leather sofa
beside it for he felt quite hot with
shame and grief often he would lie there
all night long not sleeping a wink but
merely scratching at the leather for
hours on end
oh he would crawl up to the windowsill
and leaned against the window evidently
responding to a vague memory of that
sense of freedom which looking out of
the window at once given him for as the
days went by he did in fact see things
even a short distance away less and less
distinctly the hospital opposite which
he used to curse because he saw so much
of it he could now no longer see at home
and had he not known perfectly well that
he lived in the quiet but decidedly
urban Charlotte and starza he might have
thought that what he saw from his window
was a wilderness in which the grey sky
and grey earth were indistinguishably
mingled if only Gregor had been able to
speak
to his sister and thank her for
everything she had to do for him he
could have accepted her efforts more
easily but as it was they caused him
pain
his sister certainly tried to ease the
embarrassment of the whole situation as
much as she could and as time went on
she became more and more successful but
with time Gregor too saw everything much
more clearly her very entrance was
terrible for him the moment she crossed
the threshold without pausing to shut
the door even though she was otherwise
most careful to spare everyone the sight
of Gregor's room she ran straight to the
window hastily tore it open as if she
was almost suffocating remain there
awhile no matter how cold it was
breathing deeply she terrified Gregor
twice daily with all this crashing
around he spent the whole time trembling
beneath the couch even though he knew
perfectly well that she would certainly
have spared him this if only she had
been capable of staying in a room
occupied by Gregor with the window
closed once it must have been a month
since Gregor's transformation and there
was a particular reason now for his
sister to be astonished at his
appearance she came a little earlier
than usual and court Gregor motionless
and at his most terrifying looking out
of the window it would not have
surprised Gregor if she had not come in
because his position prevented her from
opening the window at once but not only
did she not come in
she even sprang back and shut the door a
stranger might almost have thought that
Gregor had been lying in wait for her
intending to bite her gregor of course
immediately hid himself beneath the
couch but he had to wait until noon
before his sister returned and she
seemed much more Restless than usual
he realized from this that the sight of
him was still unbearable to her and was
bound to remain unbearable and that it
probably required enormous self can
troll on her part not to run away at the
sight of even the small portion of his
body that jutted out from under the
couch and in order to spare her the
sight he managed one day the task took
him four hours to carry the bedsheet on
his back over to the couch and drape it
in such a way that he was now completely
covered making it impossible for his
sister to see him even if she bent down
had she considered this sheet
unnecessary she could of course have
removed it for it was clear enough that
it gave Gregor no pleasure to close
himself off so completely but she left
the sheet the way it was for the first
fortnight his parents could not bring
themselves to enter his room and he
often heard them wholeheartedly
acknowledging the work his sister was
now doing whereas before they had
frequently been annoyed with her because
she seemed to them a somewhat unhelpful
girl but now both of them his father and
his mother often waited outside Gregor's
room while his sister cleaned it out and
as soon as she emerged she had to give
them a detailed account of how the room
looked what Gregor had eaten and whether
he had perhaps shown a slight
improvement his mother
incidentally wanted to visit Gregor
relatively early on but his father and
sister succeeded at first in dissuading
her with rational arguments to which
Gregor listened most attentively and
with unreserved approval later though
she had to be restrained by force and
when she cried out let me see my Gregor
my own unhappy son
Gregor thought it might be a good thing
after all if his mother did come in not
every day of course but perhaps once a
week she really did understand
everything so much better than his
sister who had perhaps when all was said
and done
only taken on so hard a task out of
childish recklessness
for amusement he had acquired the habit
of crawling all over the walls and
ceiling
he was particularly partial to hanging
from the ceiling one could breathe more
freely and in the almost happy
absent-mindedness which gregor
experienced up there it sometimes
happened that he let go and crashed to
the floor but now of course he had his
body under much better control than
before and even such a great fall did
him no harm his sister noticed at once
the new pastime that Gregor had
discovered for himself after all he left
behind the traces of his sticky
substance even when crawling and decided
to give him as much crawling space as
possible by removing the furniture which
stood in his way but she was unable to
do this on her own she dared not ask her
father to help the maid would most
certainly not have helped well although
this girl of about 16 had been braving
it out since the dismissal of the
previous cook she had asked as a favour
to be allowed to keep the kitchen locked
at all times and open it only when
specifically called on to do so so his
sister had no alternative but to fetch
his mother when her father was out and
his mother did come uh Turing cries of
joy though she fell silent at the door
of Gregor's room first of course his
sister checked whether all was well
within only then did she let her mother
enter Gregor had very hastily pulled his
sheet down the whole thing really did
look like a sheet that had been randomly
thrown over the couch come on you can't
see him said his sister evidently
leaving his mother by the hand Gregor
could now hear the two frail women
shifting the old heavy chest of drawers
from its place after they had been at it
for what must have been a good quarter
of an hour his mother said it would be
better to leave the chest of drawers
where it was for in the first place it
was simply too heavy and they would not
finish before his father arrived and
secondly it was by no means certain that
by removing the furniture they were
doing gregor a favor it seems
that the opposite was the case she found
the site of the bear wall downright
depressing and why shouldn't Gregor
share the same feeling since he had long
before grown used to these pieces of
furniture and would therefore feel
abandoned in the empty room and wouldn't
it look
his mother concluded very quietly as if
by removing the furniture we were giving
up all hope of him making a recovery I
think it would be best if we tried to
keep the room in exactly the same state
as before so that when Greco returns to
us you'll find everything the same and
it will be that much easier for him to
forget what has happened in the meantime
on hearing his mother's words Gregor
realized that the lack of all direct
human communication together with a
monotonous life in the midst of his
family must have confused his mind in
the course of his last two months for he
could not explain to himself in any
other way how he could have seriously
wished to have his room cleared out did
he really want to have his warm room
comfortably furnished with the family
heirlooms transformed into a cave in
which admittedly he would be able to
crawl about freely in all directions but
at the cost of swiftly and totally
forgetting his human past he was already
on the verge of forgetting it and only
his mother's voice which she had not
heard for so long had brought him to his
senses
but his sister unfortunately thought
otherwise not without some justification
she had grown accustomed to taking on
the role of a particularly well
qualified specialist whenever Gregor's
Affairs were being discussed and so her
mother's advice was now sufficient
reason for her to insist on the removal
of not only the chest of drawers and
desk which was all she had been planning
at first but of every item of furniture
apart from the indispensable couch it
was of course more than childish
defiance and the self-confidence so
painstakingly acquired in recent weeks
that determined her to make this demand
perhaps a contributory factor was the
romantic spirit of girls of our age
which seeks fulfillment at every
opportunity in which had now tempted
greater into making Gregor situation
even more horrific so that she could be
of even greater help to him than before
for no one but greater would ever dare
to set foot in a room in which Gregor
reigned in solitary state over the bare
walls and so she would not allow her
resolve to be shaken by her mother who
out of sheer nervousness soon fell
silent
and began doing all she could to help
his sister get the chest of drawers out
although Gregor kept telling himself
that nothing out of the ordinary was
happening but only a few pieces of
furniture were being moved he was soon
forced to admit that the woman's doing
and throwing that little calls to each
other the scraping of the furniture on
the floor or affecting him and no matter
how firmly he drew in his head and legs
and pressed his body against the floor
he knew for certain that he would not be
able to stand it much longer they were
clearing out his room depriving him of
everything he loved
they had already carried out the chest
of drawers which contained his fret sole
and other tools now they were prising
free the desk that had embedded itself
in the floor at which is a student of
Commerce and before that as a schoolboy
he had always done his homework and he
simply had no more time to verify the
good intentions of the two women whose
existence he had in any case almost
forgotten for they were so exhausted
that they were now working in silence
and only the heavy shuffling of their
feet could be heard and so he broke out
in the adjoining room the women were
leaning against the desk to catch their
breath for a moment he changed direction
four times he really had no idea what to
solve at first then noticing the picture
of the lady draped in nothing but furs
he quickly crawled up to it and pressed
himself against the glass this picture
at least which Gregor was now completely
covering was certainly not going to be
taken from him he twists
to his head round towards the living
room door to observe the women when they
returned they had not given themselves
much of a rest and were already coming
back so what should we take next said
greater and looked about her and then
her eyes met Gregor's as he clung to the
wall it was probably only because her
mother was there that she kept her
composure she lowered her face close to
her mother's to prevent her from looking
round and said - albeit in a quavering
voice we better go back to the living
room for a moment it was clear to Gregor
what greater was up to she wanted to
lead her mother to safety and then chase
him down from the wall well just let her
try he would not part with this picture
he would sooner fly integrate his face
but greatest words had only served to
increase her mother's anxiety she
stepped to one side caught sight of the
huge brown blotch on the flowered
wallpaper and before it had really
dawned on her that it was Gregor she
cried out in a harsh voice Oh God Oh God
and fell across the couch without
stretched arms you Gregor cried his
sister with raised fists and piercing
eyes these were the first words she had
addressed to him directly since the
transformation she ran into the
adjoining room to fetch some smelling
salts to revive her unconscious mother
Gregor wanted to help but he was stuck
to the glass and had to tear himself
free then he too ran into the adjoining
room as though he could give his sister
some advice as in the past but once
there he had to stand idly behind her
while rummaging around among various
little bottles she turned round and was
startled a bottle fell to the floor and
broke a shard of glass wounded Gregor in
the face some kind of corrosive medicine
poured over him without delaying any
longer
greater now gathered up as many bottles
as she could and ran with them into her
mother she slammed the door behind it
with her foot Gregor was now cut off
from his
who threw his fault was perhaps near to
death tormented by self-reproach and
anxiety he began to crawl he crawled
over everything walls furniture and
ceiling until finally in his despair
with the whole room starting to spin
around him he fell down onto the middle
of the big table a short time passed
silence reigned all around perhaps that
was a good sign then the doorbell rang
the maid of course was locked up in her
kitchen and so greater had to open the
door it was Gregor's father what's
happened were his first words great his
appearance must have told them
everything
greater replied in a muffled voice with
her face presumably pressed against her
father's chest mother fainted but she's
better now brake horse broken loose
I knew it said his father I kept telling
you it would happen but you women never
listened it was clear to Gregor that his
father had misinterpreted graters
all-too-brief announcement and assumed
that gregor had been guilty of some act
of violence he now therefore had to try
and calm his father down for he had
neither the time nor the means to
explain the situation to him and so he
fled to the door of his room and pressed
himself against it so that when his
father came in from the hallway he could
see at once that gregor had every
intention of returning to his room but
his father was in no mood to notice such
niceties aha he cried on entering a
Natoma suggested simultaneous rage and
delight gregor drew his head back from
the door and lifted it towards his
father he had really not pictured his
father the way he now stood there
admittedly he had been too absorbed by
his newfound interest in crawling to
concern himself as he used to with what
was going on in the rest of the
apartment and he ought really to have
been prepared to find that circumstances
had changed
yes yes but could this really be his
father the st. man used to lie wearily
in bed whenever gregor set out on a
business trip who greeted him wearing a
dressing-gown and reclining in an
armchair when he returned in the evening
it was actually hardly capable of
getting to his feet but merely raised
his arms to indicate that he was pleased
now however he held himself erect he was
dressed in a tight-fitting blue uniform
with gold buttons the kind worn by bank
messengers from under his bushy eyebrows
his piercing dark eyes had a fresh alert
look and the usually disheveled white
hair had been combed down flat he threw
his cap which was adorned with the gold
monogram probably that of some Bank in
an arc across the entire room onto the
couch and he advanced towards Gregor
with a grim expression on his face
Gregor had known from the very first day
of his new life that his father believed
that the only way to treat him was with
the utmost severity and so he ran on in
front of his father stopping when his
father came to a halt and hurrying
forwards again as soon as his father
made a move in this manner they circled
the room several times without anything
decisive occurring Gregor kept to the
floor especially as he feared that his
father might interpret a flight onto the
walls or the ceiling as an act of
particular malice on his part even so he
had to admit that he would not be able
to keep up this kind of running for long
because for every step his father took
he had to execute a whole series of
movements signs of breathlessness were
also becoming apparent just as in his
previous life his lungs had not been
wholly reliable as he now staggered on
hardly keeping his eyes open in order to
concentrate entirely on running an
object that had been lightly thrown
suddenly flew right past him hit the
floor and rolled in front of him it was
an apple a second one came flying right
after it Gregor stopped dead with terror
to continue running was pointless for
his father had
decided to bombard him these small red
apples rolled about on the floors have
electrified and cannoned into each other
one apple thrown without force grazed
Gregor's back and glanced off harmlessly
but another that came flying after it
actually penetrated Gregor's back gregor
tried to drag himself forward as if the
startling unbelievable pain might pass
with a change of location but he felt
nailed to the spot and he stretched out
his body with all his senses in a
complete blur the last thing he saw was
the door of his room being flung open
and his mother rushing out ahead of his
screaming sister she flung herself on
his father embracing him in absolute
union with him with hands clasp behind
his head begging him to spare gregor's
life but now gregor site was beginning
to fail Gregor's severe wound from which
he suffered for more than a month the
Apple remained lodged in his flesh as a
visible reminder since no one dared to
remove it seemed to have brought home
even to his father that Gregor
despite his present sad and repugnant
appearance was still a member of their
family and even though Gregor's wound
had caused him to lose for good some of
his mobility and he needed for the time
being long long minutes to traverse his
room like an old invalid he felt fully
compensated for this worsening of his
condition by the fact that every day
around dusk the living room door which
he was in the habit of watching closely
an hour or two beforehand was thrown
open so that as he lay in the darkness
of his room invisible from the living
room he could see the whole family at
the table and listen to their
conversation these were of course no
longer the animated conversations of the
old days which Gregor had always
recalled with some wistfulness in those
tiny hotel rooms when he'd had to throw
himself wearily into damp bedclothes
things were now mostly very
peaceful soon after supper his father
would fall asleep in his chair his
mother and sister kept reminding each
other to be quiet
his mother leaning far forward under the
light sewed fine linen for a fashion
store his sister who had taken a job as
a salesgirl was learning shorthand in
French in the evenings in the hope of
securing a better position later on
sometimes his father would wake up and
as if unaware that he had been asleep at
all say to his mother
well you've been doing a lot of sewing
again today and go right back to sleep
while mother and sister exchanged a
weary smile with a sort of obstinacy his
father refused to take off his official
uniform even in the house and while his
dressing-gown hung idle on the peg he
slept fully clothed in his chair as if
he were permanently awaiting his
superiors orders even here as a result
his uniform which had not been new to
start with lost some of its smartness
despite all Gregor's mother and sister
could do and Gregor would often stare
all evening long at this garment covered
with stains and gleaming with it's
constantly polished gold buttons in
which the old man slept in great
discomfort and yet at peace as soon as
the clock struck ten Gregor's mother
tried to wake his father and urge him to
go to bed for this was no place to get a
proper sleep which was essential since
his father had to report for duty at six
o'clock but with the stubbornness he had
acquired since becoming a bank messenger
he always insisted on staying longer at
the table although he regularly fell
asleep and could then only with the
greatest difficulty be persuaded to
exchange his chair for his bed
who in this overworked and exhausted
family had time to worry about Gregor
any more than was absolutely necessary
they economized more and more the maid
was finally dismissed a huge bony
cleaning woman with white hair
fluttering around her head to Kay
mornings and evenings to do the heaviest
work his mother took care of everything
else on top of all her sewing it even
happened that various pieces of family
jewelry which his mother and says
had once been overjoyed to wear at
parties and celebrations were sold as
Gregor discovered one evening from the
general discussion about the prices they
had fetched but the chief complaint was
always that they could not give up the
apartment which was far too big for
their present circumstances since it was
impossible to imagine how Gregor could
be moved but Gregor realized that it was
not only concern for him that prevented
a move for it would have been a simple
matter to transport him in a suitable
crate with a few arrows the main reason
that prevented the family from moving
was rather a feeling of utter
hopelessness and the thought that they
had been afflicted by a misfortune that
none of their friends and relatives had
ever suffered and the wound in Gregor's
back began to hurt all over again when
mother and sister having put his father
to bed now came back and his mother
indicating Gregor's room said chose that
door later and when Gregor was again in
the dark in the next room the women wept
together or just stared dry-eyed at the
table
Gregor spent the days and nights almost
entirely without sleep sometimes he
thought that the next time the door
opened he would take charge of the
family's affairs again just as before
after a long interval his boss and the
chief Clark reappeared in his thoughts
together with two or three friends from
other firms a chambermaid in a
provincial hotel a fond fleeting memory
the cashier in a hat shop whom he had
courted earnestly but too slowly they
all appeared intermingled with strangers
or people he had already forgotten but
instead of helping him in his family
they were all inaccessible and he was
glad when they disappeared but at other
times he was in no mood to worry about
his family he was consumed by fury at
how badly he was being looked after and
although he could think of nothing he
might like to eat
he nonetheless laid plans for gaining
access to the Lada to take what was his
by rights no longer considering how she
might give Gregor a special treat his
sister would shove any old food into his
room with her foot before running off to
work every morning and in the evening
regardless of whether the food had
nearly been picked at all as was most
frequently the case left completely
untouched she swept it out with a swish
of her broom the cleaning of the room
which she now always attended to in the
evenings could not have been done more
speedily streaks of dirt lined the walls
heaps of dust and filth lay here and
there on the floor at first whenever his
sister came in Gregor would stationed
himself in corners of the room that were
particularly filthy implying by this
position a sort of reproach but he could
have probably have stayed there for
weeks without his sister mending her
ways she saw the dirt just as clearly as
he did but it simply decided to leave it
there at the same time she saw to it
with a touchiness that was quite new to
her and was indeed affecting the whole
family that the cleaning of Gregor's
room should remain her prerogative on
one occasion his mother had undertaken a
thorough cleaning of Gregor's room as
soon as his sister noticed that evening
she ran into the living room and despite
her mother's imploring the uplifted
hands burst into a fit of sobbing that
his parents his father of course had
been startled out of his chair at first
watched in hopeless amazement until they
too got excited his father to his right
reproached his mother for not leaving
the cleaning of Gregor's room to his
sister to his left on the other hand he
yelled at his sister saying that never
again would she be permitted to clean
greggles1981 if his sister worn out by
her day job had grown tired of caring
for Gregor as she
once done there was absolutely no need
for his mother to take her place and no
reason for Gregor to be neglected for
the cleaning woman was now there this
elderly widow had no real horror of
Gregor without being in the least
inquisitive she had once accidentally
opened the door to his room and at the
sight of Gregor who taken completely by
surprise began to run back and forth had
stood still in amazement her hands
folded in front of her
from that time on she never failed to
open the door little every morning and
every evening to look in at Gregor at
the beginning she even called him over
to her with words she probably regarded
as friendly such as come over ere you
out dung beetle or just look at the old
dung beetle Gregor never responded to
such forms of address but remained
motionless where he stood
if only instead of allowing this
cleaning lady to disturb him pointlessly
they had given her orders to clean his
room every day once early in the morning
heavy rain perhaps a sign of approaching
spring was beating against the window
panes Gregor felt so exasperated when
the cleaning woman started prattling
again that he turned on her albeit
slowly and like an invalid as if to
attack instead of taking fright however
the cleaning lady merely picked up a
chair that was near the door and as she
stood there with her mouth wide open it
was clear that she only intended to shut
her mouth when the chair in her hand had
come crashing down on Gregor's back you
keep your distance understand she said
as Gregor turns slowly around again and
the cleaning lady calmly placed the
chair back in the corner
Gregor by now is eating practically
nothing only when he accidentally went
past his food would he take a bite as a
game hold it for hours in his mouth and
then generally spit it out again and
first he thought it was sadness at the
state of his room that was spoiling his
appetite but he had very quickly become
reconciled to these changes his family
had got into the habit of putting things
in his room that could not be
accommodated elsewhere and there were
now are many such things since they had
let one room of the apartment to three
lodgers these earnest gentlemen all
three wore beards as gregor once
observed through a crack in the door
were stickers for order not only in
their own room but also throughout the
entire apartment they had no time for
useless junk especially if it was dirty
besides they had for the most part
brought their own furniture with them as
a result many things had ended up in
Gregor's room these remained wherever
they had been tossed except when Gregor
pushed his way through the junk and set
it in motion at first out of necessity
since there was no other space for
crawling but later with increasing
delight although after such
peregrinations he would once again
remain motionless for hours on end
tired to death and sad as the lodger
sometimes had their supper at home in
the communal living room there were
certain evenings on which the living
room door stayed shut but Gregor could
do very well without the door being
opened they had after all being quite a
few evenings where he had taken no
advantage of it being open and had lain
unnoticed by his family in the darkest
corner of his room but on one occasion
the cleaning woman had left the living
room door ajar and it remained like that
when the lodgers came home in the
evening they sat down at the head of the
table where in the old days his father
his mother and Gregor had sat unfolded
their napkins
and picked up their knives and forks
Gregoire's mother promptly appeared in
the doorway with a dish of meat closely
followed by his sister with another dish
piled high with potatoes the lodgers
bent over the plates that were set
in front of them as if wishing to
examine them before eating and indeed
the one in the middle whom the others
seemed to regard as an authority sliced
a piece of meat while it was still on
the dish obviously to ascertain whether
it should not perhaps be sent back to
the kitchen he was satisfied that mother
and sister who had been watching
apprehensively began to smile with
relief the family itself ate in the
kitchen freckles father however before
going into the kitchen entered the
living room and bowing low made a tour
of the table cap in hand the lodgers all
stood up and mumbled something into
their beards when they were alone again
they ate in almost complete silence it
seemed odd to Gregor that among all the
multifarious sounds of the meal he kept
picking out the noise of that champing
teeth as though he were being shown that
one needed teeth to eat and that even
with the finest toothless jaws nothing
could be accomplished
I do have an appetite Gregor said to
himself but not for those things look
how these lodgers gorge themselves while
I waste away on this same evening Gregor
could not remember having heard at once
in all this time the sound of violin
playing came from the kitchen the
lodgers pricked up there is stood up and
tiptoed to the door leading into the
hall where they stood in a huddle their
movements must have been heard for his
father called out did you find the
playing unpleasant gentlemen it can be
stopped at once
on the contrary said the gentleman in
the middle or wouldn't the young lady
like to join us in here where it's much
more comfortable with pleasure cried his
father as if he were the violinist the
gentleman went back into the room and
waited Greg Iles father soon came in
with the music stand his mother with the
music his sister with the violin
his sister calmly prepared herself to
play his parents who had never
previously rented out rooms and
therefore treated the lodgers with
excessive politeness did not even dare
sit down on their own
his father leaned against the door but
his mother was offered a chair by one of
the gentlemen and sat down where he had
happened to place it tucked away in a
corner his sister began to play Gregor
attracted by the playing had ventured
out a little further into the living
room he was hardly surprised that he had
recently shown such little consideration
for others such consideration had once
been his greatest pride and now there
was even more reason for him to stay out
of sight because as a result of the dust
that lay all over his room he too was
completely covered in dust he dragged
around with him on his back and along
his side's lengths of thread hair and
scraps of food his indifference to
everything was much too great for him to
turn over on his back and scrub himself
clean on the carpet and in spite of his
condition he was not ashamed to inch out
a little further onto the spotless
livingroom floor not that anyone noticed
him the family was completely absorbed
by the violin playing the lodgers on the
other hand soon withdrew muttering to
one another with lowered heads to the
window it really did seem abundantly
clear that they were tired of the whole
performance and that it was only out of
courtesy that they were permitting their
piece to be further disturbed yet his
sister was playing so beautifully her
face was tilted to one side her eyes
looked sad and searching as they
followed the lines of the school Gregor
crawled a little further forward keeping
his head close to the floor so that
their eyes might meet could he be an
animal if music moved him so he felt as
if he were being shown the way to the
unknown nourishment that he's so craved
he was determined to press forward until
he had reached his sister and suggests
by tugging her skirt that she should
come into his room with her violin for
no one here appreciated her playing as
he would appreciate it he would never
again let her out of his room at least
not as long as he lived his nightmarish
appearance would for once some useful
purpose he would be at all the doors of
his room at
once and spit at his aggressors his
sister however would not be compelled to
stay with him but would do so of our own
free will she would sit beside him on
the couch and he would confide to her
that it had been his firm intention to
send her to the Conservatoire and that
if the catastrophe had not intervened he
would have announced this to everyone
last Christmas Christmas had presumably
been and gone and would not have
listened to any objections
after this declaration his sister would
burst into tears of emotion and Gregor
would raise himself to the level of her
shoulder and kiss her on the neck which
ever since she had started going out to
work she had left bare without a ribbon
or collar her Samsa the middle lodger
suddenly cried and pointed with his
index finger at the slowly advancing
Gregor the violin fell silent
his father seemed to feel that getting
rid of Gregor was for the moment less
urgent than reassuring the lodgers
although they were not at all agitated
and seemed to derive more pleasure from
Gregor than the violin playing Craig
girl's father hurried over to them and
tried with outstretched arms to drive
them into their room and at the same
time to block their view of Gregor with
his body now they really did get a
little angry though it was no longer
possible to tell whether this was due to
his father's behavior because of the
dawning realization that they had such a
flatmate as Gregor they demanded
explanations from his father and only
slowly retreated to their room his
sister meanwhile had overcome her
bewilderment caused by the abrupt end to
her playing and had run into the
adjoining room which the lodgers driven
on by his father were now approaching
more rapidly blankets and pillows could
be seen flying into the air and falling
back onto the bed guided by his sisters
practiced hands even before the lodgers
had reached their room she had finished
making the beds and slipped out at the
bedroom door the middle lodger stamped
his foot with a sound like thunder and
so brought Gregor's father to a halt
I hereby declare he said raising his
hand and looking round the room for
Gregor's mother and sister as well that
in view of the repellent conditions
prevailing in this apartment and family
here he spat with sudden resolve onto
the floor
I intend to vacate this room as of now I
shall not of course pay a penny for the
period I have already spent here I shall
on the other hand consider taking action
against you with claims that I assure
you will be very easy to substantiate he
fell silent and looked straight ahead as
if he were expecting something and
indeed his two friends chimed in at once
with we also give notice as of now
whereupon he seized the door handle and
slammed the door
Graig girl's father groped his way to
his chair and slumped into it he might
have been stretching himself out for his
customary evening nap but the heavy
nodding of his head as if it had lost
all support showed that he was by no
means asleep all this time Gregor had
been lying motionless where the lodgers
first discovered him disappointment at
the failure of his plan but perhaps also
the weakness caused by so much fasting
made it impossible for him to move he
feared with some degree of certainty
that any moment now he was about to
suffer a general breakdown dear parents
said his sister hitting the table with
her hand by way of introduction things
cannot go on like this maybe you don't
realize it but I do I will not utter my
brother's name in front of this monster
and so all I say is we must try to get
rid of it
we've done everything humanly possible
to take care of it no one can reproach
us in the slightest
she's absolutely right muttered his
father his mother who could not catch
her breath began to cough into her hand
and a crazed look came into her eyes his
sister hurried over to her and put her
hand
her forehead his father whose thoughts
seemed to have crystallized as a result
of his sister's words had sat up
straight and was casting occasional
glances at Greg was motionless form we
must tried to get rid of it
his sister now said boy it will be the
death of both of you anyone who works as
hard as we all do cannot take this
constant torture at home as well I can't
stand it anymore she burst into such a
violent fit of weeping that her tears
flowed on to her mother's face from
where she wiped them away with
mechanical movements of her hand my
child said her father sympathetically
and with noticeable understanding but
what should we do Gregor sister who was
normally so assured merely shrugged her
shoulders to indicate the helplessness
that had come over her during her fit of
weeping if he could understand us said
his father half questioningly but his
sister still weeping waved her hand
violently to show that this was
unthinkable if he could understand us
his father said and maybe we could come
to an arrangement with him but as things
are it has to go his sister cried it's
the only way father he was trying to
forget that it's Gregor our real
downfall is that we've believed it for
so long but how can it be Gregor if it
were he would have realized long ago
that it isn't possible for humans to
live side by side with an animal like
that and would have gone away of his own
free will then we would be able to go on
living and honor his memory but as it is
this animal persecutors drives away our
lodgers clearly wants to take over the
whole apartment and have a sleep in the
street look father she suddenly screamed
he started again and in a fit of terror
that Gregor found quite incomprehensible
she dashed behind her father who alarmed
solely by her behavior stood up and half
raised his arms as if to protect her but
Gregor hadn't the slightest wish to
frighten
anyone especially not his sister he had
mainly began to turn round in order to
go back to his room and that was not
very conspicuous because in his ailing
condition he could only execute the
difficult maneuver with the help of his
head raising and banging it many times
against the floor he stopped in his
tracks and looked round
they must have recognized his good
intentions the Terra had only been
temporary now they all looked at him
sadly and in silence his mother was
slumped in her chair his father and
sister sat side by side his sister had
put her arm around their father's neck
perhaps now let me turn round her Greco
thought and resumed his Labour's he
could not help panting with the effort
and had to rest from time to time when
he had completed the turn he began to
crawl back in a straight line he was
astonished at the great distance that
now separated him from his room and
utterly failed to understand how feeling
so weak he had recently covered the same
ground almost without realizing it only
when he was in the doorway did he turn
his head not all the way for he felt his
neck growing stiff but enough to see
that nothing had changed behind him
except that his sister had risen to her
feet his last glimpse was of his mother
who had fallen fast asleep hardly was he
inside his room then the door was
hastily closed bolted and locked the
sudden noise behind him scared Gregor so
badly that his little legs buckled and
now Gregor asked himself and looked
around in the darkness he soon
discovered that he could no longer move
at all that did not surprise him in fact
he found it unnatural that up until then
he had been able to get about on such
thin little legs otherwise he felt
relatively comfortable
true he had pains all over his body but
he had the impression that they were
gradually growing fainter and fainter
and would eventually vanish altogether
he recalled his family with tenderness
and love his conviction that he would
have to disappear was if possible even
firmer than his sisters he remained in
this state of vacant and peaceful
reflection until the clock tower struck
3:00 in the morning he was still
conscious as everything grew brighter
outside the window then involuntarily
his head sank right down and his last
breath flowed feebly from his nostrils
[Music]
when the cleaning woman came early in
the morning she did not at first find
anything out of the ordinary she paid
gregor her usual brief visit she thought
he was lying there motionless on purpose
pretending that his feelings were hurt
she credited him with boundless
intelligence poco she happened to be
holding the long broom she tried to
tickle Gregor with it from the safety of
the door when even this proved
unsuccessful she lost patience and gave
Gregor a little prod and it was only
when she had shifted him from his place
without encountering any resistance that
she began to take notice having soon
become aware of the true state of
affairs she reacted with amazement and
yelled into the darkness I can look at
this he stayed it's lying there his
daddy's dead can be the samhsa's sat
bolt upright in their double bed and
took a while to get over the fright the
cleaning woman had given them before
they finally grasped what she was saying
her Samsa threw the blanket around his
shoulders Fran samsara merged in nothing
but her nightdress and this way they
entered Gregoire's room meanwhile the
door of the living room where grete had
been sleeping since the lodgers moved in
had also opened dead asked for our Samsa
and looked up inquiringly at the
cleaning woman although she could see
that it was so without verification I
Jose said the cleaning woman and to
prove it she gave Gregor's corpse
another huge shove with her broom
now Samsa made as if to put a
restraining hand on the broom but did
not do so well said hair Samsa may God
be thanked he crossed himself and the
three women followed his example later
without taking her eyes of the corpse
said just look how thin he was but then
his ages since he has anything
and Greg halls body was indeed
completely flat and drying which could
actually only now be observed since the
body was no longer held up by his little
legs there was nothing else to distract
the eye come into our room for a while
grete said France Samsa with a wistful
smile the cleaning woman opened Gregor's
window wide despite the early hour the
fresh air already had a touch of
mildness to it it was after all the end
of March the three lodgers emerge from
their room and stared about them in
astonishment for their breakfast they
had been forgotten where's our breakfast
the middle lodger suddenly asked the
cleaning woman which he put a finger to
her lips and then hastily and silently
back in the lodges to follow her into
Gregor's room they did so and then with
their hands in the pockets of their
somewhat shabby jackets they stood round
Gregor's corpse in the now sunlit room
then the bedroom door opened and her
Samsa appeared in his uniform with his
wife on one arm his daughter on the
other but they all looked as though they
had been crying get out of my apartment
this instant said Herr Samsa and pointed
to the door without letting go of the
women how do you mean said the middle
lodger somewhat taken aback and smiled a
sickly smile I mean precisely what I say
replied her Samsa and escorted by the
two women marched in a straight line
towards the lodger the latter stood
still at first and looked at the floors
if the thoughts in his head were being
rearranged who will be going then he
concluded and looked up at her Sam sir
as though in a certain onset of humility
was seeking fresh approval for even this
decision her Samsa merely gave him
several brief nods and glared at him
whereupon the gentleman did indeed
stride immediately into the hallway his
two friends who for some time had been
listening intently now practically
skipped after him as if afraid that her
Samsa might reach the hall before them
and cut them off from their leader all
three of them took their hats from the
coat rack pulled their canes from the
umbrella stand bowed silently and left
the apartment the Samsa family decided
to spend the day resting and going for a
walk not only had they earned this break
from work they positively needed it and
so they sat down at the table and wrote
three letters of apology has Sam said to
his superiors at the bank for our Samsa
to her employers and letter to the
proprietor of the shop where she worked
while they were writing the cleaning
woman came in to say that she was going
because she had finished her mornings
work the three letter ace is merely
nodded but when the cleaning woman gave
no sign of leaving they looked up in
annoyance what is it then asked her
Sampson the almost vertical little
ostrich feather in her hat which had
irritated him all the time she's been
working for them swayed gently in all
directions well he's like this answered
the cleaning woman
I mean you mustn't worried that her
clear out that thing in there he's
already taken care of
proud Samsa and grater bent over their
letters as if to continue writing her
Samsa perceiving that the cleaning woman
now wished to describe everything in
detail checked her firmly with an upheld
hand since she was not permitted to tell
her story she remembered she was in a
great hurry called out obviously
insulted good means to the lot of you
turned furiously on her heels and left
the apartment with a terrible slamming
of doors she'll get her notice this
evening said her Samsa but he received
no answer from either his wife or his
daughter for the cleaning woman seemed
to have shattered once more they're
barely regained peace of mind
haier Samsa turned his chair round to
face them and watched them in silence
for a while then he called out come here
stop routing over the past and have a
little consideration from me
the women obeyed him at once hurried
over to him caressed him and quickly
finished their letters then all three of
them left the apartment together
something they had not done for months
and took the tram into the country the
carriage in which they were the only
passengers was brightly lit by warm Sun
leaning back comfortably in their seats
they discussed their prospects for the
future which on closer examination
appeared to be far from bad for all
three of them had jobs which though they
had never really discussed it were
entirely satisfactory the greatest
immediate improvement in their situation
could of course be expected from a
simple change of accommodation they
would now take a smaller and cheaper
apartment but better situated and in
every way he's simpler to manage than
their present one which Gregor had found
while they were talking in this way Herr
and Frau Samsa realized at almost the
same time as they watched their daughter
becoming increasingly animated that
recently despite all the troubles that
had turned her cheeks pale she had
blossomed into a beautiful and
voluptuous girl growing quieter and
communicating almost unconsciously from
glances they reflected that it would
soon be time to find her a good husband
and it was like a confirmation of their
new dreams and good intentions when at
the end of the ride their daughter stood
up first and stretched a young body
you
[Music]
you