Franz Kafka - Metaphomorsis

I. One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams,

he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous, verminous bug. He lay on his armour-hard back,

and saw, as he lifted his head up a little, his brown, arched abdomen divided up into rigid bow-like sections.

From this height the blanket, just about ready to slide off

completely, could hardly stay in place. His numerous legs, pitifully thin in comparison

to the rest of his circumference, flickered helplessly before his eyes.

What's happened to me? he thought.

It was no dream. His room, a proper room for a human being, only somewhat too small, lay

quietly between the four well-known walls. Above the table, on which an unpacked collection

of sample-cloth goods was spread out—Samsa was a travelling salesman—hung the picture

he had cut out of an illustrated magazine a little while ago, and set in a pretty gilt

frame. It was a picture of a woman, with a fur hat and a fur boa. She sat erect there,

lifting up in the direction of the viewer a solid fur muff, into which her entire forearm

had disappeared.

Gregor's glance then turned to the window. The dreary weather—the raindrops were falling

audibly down on the metal window-ledge—made him quite melancholy.

Why don't I keep sleeping for a little while longer, and forget all this foolishness? he

thought.

But this was entirely impractical, for he was used to sleeping on his right side, and

in his present state he couldn't get himself into this position. But no matter how hard

he threw himself onto his right side, he always rolled again onto his back. He must

have tried it a hundred times, closing his eyes so that he would not have to see the

wriggling legs, and gave up only when he began to feel a light dull pain in his side which

he had never felt before.

Oh, God! he thought, what a demanding job I've chosen, day in, day out on the road!

The stresses of selling are much greater than the work going on at head office, and

in addition to that, I have to cope with the problems of travelling, the worries about

train connections, irregular bad food, temporary and constantly changing human relationships

which never come from the heart. To hell with it all!

He felt a slight itching on the top of his abdomen. He slowly pushed himself onto his

back closer to the bedpost, so that he could lift his head more easily, found the itchy

part, which was entirely covered with small white spots. He did not know what to make

of them, and wanted to feel the place with a leg. But he retracted it immediately, for

the contact felt like a cold shower all over him.

He slid back into his earlier position. This getting up early, he thought, makes a man

quite idiotic. A man must have his sleep. Other travelling salesmen live like harem

women. For instance, when I come back to the inn during the course of the morning to write

up the necessary orders, these gentlemen are just sitting down to breakfast. If I were

to try that with my boss, I'd be thrown out on the spot. Still, who knows whether that

mightn't be really good for me? If I didn't hold back for my parents' sake, I'd have

quit ages ago. I would have gone to the boss and told him just what I think from the bottom

of my heart. He would have fallen right off his desk. How weird it is to sit up at that

desk and talk down to the employee from way up there. The boss has trouble hearing, so

the employee has to step up quite close to him. Anyway, I haven't completely given up

that hope yet. Once I've got together the money to pay off my parents' debt to him—that

should take another five or six years—I'll do it for sure. Then I'll make the big break.

In any case, right now I have to get up. My train leaves at five o'clock."

He looked over at the alarm clock, ticking away by the chest of drawers.

Good God! he thought. It was half-past six, and the hands were going quietly on. It was

past the half-hour, already nearly quarter to. Could the alarm have failed to ring? One

saw from the bed that it was properly set for four o'clock. Certainly it had rung. Yes,

but was it possible to sleep through that noise which made the furniture shake? Now,

it's true he'd slept quietly, but evidently he'd slept all the more deeply. Still, what

should he do now? The next train left at seven o'clock. To catch that one he would have to

go in a mad rush. The sample collection wasn't packed up yet, and he really didn't feel particularly

fresh and active. And even if he caught the train, there was no avoiding a blow-up with

the boss, because the firm's errand-boy would have waited for the five o'clock train and

reported the news of his absence long ago. He was the boss's minion, without backbone

or intelligence. Well, then, what if he reported in sick? But that would be extremely embarrassing,

and suspicious, because during his five years' service Gregor hadn't been sick even once.

The boss would certainly come with the doctor from the health-insurance company, and would

reproach his parents for their lazy son, and cut short all objections with the insurance

doctor's comments. For him, every one was completely healthy, but really lazy about

work. And besides, would the doctor in this case be totally wrong? Apart from a really

excessive drowsiness after the long sleep, Gregor, in fact, felt quite well, and even

had a really strong appetite. As he was thinking all this over in the greatest haste, without

being able to make the decision to get out of bed—the alarm-clock was indicating exactly

quarter to seven—there was a cautious knock on the door by the head of the bed.

"'Gregor,' a voice called. It was his mother. It's quarter to seven. Don't you want to be

on your way?' The soft voice. Gregor was startled when he heard his voice answering. It was

clearly and unmistakably his earlier voice, but in it was intermingled, as if from below,

an irrepressibly painful squeaking, which left the words positively distinct only in

the first moment, and distorted them in the reverberation, so that one didn't know if

one had heard correctly. Gregor wanted to answer in detail and explain everything, but

in these circumstances he confined himself to saying,

"'Yes, yes, thank you, mother. I'm getting up right away.' Because of the wooden door,

the change in Gregor's voice was not really noticeable outside. So his mother calmed down

with this explanation, and shuffled off. However, as a result of the short conversation, the

other family members became aware that Gregor was unexpectedly still at home, and already

his father was knocking on one side door, weakly, but with his fist.

"'Gregor! Gregor!' he called out.

"'What's going on?'

And after a short while he urged him on again in a deeper voice.

"'Gregor! Gregor!'

At the other side door, however, his sister knocked lightly.

"'Gregor! Are you all right? Do you need anything?' Gregor directed answers in both

directions.

"'I'll be ready right away.'

He made an effort, with the most careful articulation, and by inserting long pauses between the individual

words, to remove everything remarkable from his voice. His father turned back to his breakfast.

However, the sister whispered,

"'Gregor! Open the door! I beg you!'

Gregor had no intention of opening the door, but congratulated himself on his precaution,

acquired from travelling, of locking all doors during the night, even at home. First he wanted

to stand up quietly and undisturbed, get dressed, above all have breakfast, and only then consider

further action, for—he noticed this clearly—by thinking things over in bed he would not reach

a reasonable conclusion. He remembered that he had already often felt a light pain or

other in bed, perhaps the result of an awkward lying position, which later turned out to

be purely imaginary when he stood up, and he was eager to see how his present fantasies

would gradually dissipate. That the change in his voice was nothing other than the onset

of a real chill, an occupational illness of commercial travellers, of that he had not

the slightest doubt. It was very easy to throw aside the blanket. He needed only to push

himself up a little, and it fell by itself. But to continue was difficult, particularly

because he was so unusually wide. He needed arms and hands to push himself upright. Instead

of these, however, he had only many small limbs, which were incessantly moving with

very different motions, and which, in addition, he was unable to control. If he wanted to

bend one of them, then it was the first to extend itself, and if he finally succeeded

doing what he wanted with this limb, in the meantime all the others, as if left free,

moved around in an excessively painful agitation.

But I must not stay in bed uselessly, said Gregor to himself.

At first he wanted to get out of bed with the lower part of his body, which, by the

way, he had not yet looked at, and which he also couldn't picture clearly, proved itself

too difficult to move. The attempt went so slowly, when, having become almost frantic,

he finally hurled himself forward with all his force, and without thinking, he chose

his direction incorrectly, and he hit the lower bedpost hard. The violent pain he felt

revealed to him that the lower part of his body was at the moment probably the most sensitive.

Thus he tried to get his upper body out of bed first, and turned his head carefully toward

the edge of the bed. He managed to do this easily, and in spite of its width and weight

his body-mass at last slowly followed the turning of his head. But as he finally raised

his head outside the bed in the open air, he became anxious about moving forward any

further in this manner, for if he allowed himself eventually to fall by this process,

it would take a miracle to prevent his head from getting injured, and at all costs he

must not lose consciousness right now. He preferred to remain in bed.

However, after a similar effort, while he lay there again, sighing as before, and once

again saw his small limbs fighting one another, if anything worse than earlier, and didn't

see any chance of imposing quiet and order on this arbitrary movement, he told himself

again that he couldn't possibly remain in bed, and that it might be the most reasonable

thing to sacrifice everything if there was even the slightest hope of getting himself

out of bed in the process. At the same moment, however, he didn't forget to remind himself,

from time to time, of the fact that calm, indeed the calmest, reflection, might be better

than the most confused decisions. At such moments he directed his gaze as precisely

as he could toward the window, but, unfortunately, there was little confident cheer to be had

from a glance at the morning mist, which concealed even the other side of the narrow

street.

"'It's already seven o'clock,' he told himself at the last striking of the alarm-clock.

"'Already seven o'clock, and still such a fog!'

And for a little while longer he lay quietly, with weak breathing, as if perhaps waiting

for normal and natural conditions to re-emerge out of the complete stillness.

And then he said to himself,

"'Before it strikes a corner past seven, whatever happens, I must be completely out

of bed. Besides, by then someone from the office will arrive to inquire about me, because

the office will open before seven o'clock.'

And he made an effort then to rock his entire body-length out of the bed with a uniform

motion. If he let himself fall out of bed in this way, his head, which in the course

of the fall he intended to lift up sharply, would probably remain uninjured. His back

seemed to be hard. Nothing would really happen to that as a result of the fall. His greatest

reservation was a worry about the loud noise which the fall must create, and which presumably

would arouse, if not fright, then at least concern on the other side of all the doors.

However it had to be tried.

As Gregor was in the process of lifting himself half out of bed—the new method was more

of a game than an effort—he needed only to rock with a constant rhythm. It struck

him how easy all this would be if someone were to come to his aid. Two strong people,

he thought of his father and the servant-girl, would have been quite sufficient. They would

have only had to push their arms under his arched back to get him out of the bed, to

bend over with their load, and then merely to exercise patience and care that he completed

the flip on to the floor, where his diminutive legs would then, he hoped, acquire a purpose.

Now quite apart from the fact that the doors were locked, should he really call out for

help. In spite of all his distress, he was unable to suppress a smile at this idea.

He had already got to the point where, by rocking more strongly, he maintained his equilibrium

with difficulty, and very soon he would finally have to decide, for in five minutes it would

be a quarter past seven. Then there was a ringing at the door of the apartment.

"'That's someone from the office,' he told himself, and he almost froze, while his small

limbs only danced around all the faster. For one moment everything remained still.

"'They aren't opening,' Gregor said to himself, caught up in some absurd hope. But, of course,

then, as usual, the servant-girl, with her firm tread, went to the door and opened it.

Gregor needed to hear only the first word of the visitor's greeting, to recognize immediately

who it was—the manager himself. Why was Gregor the only one condemned to work in a

firm where, at the slightest lapse, someone immediately attracted the greatest suspicion?

Were all the employees then collectively, one and all, scoundrels? Among them, was there

then no truly devoted person, who, if he failed to use just a couple of hours in the morning

for office work, would become abnormal from pangs of conscience, and really be in no state

to get out of bed? Was it really not enough to let an apprentice make inquiries, if such

questioning was even necessary? Must the manager himself come, and, in the process, must it

be demonstrated to the entire innocent family, that the investigation of this suspicious

circumstance could be entrusted only to the intelligence of the manager? And more as a

consequence of the excited state into which this idea put Gregor, than as a result of

an actual decision, he swung himself with all his might out of the bed. There was a

loud thud, but not a real crash. The fall was absorbed somewhat by the carpets, and,

in addition, his back was more elastic than Gregor had thought. For that reason, the dull

noise was not quite so conspicuous, but he had not held his head up with sufficient care,

and had hit it. He turned his head, irritated and in pain, and rubbed it on the carpet.

"'Something has fallen in there,' said the manager in the next room on the left.

Gregor tried to imagine to himself whether anything similar to what was happening to

him to-day could also have happened at some point to the manager. At least one had to

concede the possibility of such a thing. However, as if to give a rough answer to this

question, the manager now, with a squeak of his polished boots, took a few determined

steps in the next room. From the neighbouring room on the right, the sister was whispering

to inform Gregor.

"'Gregor, the manager is here.'

"'I know,' said Gregor to himself. But he did not make his voice loud enough so that

his sister could hear.

"'Gregor,' his father now said from the neighbouring room on the left,

"'Mr. Manager has come, and is asking why you have not left on the early train. We don't

know what we should tell him. Besides, he also wants to speak to you personally. So

please open the door. He will be good enough to forgive the mess in your room.'

In the middle of all this, the manager called out in a friendly way,

"'Good morning, Mr. Samsa.'

"'He is not well,' said his mother to the manager, while his father was still talking

at the door.

"'He is not well, believe me, Mr. Manager. Otherwise, how would Gregor miss a train?

The young man has nothing in his head except business. I am almost angry that he never

goes out at night. Right now he's been in the city eight days, but he's been at home

every evening. He sits there with us at the table, and reads the newspaper quietly, or

studies his travel schedules. It is quite a diversion for him to busy himself with fretwork.

For instance, he cut out a small frame over the course of two or three evenings. You'll

be amazed how pretty it is. It's hanging right inside the room. You'll see it immediately,

as soon as Gregor opens the door. Anyway, I'm happy that you're here, Mr. Manager.

By ourselves we would never have made Gregor open the door. He's so stubborn, and he's

certainly not well, although he denied that this morning."

"'I'm coming right away,' said Gregor, slowly and deliberately, and didn't move,

so as not to lose one word of the conversation.

"'My dear lady, I cannot explain it to myself in any other way,' said the manager.

"'I hope it is nothing serious. On the other hand, I must also say that we businesspeople,

luckily or unluckily, however one looks at it, very often simply have to overcome a slight

indisposition for business reasons. So can Mr. Manager come in to see you now?' asked

his father impatiently, and knocked once again on the door.

"'No,' said Gregor.

In the neighbouring room on the left a painful stillness descended. In the neighbouring room

on the right the sister began to sob. Why didn't his sister go to the others? She'd

probably just gotten out of bed now, and hadn't even started to get dressed yet. Then why

was she crying? Because he wasn't getting up, and wasn't letting the manager in, because

he was in danger of losing his position, and because then his boss would badger his

parents once again with the old demands? Those were probably unnecessary worries right now.

Gregor was still here, and wasn't thinking at all about abandoning his family. At the

moment he was lying right there on the carpet, and no one who knew about his condition would

have seriously demanded that he let the manager in. But Gregor wouldn't be casually dismissed

right away because of this small discourtesy, for which he would find an easy and suitable

excuse later on. It seemed to Gregor that it might be far more reasonable to leave him

in peace at the moment, instead of disturbing him with crying and conversation. But it was

the very uncertainty which distressed the others, and excused their behaviour.

"'Mr. Samsa!' the manager was now shouting, his voice raised.

"'What's the matter? You are barricading yourself in your room, answer with only a

yes and a no, are making serious and unnecessary troubles for your parents, and neglecting

— I mention this only incidentally — your commercial duties in a truly unheard-of manner.

I am speaking here in the name of your parents and your employer, and I am requesting you,

in all seriousness, for an immediate and clear explanation. I am amazed! I am amazed!

I thought I knew you as a calm, reasonable person, and now you appear suddenly to want

to start parading around in weird moods. The chief indicated to me earlier this very day

a possible explanation for your neglect, that concerned the collection of cash entrusted

to you a short while ago. But in truth I almost gave him my word of honour that this

explanation could not be correct. However, now I see here your unimaginable pig-headedness,

and I am totally losing any desire to speak up for you in the slightest, and your position

is not at all the most secure. Originally I intended to mention all this to you privately,

but since you are letting me waste my time here uselessly, I don't know why the matter

shouldn't come to the attention of your parents. Your productivity has also been very unsatisfactory

recently. Of course it's not the time of year to conduct exceptional business, we recognise that,

but a time of year for conducting no business? There is no such thing at all, Mr. Samsa,

and such a thing must never be."

But Mr. Manager called Gregor, beside himself, and in his agitation forgetting everything else.

I'm opening the door immediately, this very moment. A slight indisposition, a dizzy spell,

has prevented me from getting up. I'm still lying in bed right now, but I'm quite refreshed once

again. I'm in the midst of getting out of bed. Just have patience for a short moment.

Things are not going as well as I thought, but things are all right. How suddenly this can

overcome someone! Only yesterday evening everything was fine with me, my parents certainly know that.

Actually, just yesterday evening I had a small premonition. People must have seen that in me.

Why have I not reported that to the office? But people always think that they'll get over sickness

without having to stay at home. Mr. Manager, take it easy on my parents. There is really

no basis for the criticisms which you are now making against me, and really nobody has said

a word to me about it. Perhaps you have not read the latest orders which I shipped. Besides, now

I'm setting out on my trip on the eight o'clock train. The few hours' rest have made me stronger.

Mr. Manager, do not stay. I will be at the office in person right away. Please,

please have the goodness to say that, and to convey my respects to the chief."

While Gregor was quickly blurting all this out, hardly aware of what he was saying,

he had moved close to the chest of drawers without effort, probably as a result of the

practice he had already had in bed, and now he was trying to raise himself up on it.

Actually, he wanted to open the door, he really wanted to let himself be seen by and to speak

with the manager. He was keen to witness what the others now asking about him would say when

they saw him. If they were startled, then Gregor had no more responsibility and could be calm.

But if they accepted everything quietly, then he would have no reason to get excited,

and, if he got a move on, could really be at the station around eight o'clock.

At first he slid down a few times on the smooth chest of drawers, but at last he gave himself a

final swing, and stood upright there. He was no longer at all aware of the pains in his lower body,

no matter how they might still sting. Now he let himself fall against the back of a nearby chair,

on the edge of which he braced himself with his thin limbs. By doing this he gained control over

himself and kept quiet, for he could now hear the manager.

"'Did you understand a single word?' the manager asked the parents.

"'Is he playing the fool with us?'

"'For God's sake!' cried the mother, already in tears.

"'Perhaps he's very ill, and we're upsetting him.

"'Greta! Greta!' she yelled at that point.

"'Mother?' called the sister from the other side.

They were making themselves understood through Gregor's room.

"'You must go to the doctor right away. Gregor is sick. Hurry to the doctor.

Have you heard Gregor speak yet?'

"'That was an animal's voice,' said the manager, remarkably quietly,

in comparison to the mother's cries.

"'Anna! Anna!' yelled the father, through the hall into the kitchen, clapping his hands.

"'Fetch a locksmith, right away!'

The two young women were already running through the hall with swishing skirts.

How had his sister dressed herself so quickly, and yanked open the doors of the apartment?

One couldn't hear the doors closing at all. They probably had left them open,

as is customary in an apartment where a huge misfortune has taken place.

However, Gregor had become much calmer. All right, people did not understand his words any more,

although they seemed clear enough to him, clearer than previously, perhaps because his ears had

gotten used to them. But at least people now thought that things were not all right with him,

and were prepared to help him. The confidence and assurance with which the first arrangements

had been carried out made him feel good. He felt himself included once again in the circle

of humanity, and was expecting from both the doctor and the locksmith, without differentiating

between them with any real precision, splendid and surprising results. In order to get as clear

a voice as possible for the critical conversation which was imminent, he coughed a little, and

certainly took the trouble to do this in a really subdued way, since it was possible that even this

noise sounded like something different from a human cough. He no longer trusted himself to decide

any more. Meanwhile, in the next room it had become really quiet. Perhaps his parents were

sitting with the manager at the table, whispering. Perhaps they were all leaning against the door,

listening. Gregor pushed himself slowly towards the door with the help of the easy-chair,

let go of it there, threw himself against the door, held himself upright against it

and rested there momentarily from his exertion. Then he made an effort to turn the key in the

lock with his mouth. Unfortunately, it seemed that he had no real teeth. How, then, was he to grab

hold of the key? But to make up for that, his jaws were naturally very strong. With their help,

he managed to get the key really moving. He didn't notice that he was obviously inflicting

some damage on himself, for a brown fluid came out of his mouth, flowed over the key,

and dripped onto the floor.

"'Just listen for a moment,' said the manager in the next room.

"'He's turning the key!' For Gregor that was a great encouragement. But they all should have

called out to him, including his father and mother. "'Come on, Gregor!' they should have

shouted. "'Keep going, keep working on the lock!''

Imagining that all his efforts were being followed with suspense, he bit down frantically

on the key with all the force he could muster. As the key turned more, he danced around the lock.

Now he was holding himself upright only with his mouth, and he had to hang on to the key,

or then press it down with the whole weight of his body as necessary.

The quite distinct click of the lock as it finally snapped really woke Gregor up.

Breathing heavily, he said to himself,

"'So I didn't need the locksmith!' and he set his head against the door-handle,

to open the door completely. Because he had to open the door in this way, it was already

open very wide without him yet being really visible. He first had to turn himself slowly

around the edge of the door, very carefully, of course, if he didn't want to fall awkwardly on

his back right at the entrance into the room. He was still preoccupied with this difficult movement,

and had no time to pay attention to anything else, when he heard the manager exclaim aloud,

"'Ooooh!' It sounded like the wind whistling. And now he saw him, nearest to the door,

pressing his hand against his open mouth, and moving slowly back, as if an invisible

constant force was pushing him away. His mother, in spite of the presence of the manager,

she was standing there with her hair sticking up on end, still amiss from the night,

was looking at his father with her hands clasped. She then went two steps towards

Gregor and collapsed, right in the middle of her skirts, which were spread out all around her,

her face sunk on her breast, completely concealed. His father clenched his fist with a hostile

expression, as if he wished to push Gregor back into his room, then looked uncertainly

around the living-room, covered his eyes with his hands, and cried, so that his mighty breast shook.

At this point Gregor did not take one step into the room, but leaned his body from the inside

against the firmly bolted wing of the door, so that only half his body was visible, as well as

his head, tilted sideways, with which he peeped over at the others. Meanwhile it had become much

brighter. Standing out clearly from the other side of the street was a part of the endless

grey-black house situated opposite. It was a hospital, with its severe regular windows breaking

up the façade. The rain was still coming down, but only in large individual drops, visibly and

firmly thrown down one by one onto the ground. The breakfast-dishes were standing piled around

on the table, because for his father breakfast was the most important meal-time in the day,

which he prolonged for hours by reading various newspapers. Directly across the opposite wall

hung a photograph of Gregor from the time of his military service. It was a picture of him as a

lieutenant, as he, smiling and worry-free, with his hand on his sword, demanded respect for his

bearing and uniform. The door to the hall was ajar, and since the door to the apartment was

also open, one could see out into the landing of the apartment and the start of the staircase

going down. Now, said Gregor, well aware that he was the only one who had kept his composure,

I'll get dressed right away, pick up the collection of samples, and set off. You'll allow

me to set out on my way, will you not? You see, Mr. Manager, I am not pig-headed, and I am happy

to work. Travelling is exhausting, but I couldn't live without it. Where are you going, Mr. Manager?

To the office? Really? Will you report everything truthfully? A person can be incapable of work

momentarily, but that's precisely the best time to remember the earlier achievements,

and to consider that later, after the obstacles have been shoved aside, the person will work all

the more eagerly and intensely. I am really so indebted to Mr. Chief, you know that perfectly

well. On the other hand, I am concerned about my parents and my sister. I'm in a fix, but I'll

work myself out of it again. Don't make things more difficult for me than they already are.

Speak up on my behalf in the office. People don't like travelling salesmen, I know that.

People think they earn pots of money, and thus lead a fine life. People don't even have any

special reason to think through this judgment more clearly. But you, Mr. Manager, you have a

better perspective on what's involved in other people—even, I tell you in total confidence,

a better perspective than Mr. Chairman himself, who, in his capacity as the employer,

may let his judgment make casual mistakes at the expense of an employee. You also know well enough

that the travelling salesman who is outside the office almost the entire year, can become so

easily a victim of gossip, coincidences, and groundless complaints, against which it's

impossible for him to defend himself, since, for the most part, he doesn't hear about them at all,

and only then, when he's exhausted after finishing a trip, and at home, gets to feel in his own body

the nasty consequences, which can't be thoroughly explored back to their origins.

Mr. Manager, don't leave without speaking a word telling me that you'll at least concede that

I'm a little in the right." But at Gregor's first words, the manager had already turned away,

and now he looked back at Gregor over his twitching shoulders with pursed lips. During Gregor's speech

he was not still for a moment, but kept moving away towards the door, without taking his eyes

off Gregor, but really gradually, as if there was a secret ban on leaving the room. He was already

in the hall, and given the sudden movement with which he had finally pulled his foot out of the

living room, one could have believed that he had just burned the sole of his foot. In the hall,

however, he stretched his right hand out away from his body towards the staircase,

as if some truly supernatural relief was waiting for him there. Gregor realized that he must not,

under any circumstances, allow the manager to go away in this frame of mind, especially if his

position in the firm was not to be placed in the greatest danger. His parents did not understand

all this very well. Over the long years they had developed the conviction that Gregor was set up

for life in his firm, and in addition they had so much to do nowadays with their present troubles,

that all foresight was foreign to them. But Gregor had this foresight. The manager must be held back,

calmed down, convinced, and finally won over. The future of Gregor and his family really depended

on it. If only the sister had been there! She was clever. She had already cried while Gregor was

still lying quietly on his back, and the manager, this friend of the lady's, would certainly let

himself be guided by her. She would have closed the door to the apartment and talked him out of

his fright in the hall. But the sister was not even there. Gregor must deal with it himself.

Without thinking that as yet he didn't know anything about his present ability to move,

and that his speech possibly, indeed probably, had once again not been understood,

he left the wing of the door, pushed himself through the opening, and wanted to go over to

the manager, who was already holding tight on to the handrail with both hands on the landing in

a ridiculous way. But as he looked for something to hold on to, with a small scream, Gregor

immediately fell down onto his numerous little legs. Scarcely had this happened, when he felt,

for the first time that morning, a general physical well-being. The small limbs had firm

floor under them. They obeyed perfectly, as he noticed to his joy, and strove to carry him

forward in the direction he wanted. Right away he believed that the final amelioration of all

his suffering was immediately at hand. But at the very moment when he lay on the floor,

rocking in a restrained manner quite close and directly across from his mother,

who had apparently totally sunk into herself, she suddenly sprang right up, with her arms spread far

apart and her fingers extended, and cried out,—'Help! for God's sake! help!' She held her

head bowed down, as if she wanted to view Gregor better, but ran senselessly back, contradicting

that gesture, forgetting that behind her stood the table with all the dishes on it. When she

reached the table she sat down heavily on it, as if absentmindedly, and did not appear to notice at

all that next to her coffee was pouring out onto the carpets in a full stream from the large

overturned container. "'Mother!' said Gregor quietly, and looked over towards her. The manager

momentarily had disappeared completely from his mind. At the sight of the flowing coffee,

Gregor couldn't stop himself snapping his jaws in the air a few times. At that his mother screamed

all over again, hurried from the table, and collapsed into the arms of his father, who was

rushing towards her. But Gregor had no time now for his parents, the manager was already on the

staircase. His chin level with the banister, the manager looked back for the last time.

Gregor took an initial movement to catch up to him if possible. But the manager must have

suspected something, because he made a leap down over a few stairs and disappeared, still shouting,

"'Oh!' The sound echoed throughout the entire stairwell.

Now, unfortunately, this flight of the manager also seemed to bewilder his father completely.

Earlier he had been relatively calm, for instead of running after the manager himself,

or at least not hindering Gregor from his pursuit, with his right hand he grabbed hold of

the manager's cane, which he had left behind with his hat and overcoat on a chair. With his left hand

his father picked up a large newspaper from the table, and stamping his feet on the floor,

he set out to drive Gregor back into his room by waving the cane and the newspaper.

No request of Gregor's was of any use, no request would even be understood. No matter how willing he

was to turn his head respectfully, his father just stomped all the harder with his feet.

Across the room from him his mother had pulled open a window, in spite of the cool weather,

and leaning out with her hands on her cheeks, she pushed her face far outside the window.

Between the alley and the stairwell a strong draft came up, the curtains on the window flew

around, the newspapers on the table swished, and individual sheets fluttered down over the floor.

The father relentlessly pressed forward, pushing out sibilance like a wild man. Now,

Gregor had no practice at all in going backwards, it was really very slow going. If Gregor only had

been allowed to turn himself around he would have been in his room right away, but he was afraid to

make his father impatient by the time-consuming process of turning around, and each moment he

faced the threat of a mortal blow on his back or his head from the cane in his father's hand.

Finally Gregor had no other option, for he noticed with horror that he did not understand yet how to

maintain his direction going backwards, and so he began, amid constantly anxious sideways glances

in his father's direction, to turn himself around as quickly as possible, although in truth this

was only done very slowly. Perhaps his father noticed his good intentions, for he did not

disrupt Gregor in this motion, but with the tip of the cane from a distance he even directed Gregor's

rotating movement here and there. If only his father had not hissed so unbearably! Because of

that Gregor totally lost his head. He was already almost totally turned around, when, always with

this hissing in his ear, he just made a mistake and turned himself back a little. But when he

finally was successful in getting his head in front of the door opening it became clear that

his body was too wide to go through any further. Naturally his father, in his present mental state,

had no idea of opening the other wing of the door a bit to create a suitable passage for Gregor to

get through. His single fixed thought was that Gregor must get into his room as quickly as

possible. He would never have allowed the elaborate preparations that Gregor required to orient

himself, and thus perhaps get through the door. On the contrary, as if there were no obstacle,

and with a peculiar noise, he now drove Gregor forwards. Behind Gregor the sound at this point

was no longer like the voice of only a single father. Now it was really no longer a joke,

and Gregor forced himself, come what might, into the door. One side of his body was lifted up.

He lay at an angle in the door opening, his one flank was sore with the scraping.

On the white door ugly blotches were left. Soon he was stuck fast, and would not have been able

to move any more on his own. The tiny legs on one side hung twitching in the air above,

and the ones on the other side were pushed painfully into the floor. Then his father

gave him one really strong liberating push from behind, and he scurried, bleeding severely,

far into the interior of his room. The door was slam-shut with the cane, and finally it was quiet.