├── Next Word Prediction-1.ipynb ├── Predictions-1.ipynb ├── README.md └── metamorphosis_clean.txt /Predictions-1.ipynb: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | { 2 | "cells": [ 3 | { 4 | "cell_type": "markdown", 5 | "metadata": {}, 6 | "source": [ 7 | "### Creating the Prediction Script:" 8 | ] 9 | }, 10 | { 11 | "cell_type": "code", 12 | "execution_count": 1, 13 | "metadata": {}, 14 | "outputs": [], 15 | "source": [ 16 | "# Importing the Libraries\n", 17 | "\n", 18 | "from tensorflow.keras.models import load_model\n", 19 | "import numpy as np\n", 20 | "import pickle\n", 21 | "\n", 22 | "# Load the model and tokenizer\n", 23 | "\n", 24 | "model = load_model('nextword1.h5')\n", 25 | "tokenizer = pickle.load(open('tokenizer1.pkl', 'rb'))\n", 26 | "\n", 27 | "def Predict_Next_Words(model, tokenizer, text):\n", 28 | " \"\"\"\n", 29 | " In this function we are using the tokenizer and models trained\n", 30 | " and we are creating the sequence of the text entered and then\n", 31 | " using our model to predict and return the the predicted word.\n", 32 | " \n", 33 | " \"\"\"\n", 34 | " for i in range(3):\n", 35 | " sequence = tokenizer.texts_to_sequences([text])[0]\n", 36 | " sequence = np.array(sequence)\n", 37 | " \n", 38 | " preds = model.predict_classes(sequence)\n", 39 | "# print(preds)\n", 40 | " predicted_word = \"\"\n", 41 | " \n", 42 | " for key, value in tokenizer.word_index.items():\n", 43 | " if value == preds:\n", 44 | " predicted_word = key\n", 45 | " break\n", 46 | " \n", 47 | " print(predicted_word)\n", 48 | " return predicted_word" 49 | ] 50 | }, 51 | { 52 | "cell_type": "code", 53 | "execution_count": 2, 54 | "metadata": {}, 55 | "outputs": [ 56 | { 57 | "name": "stdout", 58 | "output_type": "stream", 59 | "text": [ 60 | "Enter your line: at the dull\n", 61 | "weather\n", 62 | "Enter your line: collection of textile\n", 63 | "samples\n", 64 | "Enter your line: what a strenuous\n", 65 | "career\n", 66 | "Enter your line: stop the script\n", 67 | "Ending The Program.....\n" 68 | ] 69 | } 70 | ], 71 | "source": [ 72 | "\"\"\"\n", 73 | " We are testing our model and we will run the model\n", 74 | " until the user decides to stop the script.\n", 75 | " While the script is running we try and check if \n", 76 | " the prediction can be made on the text. If no\n", 77 | " prediction can be made we just continue.\n", 78 | "\n", 79 | "\"\"\"\n", 80 | "\n", 81 | "# text1 = \"at the dull\"\n", 82 | "# text2 = \"collection of textile\"\n", 83 | "# text3 = \"what a strenuous\"\n", 84 | "# text4 = \"stop the script\"\n", 85 | "\n", 86 | "while(True):\n", 87 | "\n", 88 | " text = input(\"Enter your line: \")\n", 89 | " \n", 90 | " if text == \"stop the script\":\n", 91 | " print(\"Ending The Program.....\")\n", 92 | " break\n", 93 | " \n", 94 | " else:\n", 95 | " try:\n", 96 | " text = text.split(\" \")\n", 97 | " text = text[-1]\n", 98 | "\n", 99 | " text = ''.join(text)\n", 100 | " Predict_Next_Words(model, tokenizer, text)\n", 101 | " \n", 102 | " except:\n", 103 | " continue" 104 | ] 105 | } 106 | ], 107 | "metadata": { 108 | "kernelspec": { 109 | "display_name": "Python 3", 110 | "language": "python", 111 | "name": "python3" 112 | }, 113 | "language_info": { 114 | "codemirror_mode": { 115 | "name": "ipython", 116 | "version": 3 117 | }, 118 | "file_extension": ".py", 119 | "mimetype": "text/x-python", 120 | "name": "python", 121 | "nbconvert_exporter": "python", 122 | "pygments_lexer": "ipython3", 123 | "version": "3.7.7" 124 | } 125 | }, 126 | "nbformat": 4, 127 | "nbformat_minor": 2 128 | } 129 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /README.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Next-Word-Prediction-with-NLP-and-Deep-Learning 2 | Designing a Word Predictive system using LSTM 3 | 4 | Check out this article for the complete breakdown of the code - 5 | https://towardsdatascience.com/next-word-prediction-with-nlp-and-deep-learning-48b9fe0a17bf 6 | 7 | metamorphosis_clean contains the cleaned data. 8 | 9 | Next Word Prediction-1.ipynb contains the model design and the training steps involved. 10 | 11 | Predictions-1.ipynb is the notebook that consists of the prediction model which can be used to make predictions 12 | 13 | Run Notebook on Paperspace: [![Gradient](https://assets.paperspace.io/img/gradient-badge.svg)](https://console.paperspace.com/github.com/Bharath-K3/Next-Word-Prediction-with-NLP-and-Deep-Learning/blob/master/Next%20Word%20Prediction-1.ipynb) 14 | 15 | Run Predictions on Paperspace: 16 | [![Gradient](https://assets.paperspace.io/img/gradient-badge.svg)](https://console.paperspace.com/github.com/Bharath-K3/Next-Word-Prediction-with-NLP-and-Deep-Learning/blob/master/Predictions-1.ipynb) 17 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /metamorphosis_clean.txt: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found 2 | himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on 3 | his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could 4 | see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff 5 | sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready 6 | to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared 7 | with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he 8 | looked. 9 | 10 | "What's happened to me?" he thought. It wasn't a dream. His room, 11 | a proper human room although a little too small, lay peacefully 12 | between its four familiar walls. A collection of textile samples 13 | lay spread out on the table - Samsa was a travelling salesman - and 14 | above it there hung a picture that he had recently cut out of an 15 | illustrated magazine and housed in a nice, gilded frame. It showed 16 | a lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur boa who sat upright, 17 | raising a heavy fur muff that covered the whole of her lower arm 18 | towards the viewer. 19 | 20 | Gregor then turned to look out the window at the dull weather. 21 | Drops of rain could be heard hitting the pane, which made him feel 22 | quite sad. "How about if I sleep a little bit longer and forget all 23 | this nonsense", he thought, but that was something he was unable to 24 | do because he was used to sleeping on his right, and in his present 25 | state couldn't get into that position. However hard he threw 26 | himself onto his right, he always rolled back to where he was. He 27 | must have tried it a hundred times, shut his eyes so that he 28 | wouldn't have to look at the floundering legs, and only stopped when 29 | he began to feel a mild, dull pain there that he had never felt 30 | before. 31 | 32 | "Oh, God", he thought, "what a strenuous career it is that I've 33 | chosen! Travelling day in and day out. Doing business like this 34 | takes much more effort than doing your own business at home, and on 35 | top of that there's the curse of travelling, worries about making 36 | train connections, bad and irregular food, contact with different 37 | people all the time so that you can never get to know anyone or 38 | become friendly with them. It can all go to Hell!" He felt a 39 | slight itch up on his belly; pushed himself slowly up on his back 40 | towards the headboard so that he could lift his head better; found 41 | where the itch was, and saw that it was covered with lots of little 42 | white spots which he didn't know what to make of; and when he tried 43 | to feel the place with one of his legs he drew it quickly back 44 | because as soon as he touched it he was overcome by a cold shudder. 45 | 46 | He slid back into his former position. "Getting up early all the 47 | time", he thought, "it makes you stupid. You've got to get enough 48 | sleep. Other travelling salesmen live a life of luxury. For 49 | instance, whenever I go back to the guest house during the morning 50 | to copy out the contract, these gentlemen are always still sitting 51 | there eating their breakfasts. I ought to just try that with my 52 | boss; I'd get kicked out on the spot. But who knows, maybe that 53 | would be the best thing for me. If I didn't have my parents to 54 | think about I'd have given in my notice a long time ago, I'd have 55 | gone up to the boss and told him just what I think, tell him 56 | everything I would, let him know just what I feel. He'd fall right 57 | off his desk! And it's a funny sort of business to be sitting up 58 | there at your desk, talking down at your subordinates from up there, 59 | especially when you have to go right up close because the boss is 60 | hard of hearing. Well, there's still some hope; once I've got the 61 | money together to pay off my parents' debt to him - another five or 62 | six years I suppose - that's definitely what I'll do. That's when 63 | I'll make the big change. First of all though, I've got to get up, 64 | my train leaves at five." 65 | 66 | And he looked over at the alarm clock, ticking on the chest of 67 | drawers. "God in Heaven!" he thought. It was half past six and the 68 | hands were quietly moving forwards, it was even later than half 69 | past, more like quarter to seven. Had the alarm clock not rung? He 70 | could see from the bed that it had been set for four o'clock as it 71 | should have been; it certainly must have rung. Yes, but was it 72 | possible to quietly sleep through that furniture-rattling noise? 73 | True, he had not slept peacefully, but probably all the more deeply 74 | because of that. What should he do now? The next train went at 75 | seven; if he were to catch that he would have to rush like mad and 76 | the collection of samples was still not packed, and he did not at 77 | all feel particularly fresh and lively. And even if he did catch 78 | the train he would not avoid his boss's anger as the office 79 | assistant would have been there to see the five o'clock train go, he 80 | would have put in his report about Gregor's not being there a long 81 | time ago. The office assistant was the boss's man, spineless, and 82 | with no understanding. What about if he reported sick? But that 83 | would be extremely strained and suspicious as in fifteen years of 84 | service Gregor had never once yet been ill. His boss would 85 | certainly come round with the doctor from the medical insurance 86 | company, accuse his parents of having a lazy son, and accept the 87 | doctor's recommendation not to make any claim as the doctor believed 88 | that no-one was ever ill but that many were workshy. And what's 89 | more, would he have been entirely wrong in this case? Gregor did in 90 | fact, apart from excessive sleepiness after sleeping for so long, 91 | feel completely well and even felt much hungrier than usual. 92 | 93 | He was still hurriedly thinking all this through, unable to decide 94 | to get out of the bed, when the clock struck quarter to seven. 95 | There was a cautious knock at the door near his head. "Gregor", 96 | somebody called - it was his mother - "it's quarter to seven. 97 | Didn't you want to go somewhere?" That gentle voice! Gregor was 98 | shocked when he heard his own voice answering, it could hardly be 99 | recognised as the voice he had had before. As if from deep inside 100 | him, there was a painful and uncontrollable squeaking mixed in with 101 | it, the words could be made out at first but then there was a sort 102 | of echo which made them unclear, leaving the hearer unsure whether 103 | he had heard properly or not. Gregor had wanted to give a full 104 | answer and explain everything, but in the circumstances contented 105 | himself with saying: "Yes, mother, yes, thank-you, I'm getting up 106 | now." The change in Gregor's voice probably could not be noticed 107 | outside through the wooden door, as his mother was satisfied with 108 | this explanation and shuffled away. But this short conversation 109 | made the other members of the family aware that Gregor, against 110 | their expectations was still at home, and soon his father came 111 | knocking at one of the side doors, gently, but with his fist. 112 | "Gregor, Gregor", he called, "what's wrong?" And after a short 113 | while he called again with a warning deepness in his voice: "Gregor! 114 | Gregor!" At the other side door his sister came plaintively: 115 | "Gregor? Aren't you well? Do you need anything?" Gregor answered to 116 | both sides: "I'm ready, now", making an effort to remove all the 117 | strangeness from his voice by enunciating very carefully and putting 118 | long pauses between each, individual word. His father went back to 119 | his breakfast, but his sister whispered: "Gregor, open the door, I 120 | beg of you." Gregor, however, had no thought of opening the door, 121 | and instead congratulated himself for his cautious habit, acquired 122 | from his travelling, of locking all doors at night even when he was 123 | at home. 124 | 125 | The first thing he wanted to do was to get up in peace without being 126 | disturbed, to get dressed, and most of all to have his breakfast. 127 | Only then would he consider what to do next, as he was well aware 128 | that he would not bring his thoughts to any sensible conclusions by 129 | lying in bed. He remembered that he had often felt a slight pain in 130 | bed, perhaps caused by lying awkwardly, but that had always turned 131 | out to be pure imagination and he wondered how his imaginings would 132 | slowly resolve themselves today. He did not have the slightest 133 | doubt that the change in his voice was nothing more than the first 134 | sign of a serious cold, which was an occupational hazard for 135 | travelling salesmen. 136 | 137 | It was a simple matter to throw off the covers; he only had to blow 138 | himself up a little and they fell off by themselves. But it became 139 | difficult after that, especially as he was so exceptionally broad. 140 | He would have used his arms and his hands to push himself up; but 141 | instead of them he only had all those little legs continuously 142 | moving in different directions, and which he was moreover unable to 143 | control. If he wanted to bend one of them, then that was the first 144 | one that would stretch itself out; and if he finally managed to do 145 | what he wanted with that leg, all the others seemed to be set free 146 | and would move about painfully. "This is something that can't be 147 | done in bed", Gregor said to himself, "so don't keep trying to do 148 | it". 149 | 150 | The first thing he wanted to do was get the lower part of his body 151 | out of the bed, but he had never seen this lower part, and could not 152 | imagine what it looked like; it turned out to be too hard to move; 153 | it went so slowly; and finally, almost in a frenzy, when he 154 | carelessly shoved himself forwards with all the force he could 155 | gather, he chose the wrong direction, hit hard against the lower 156 | bedpost, and learned from the burning pain he felt that the lower 157 | part of his body might well, at present, be the most sensitive. 158 | 159 | So then he tried to get the top part of his body out of the bed 160 | first, carefully turning his head to the side. This he managed 161 | quite easily, and despite its breadth and its weight, the bulk of 162 | his body eventually followed slowly in the direction of the head. 163 | But when he had at last got his head out of the bed and into the 164 | fresh air it occurred to him that if he let himself fall it would be 165 | a miracle if his head were not injured, so he became afraid to carry 166 | on pushing himself forward the same way. And he could not knock 167 | himself out now at any price; better to stay in bed than lose 168 | consciousness. 169 | 170 | It took just as much effort to get back to where he had been 171 | earlier, but when he lay there sighing, and was once more watching 172 | his legs as they struggled against each other even harder than 173 | before, if that was possible, he could think of no way of bringing 174 | peace and order to this chaos. He told himself once more that it 175 | was not possible for him to stay in bed and that the most sensible 176 | thing to do would be to get free of it in whatever way he could at 177 | whatever sacrifice. At the same time, though, he did not forget to 178 | remind himself that calm consideration was much better than rushing 179 | to desperate conclusions. At times like this he would direct his 180 | eyes to the window and look out as clearly as he could, but 181 | unfortunately, even the other side of the narrow street was 182 | enveloped in morning fog and the view had little confidence or cheer 183 | to offer him. "Seven o'clock, already", he said to himself when the 184 | clock struck again, "seven o'clock, and there's still a fog like 185 | this." And he lay there quietly a while longer, breathing lightly 186 | as if he perhaps expected the total stillness to bring things back 187 | to their real and natural state. 188 | 189 | But then he said to himself: "Before it strikes quarter past seven 190 | I'll definitely have to have got properly out of bed. And by then 191 | somebody will have come round from work to ask what's happened to me 192 | as well, as they open up at work before seven o'clock." And so he 193 | set himself to the task of swinging the entire length of his body 194 | out of the bed all at the same time. If he succeeded in falling out 195 | of bed in this way and kept his head raised as he did so he could 196 | probably avoid injuring it. His back seemed to be quite hard, and 197 | probably nothing would happen to it falling onto the carpet. His 198 | main concern was for the loud noise he was bound to make, and which 199 | even through all the doors would probably raise concern if not 200 | alarm. But it was something that had to be risked. 201 | 202 | When Gregor was already sticking half way out of the bed - the new 203 | method was more of a game than an effort, all he had to do was rock 204 | back and forth - it occurred to him how simple everything would be 205 | if somebody came to help him. Two strong people - he had his father 206 | and the maid in mind - would have been more than enough; they would 207 | only have to push their arms under the dome of his back, peel him 208 | away from the bed, bend down with the load and then be patient and 209 | careful as he swang over onto the floor, where, hopefully, the 210 | little legs would find a use. Should he really call for help 211 | though, even apart from the fact that all the doors were locked? 212 | Despite all the difficulty he was in, he could not suppress a smile 213 | at this thought. 214 | 215 | After a while he had already moved so far across that it would have 216 | been hard for him to keep his balance if he rocked too hard. The 217 | time was now ten past seven and he would have to make a final 218 | decision very soon. Then there was a ring at the door of the flat. 219 | "That'll be someone from work", he said to himself, and froze very 220 | still, although his little legs only became all the more lively as 221 | they danced around. For a moment everything remained quiet. 222 | "They're not opening the door", Gregor said to himself, caught in 223 | some nonsensical hope. But then of course, the maid's firm steps 224 | went to the door as ever and opened it. Gregor only needed to hear 225 | the visitor's first words of greeting and he knew who it was - the 226 | chief clerk himself. Why did Gregor have to be the only one 227 | condemned to work for a company where they immediately became highly 228 | suspicious at the slightest shortcoming? Were all employees, every 229 | one of them, louts, was there not one of them who was faithful and 230 | devoted who would go so mad with pangs of conscience that he 231 | couldn't get out of bed if he didn't spend at least a couple of 232 | hours in the morning on company business? Was it really not enough 233 | to let one of the trainees make enquiries - assuming enquiries were 234 | even necessary - did the chief clerk have to come himself, and did 235 | they have to show the whole, innocent family that this was so 236 | suspicious that only the chief clerk could be trusted to have the 237 | wisdom to investigate it? And more because these thoughts had made 238 | him upset than through any proper decision, he swang himself with 239 | all his force out of the bed. There was a loud thump, but it wasn't 240 | really a loud noise. His fall was softened a little by the carpet, 241 | and Gregor's back was also more elastic than he had thought, which 242 | made the sound muffled and not too noticeable. He had not held his 243 | head carefully enough, though, and hit it as he fell; annoyed and in 244 | pain, he turned it and rubbed it against the carpet. 245 | 246 | "Something's fallen down in there", said the chief clerk in the room 247 | on the left. Gregor tried to imagine whether something of the sort 248 | that had happened to him today could ever happen to the chief clerk 249 | too; you had to concede that it was possible. But as if in gruff 250 | reply to this question, the chief clerk's firm footsteps in his 251 | highly polished boots could now be heard in the adjoining room. 252 | From the room on his right, Gregor's sister whispered to him to let 253 | him know: "Gregor, the chief clerk is here." "Yes, I know", said 254 | Gregor to himself; but without daring to raise his voice loud enough 255 | for his sister to hear him. 256 | 257 | "Gregor", said his father now from the room to his left, "the chief 258 | clerk has come round and wants to know why you didn't leave on the 259 | early train. We don't know what to say to him. And anyway, he 260 | wants to speak to you personally. So please open up this door. I'm 261 | sure he'll be good enough to forgive the untidiness of your room." 262 | Then the chief clerk called "Good morning, Mr. Samsa". "He isn't 263 | well", said his mother to the chief clerk, while his father 264 | continued to speak through the door. "He isn't well, please believe 265 | me. Why else would Gregor have missed a train! The lad only ever 266 | thinks about the business. It nearly makes me cross the way he 267 | never goes out in the evenings; he's been in town for a week now but 268 | stayed home every evening. He sits with us in the kitchen and just 269 | reads the paper or studies train timetables. His idea of relaxation 270 | is working with his fretsaw. He's made a little frame, for 271 | instance, it only took him two or three evenings, you'll be amazed 272 | how nice it is; it's hanging up in his room; you'll see it as soon 273 | as Gregor opens the door. Anyway, I'm glad you're here; we wouldn't 274 | have been able to get Gregor to open the door by ourselves; he's so 275 | stubborn; and I'm sure he isn't well, he said this morning that he 276 | is, but he isn't." "I'll be there in a moment", said Gregor slowly 277 | and thoughtfully, but without moving so that he would not miss any 278 | word of the conversation. "Well I can't think of any other way of 279 | explaining it, Mrs. Samsa", said the chief clerk, "I hope it's 280 | nothing serious. But on the other hand, I must say that if we 281 | people in commerce ever become slightly unwell then, fortunately or 282 | unfortunately as you like, we simply have to overcome it because of 283 | business considerations." "Can the chief clerk come in to see you 284 | now then?", asked his father impatiently, knocking at the door 285 | again. "No", said Gregor. In the room on his right there followed 286 | a painful silence; in the room on his left his sister began to cry. 287 | 288 | So why did his sister not go and join the others? She had probably 289 | only just got up and had not even begun to get dressed. And why was 290 | she crying? Was it because he had not got up, and had not let the 291 | chief clerk in, because he was in danger of losing his job and if 292 | that happened his boss would once more pursue their parents with the 293 | same demands as before? There was no need to worry about things like 294 | that yet. Gregor was still there and had not the slightest 295 | intention of abandoning his family. For the time being he just lay 296 | there on the carpet, and no-one who knew the condition he was in 297 | would seriously have expected him to let the chief clerk in. It was 298 | only a minor discourtesy, and a suitable excuse could easily be 299 | found for it later on, it was not something for which Gregor could 300 | be sacked on the spot. And it seemed to Gregor much more sensible 301 | to leave him now in peace instead of disturbing him with talking at 302 | him and crying. But the others didn't know what was happening, they 303 | were worried, that would excuse their behaviour. 304 | 305 | The chief clerk now raised his voice, "Mr. Samsa", he called to him, 306 | "what is wrong? You barricade yourself in your room, give us no more 307 | than yes or no for an answer, you are causing serious and 308 | unnecessary concern to your parents and you fail - and I mention 309 | this just by the way - you fail to carry out your business duties in 310 | a way that is quite unheard of. I'm speaking here on behalf of your 311 | parents and of your employer, and really must request a clear and 312 | immediate explanation. I am astonished, quite astonished. I 313 | thought I knew you as a calm and sensible person, and now you 314 | suddenly seem to be showing off with peculiar whims. This morning, 315 | your employer did suggest a possible reason for your failure to 316 | appear, it's true - it had to do with the money that was recently 317 | entrusted to you - but I came near to giving him my word of honour 318 | that that could not be the right explanation. But now that I see 319 | your incomprehensible stubbornness I no longer feel any wish 320 | whatsoever to intercede on your behalf. And nor is your position 321 | all that secure. I had originally intended to say all this to you 322 | in private, but since you cause me to waste my time here for no good 323 | reason I don't see why your parents should not also learn of it. 324 | Your turnover has been very unsatisfactory of late; I grant you that 325 | it's not the time of year to do especially good business, we 326 | recognise that; but there simply is no time of year to do no 327 | business at all, Mr. Samsa, we cannot allow there to be." 328 | 329 | "But Sir", called Gregor, beside himself and forgetting all else in 330 | the excitement, "I'll open up immediately, just a moment. I'm 331 | slightly unwell, an attack of dizziness, I haven't been able to get 332 | up. I'm still in bed now. I'm quite fresh again now, though. I'm 333 | just getting out of bed. Just a moment. Be patient! It's not quite 334 | as easy as I'd thought. I'm quite alright now, though. It's 335 | shocking, what can suddenly happen to a person! I was quite alright 336 | last night, my parents know about it, perhaps better than me, I had 337 | a small symptom of it last night already. They must have noticed 338 | it. I don't know why I didn't let you know at work! But you always 339 | think you can get over an illness without staying at home. Please, 340 | don't make my parents suffer! There's no basis for any of the 341 | accusations you're making; nobody's ever said a word to me about any 342 | of these things. Maybe you haven't read the latest contracts I sent 343 | in. I'll set off with the eight o'clock train, as well, these few 344 | hours of rest have given me strength. You don't need to wait, sir; 345 | I'll be in the office soon after you, and please be so good as to 346 | tell that to the boss and recommend me to him!" 347 | 348 | And while Gregor gushed out these words, hardly knowing what he was 349 | saying, he made his way over to the chest of drawers - this was 350 | easily done, probably because of the practise he had already had in 351 | bed - where he now tried to get himself upright. He really did want 352 | to open the door, really did want to let them see him and to speak 353 | with the chief clerk; the others were being so insistent, and he was 354 | curious to learn what they would say when they caught sight of him. 355 | If they were shocked then it would no longer be Gregor's 356 | responsibility and he could rest. If, however, they took everything 357 | calmly he would still have no reason to be upset, and if he hurried 358 | he really could be at the station for eight o'clock. The first few 359 | times he tried to climb up on the smooth chest of drawers he just 360 | slid down again, but he finally gave himself one last swing and 361 | stood there upright; the lower part of his body was in serious pain 362 | but he no longer gave any attention to it. Now he let himself fall 363 | against the back of a nearby chair and held tightly to the edges of 364 | it with his little legs. By now he had also calmed down, and kept 365 | quiet so that he could listen to what the chief clerk was saying. 366 | 367 | "Did you understand a word of all that?" the chief clerk asked his 368 | parents, "surely he's not trying to make fools of us". "Oh, God!" 369 | called his mother, who was already in tears, "he could be seriously 370 | ill and we're making him suffer. Grete! Grete!" she then cried. 371 | "Mother?" his sister called from the other side. They communicated 372 | across Gregor's room. "You'll have to go for the doctor straight 373 | away. Gregor is ill. Quick, get the doctor. Did you hear the way 374 | Gregor spoke just now?" "That was the voice of an animal", said the 375 | chief clerk, with a calmness that was in contrast with his mother's 376 | screams. "Anna! Anna!" his father called into the kitchen through 377 | the entrance hall, clapping his hands, "get a locksmith here, now!" 378 | And the two girls, their skirts swishing, immediately ran out 379 | through the hall, wrenching open the front door of the flat as they 380 | went. How had his sister managed to get dressed so quickly? There 381 | was no sound of the door banging shut again; they must have left it 382 | open; people often do in homes where something awful has happened. 383 | 384 | Gregor, in contrast, had become much calmer. So they couldn't 385 | understand his words any more, although they seemed clear enough to 386 | him, clearer than before - perhaps his ears had become used to the 387 | sound. They had realised, though, that there was something wrong 388 | with him, and were ready to help. The first response to his 389 | situation had been confident and wise, and that made him feel 390 | better. He felt that he had been drawn back in among people, and 391 | from the doctor and the locksmith he expected great and surprising 392 | achievements - although he did not really distinguish one from the 393 | other. Whatever was said next would be crucial, so, in order to 394 | make his voice as clear as possible, he coughed a little, but taking 395 | care to do this not too loudly as even this might well sound 396 | different from the way that a human coughs and he was no longer sure 397 | he could judge this for himself. Meanwhile, it had become very 398 | quiet in the next room. Perhaps his parents were sat at the table 399 | whispering with the chief clerk, or perhaps they were all pressed 400 | against the door and listening. 401 | 402 | Gregor slowly pushed his way over to the door with the chair. Once 403 | there he let go of it and threw himself onto the door, holding 404 | himself upright against it using the adhesive on the tips of his 405 | legs. He rested there a little while to recover from the effort 406 | involved and then set himself to the task of turning the key in the 407 | lock with his mouth. He seemed, unfortunately, to have no proper 408 | teeth - how was he, then, to grasp the key? - but the lack of teeth 409 | was, of course, made up for with a very strong jaw; using the jaw, 410 | he really was able to start the key turning, ignoring the fact that 411 | he must have been causing some kind of damage as a brown fluid came 412 | from his mouth, flowed over the key and dripped onto the floor. 413 | "Listen", said the chief clerk in the next room, "he's turning the 414 | key." Gregor was greatly encouraged by this; but they all should 415 | have been calling to him, his father and his mother too: "Well done, 416 | Gregor", they should have cried, "keep at it, keep hold of the 417 | lock!" And with the idea that they were all excitedly following his 418 | efforts, he bit on the key with all his strength, paying no 419 | attention to the pain he was causing himself. As the key turned 420 | round he turned around the lock with it, only holding himself 421 | upright with his mouth, and hung onto the key or pushed it down 422 | again with the whole weight of his body as needed. The clear sound 423 | of the lock as it snapped back was Gregor's sign that he could break 424 | his concentration, and as he regained his breath he said to himself: 425 | "So, I didn't need the locksmith after all". Then he lay his head on 426 | the handle of the door to open it completely. 427 | 428 | Because he had to open the door in this way, it was already wide 429 | open before he could be seen. He had first to slowly turn himself 430 | around one of the double doors, and he had to do it very carefully 431 | if he did not want to fall flat on his back before entering the 432 | room. He was still occupied with this difficult movement, unable to 433 | pay attention to anything else, when he heard the chief clerk 434 | exclaim a loud "Oh!", which sounded like the soughing of the wind. 435 | Now he also saw him - he was the nearest to the door - his hand 436 | pressed against his open mouth and slowly retreating as if driven by 437 | a steady and invisible force. Gregor's mother, her hair still 438 | dishevelled from bed despite the chief clerk's being there, looked 439 | at his father. Then she unfolded her arms, took two steps forward 440 | towards Gregor and sank down onto the floor into her skirts that 441 | spread themselves out around her as her head disappeared down onto 442 | her breast. His father looked hostile, and clenched his fists as if 443 | wanting to knock Gregor back into his room. Then he looked 444 | uncertainly round the living room, covered his eyes with his hands 445 | and wept so that his powerful chest shook. 446 | 447 | So Gregor did not go into the room, but leant against the inside of 448 | the other door which was still held bolted in place. In this way 449 | only half of his body could be seen, along with his head above it 450 | which he leant over to one side as he peered out at the others. 451 | Meanwhile the day had become much lighter; part of the endless, 452 | grey-black building on the other side of the street - which was a 453 | hospital - could be seen quite clearly with the austere and regular 454 | line of windows piercing its facade; the rain was still 455 | falling, now throwing down large, individual droplets which hit the 456 | ground one at a time. The washing up from breakfast lay on the 457 | table; there was so much of it because, for Gregor's father, 458 | breakfast was the most important meal of the day and he would 459 | stretch it out for several hours as he sat reading a number of 460 | different newspapers. On the wall exactly opposite there was 461 | photograph of Gregor when he was a lieutenant in the army, his sword 462 | in his hand and a carefree smile on his face as he called forth 463 | respect for his uniform and bearing. The door to the entrance hall 464 | was open and as the front door of the flat was also open he could 465 | see onto the landing and the stairs where they began their way down 466 | below. 467 | 468 | "Now, then", said Gregor, well aware that he was the only one to 469 | have kept calm, "I'll get dressed straight away now, pack up my 470 | samples and set off. Will you please just let me leave? You can 471 | see", he said to the chief clerk, "that I'm not stubborn and I 472 | like to do my job; being a commercial traveller is arduous but 473 | without travelling I couldn't earn my living. So where are you 474 | going, in to the office? Yes? Will you report everything accurately, 475 | then? It's quite possible for someone to be temporarily unable to 476 | work, but that's just the right time to remember what's been 477 | achieved in the past and consider that later on, once the difficulty 478 | has been removed, he will certainly work with all the more diligence 479 | and concentration. You're well aware that I'm seriously in debt to 480 | our employer as well as having to look after my parents and my 481 | sister, so that I'm trapped in a difficult situation, but I will 482 | work my way out of it again. Please don't make things any harder 483 | for me than they are already, and don't take sides against me at the 484 | office. I know that nobody likes the travellers. They think we 485 | earn an enormous wage as well as having a soft time of it. That's 486 | just prejudice but they have no particular reason to think better of 487 | it. But you, sir, you have a better overview than the rest of the 488 | staff, in fact, if I can say this in confidence, a better overview 489 | than the boss himself - it's very easy for a businessman like him to 490 | make mistakes about his employees and judge them more harshly than 491 | he should. And you're also well aware that we travellers spend 492 | almost the whole year away from the office, so that we can very 493 | easily fall victim to gossip and chance and groundless complaints, 494 | and it's almost impossible to defend yourself from that sort of 495 | thing, we don't usually even hear about them, or if at all it's when 496 | we arrive back home exhausted from a trip, and that's when we feel 497 | the harmful effects of what's been going on without even knowing 498 | what caused them. Please, don't go away, at least first say 499 | something to show that you grant that I'm at least partly right!" 500 | 501 | But the chief clerk had turned away as soon as Gregor had started to 502 | speak, and, with protruding lips, only stared back at him over his 503 | trembling shoulders as he left. He did not keep still for a moment 504 | while Gregor was speaking, but moved steadily towards the door 505 | without taking his eyes off him. He moved very gradually, as if 506 | there had been some secret prohibition on leaving the room. It was 507 | only when he had reached the entrance hall that he made a sudden 508 | movement, drew his foot from the living room, and rushed forward in 509 | a panic. In the hall, he stretched his right hand far out towards 510 | the stairway as if out there, there were some supernatural force 511 | waiting to save him. 512 | 513 | Gregor realised that it was out of the question to let the chief 514 | clerk go away in this mood if his position in the firm was not to be 515 | put into extreme danger. That was something his parents did not 516 | understand very well; over the years, they had become convinced that 517 | this job would provide for Gregor for his entire life, and besides, 518 | they had so much to worry about at present that they had lost sight 519 | of any thought for the future. Gregor, though, did think about the 520 | future. The chief clerk had to be held back, calmed down, convinced 521 | and finally won over; the future of Gregor and his family depended 522 | on it! If only his sister were here! She was clever; she was already 523 | in tears while Gregor was still lying peacefully on his back. And 524 | the chief clerk was a lover of women, surely she could persuade him; 525 | she would close the front door in the entrance hall and talk him out 526 | of his shocked state. But his sister was not there, Gregor would 527 | have to do the job himself. And without considering that he still 528 | was not familiar with how well he could move about in his present 529 | state, or that his speech still might not - or probably would not - 530 | be understood, he let go of the door; pushed himself through the 531 | opening; tried to reach the chief clerk on the landing who, 532 | ridiculously, was holding on to the banister with both hands; but 533 | Gregor fell immediately over and, with a little scream as he sought 534 | something to hold onto, landed on his numerous little legs. Hardly 535 | had that happened than, for the first time that day, he began to 536 | feel alright with his body; the little legs had the solid ground 537 | under them; to his pleasure, they did exactly as he told them; they 538 | were even making the effort to carry him where he wanted to go; and 539 | he was soon believing that all his sorrows would soon be finally at 540 | an end. He held back the urge to move but swayed from side to side 541 | as he crouched there on the floor. His mother was not far away in 542 | front of him and seemed, at first, quite engrossed in herself, but 543 | then she suddenly jumped up with her arms outstretched and her 544 | fingers spread shouting: "Help, for pity's sake, Help!" The way she 545 | held her head suggested she wanted to see Gregor better, but the 546 | unthinking way she was hurrying backwards showed that she did not; 547 | she had forgotten that the table was behind her with all the 548 | breakfast things on it; when she reached the table she sat quickly 549 | down on it without knowing what she was doing; without even seeming 550 | to notice that the coffee pot had been knocked over and a gush of 551 | coffee was pouring down onto the carpet. 552 | 553 | "Mother, mother", said Gregor gently, looking up at her. He had 554 | completely forgotten the chief clerk for the moment, but could not 555 | help himself snapping in the air with his jaws at the sight of the 556 | flow of coffee. That set his mother screaming anew, she fled from 557 | the table and into the arms of his father as he rushed towards her. 558 | Gregor, though, had no time to spare for his parents now; the chief 559 | clerk had already reached the stairs; with his chin on the banister, 560 | he looked back for the last time. Gregor made a run for him; he 561 | wanted to be sure of reaching him; the chief clerk must have 562 | expected something, as he leapt down several steps at once and 563 | disappeared; his shouts resounding all around the staircase. The 564 | flight of the chief clerk seemed, unfortunately, to put Gregor's 565 | father into a panic as well. Until then he had been relatively self 566 | controlled, but now, instead of running after the chief clerk 567 | himself, or at least not impeding Gregor as he ran after him, 568 | Gregor's father seized the chief clerk's stick in his right hand 569 | (the chief clerk had left it behind on a chair, along with his hat 570 | and overcoat), picked up a large newspaper from the table with his 571 | left, and used them to drive Gregor back into his room, stamping his 572 | foot at him as he went. Gregor's appeals to his father were of no 573 | help, his appeals were simply not understood, however much he humbly 574 | turned his head his father merely stamped his foot all the harder. 575 | Across the room, despite the chilly weather, Gregor's mother had 576 | pulled open a window, leant far out of it and pressed her hands to 577 | her face. A strong draught of air flew in from the street towards 578 | the stairway, the curtains flew up, the newspapers on the table 579 | fluttered and some of them were blown onto the floor. Nothing would 580 | stop Gregor's father as he drove him back, making hissing noises at 581 | him like a wild man. Gregor had never had any practice in moving 582 | backwards and was only able to go very slowly. If Gregor had only 583 | been allowed to turn round he would have been back in his room 584 | straight away, but he was afraid that if he took the time to do that 585 | his father would become impatient, and there was the threat of a 586 | lethal blow to his back or head from the stick in his father's hand 587 | any moment. Eventually, though, Gregor realised that he had no 588 | choice as he saw, to his disgust, that he was quite incapable of 589 | going backwards in a straight line; so he began, as quickly as 590 | possible and with frequent anxious glances at his father, to turn 591 | himself round. It went very slowly, but perhaps his father was able 592 | to see his good intentions as he did nothing to hinder him, in fact 593 | now and then he used the tip of his stick to give directions from a 594 | distance as to which way to turn. If only his father would stop 595 | that unbearable hissing! It was making Gregor quite confused. When 596 | he had nearly finished turning round, still listening to that 597 | hissing, he made a mistake and turned himself back a little the way 598 | he had just come. He was pleased when he finally had his head in 599 | front of the doorway, but then saw that it was too narrow, and his 600 | body was too broad to get through it without further difficulty. In 601 | his present mood, it obviously did not occur to his father to open 602 | the other of the double doors so that Gregor would have enough space 603 | to get through. He was merely fixed on the idea that Gregor should 604 | be got back into his room as quickly as possible. Nor would he ever 605 | have allowed Gregor the time to get himself upright as preparation 606 | for getting through the doorway. What he did, making more noise 607 | than ever, was to drive Gregor forwards all the harder as if there 608 | had been nothing in the way; it sounded to Gregor as if there was 609 | now more than one father behind him; it was not a pleasant 610 | experience, and Gregor pushed himself into the doorway without 611 | regard for what might happen. One side of his body lifted itself, 612 | he lay at an angle in the doorway, one flank scraped on the white 613 | door and was painfully injured, leaving vile brown flecks on it, 614 | soon he was stuck fast and would not have been able to move at all 615 | by himself, the little legs along one side hung quivering in the air 616 | while those on the other side were pressed painfully against the 617 | ground. Then his father gave him a hefty shove from behind which 618 | released him from where he was held and sent him flying, and heavily 619 | bleeding, deep into his room. The door was slammed shut with the 620 | stick, then, finally, all was quiet. 621 | 622 | 623 | 624 | II 625 | 626 | 627 | It was not until it was getting dark that evening that Gregor awoke 628 | from his deep and coma-like sleep. He would have woken soon 629 | afterwards anyway even if he hadn't been disturbed, as he had had 630 | enough sleep and felt fully rested. But he had the impression that 631 | some hurried steps and the sound of the door leading into the front 632 | room being carefully shut had woken him. The light from the 633 | electric street lamps shone palely here and there onto the ceiling 634 | and tops of the furniture, but down below, where Gregor was, it was 635 | dark. He pushed himself over to the door, feeling his way clumsily 636 | with his antennae - of which he was now beginning to learn the value 637 | - in order to see what had been happening there. The whole of his 638 | left side seemed like one, painfully stretched scar, and he limped 639 | badly on his two rows of legs. One of the legs had been badly 640 | injured in the events of that morning - it was nearly a miracle that 641 | only one of them had been - and dragged along lifelessly. 642 | 643 | It was only when he had reached the door that he realised what it 644 | actually was that had drawn him over to it; it was the smell of 645 | something to eat. By the door there was a dish filled with 646 | sweetened milk with little pieces of white bread floating in it. He 647 | was so pleased he almost laughed, as he was even hungrier than he 648 | had been that morning, and immediately dipped his head into the 649 | milk, nearly covering his eyes with it. But he soon drew his head 650 | back again in disappointment; not only did the pain in his tender 651 | left side make it difficult to eat the food - he was only able to 652 | eat if his whole body worked together as a snuffling whole - but the 653 | milk did not taste at all nice. Milk like this was normally his 654 | favourite drink, and his sister had certainly left it there for him 655 | because of that, but he turned, almost against his own will, away 656 | from the dish and crawled back into the centre of the room. 657 | 658 | Through the crack in the door, Gregor could see that the gas had 659 | been lit in the living room. His father at this time would normally 660 | be sat with his evening paper, reading it out in a loud voice to 661 | Gregor's mother, and sometimes to his sister, but there was now not 662 | a sound to be heard. Gregor's sister would often write and tell him 663 | about this reading, but maybe his father had lost the habit in 664 | recent times. It was so quiet all around too, even though there 665 | must have been somebody in the flat. "What a quiet life it is the 666 | family lead", said Gregor to himself, and, gazing into the darkness, 667 | felt a great pride that he was able to provide a life like that in 668 | such a nice home for his sister and parents. But what now, if all 669 | this peace and wealth and comfort should come to a horrible and 670 | frightening end? That was something that Gregor did not want to 671 | think about too much, so he started to move about, crawling up and 672 | down the room. 673 | 674 | Once during that long evening, the door on one side of the room was 675 | opened very slightly and hurriedly closed again; later on the door 676 | on the other side did the same; it seemed that someone needed to 677 | enter the room but thought better of it. Gregor went and waited 678 | immediately by the door, resolved either to bring the timorous 679 | visitor into the room in some way or at least to find out who it 680 | was; but the door was opened no more that night and Gregor waited in 681 | vain. The previous morning while the doors were locked everyone had 682 | wanted to get in there to him, but now, now that he had opened up 683 | one of the doors and the other had clearly been unlocked some time 684 | during the day, no-one came, and the keys were in the other sides. 685 | 686 | It was not until late at night that the gaslight in the living room 687 | was put out, and now it was easy to see that his parents and sister had 688 | stayed awake all that time, as they all could be distinctly heard as 689 | they went away together on tip-toe. It was clear that no-one would 690 | come into Gregor's room any more until morning; that gave him plenty 691 | of time to think undisturbed about how he would have to re-arrange 692 | his life. For some reason, the tall, empty room where he was forced 693 | to remain made him feel uneasy as he lay there flat on the floor, 694 | even though he had been living in it for five years. Hardly aware 695 | of what he was doing other than a slight feeling of shame, he 696 | hurried under the couch. It pressed down on his back a little, and 697 | he was no longer able to lift his head, but he nonetheless felt 698 | immediately at ease and his only regret was that his body was too 699 | broad to get it all underneath. 700 | 701 | He spent the whole night there. Some of the time he passed in a 702 | light sleep, although he frequently woke from it in alarm because of 703 | his hunger, and some of the time was spent in worries and vague 704 | hopes which, however, always led to the same conclusion: for the 705 | time being he must remain calm, he must show patience and the 706 | greatest consideration so that his family could bear the 707 | unpleasantness that he, in his present condition, was forced to 708 | impose on them. 709 | 710 | Gregor soon had the opportunity to test the strength of his 711 | decisions, as early the next morning, almost before the night had 712 | ended, his sister, nearly fully dressed, opened the door from the 713 | front room and looked anxiously in. She did not see him straight 714 | away, but when she did notice him under the couch - he had to be 715 | somewhere, for God's sake, he couldn't have flown away - she was so 716 | shocked that she lost control of herself and slammed the door shut 717 | again from outside. But she seemed to regret her behaviour, as she 718 | opened the door again straight away and came in on tip-toe as if 719 | entering the room of someone seriously ill or even of a stranger. 720 | Gregor had pushed his head forward, right to the edge of the couch, 721 | and watched her. Would she notice that he had left the milk as it 722 | was, realise that it was not from any lack of hunger and bring him 723 | in some other food that was more suitable? If she didn't do it 724 | herself he would rather go hungry than draw her attention to it, 725 | although he did feel a terrible urge to rush forward from under the 726 | couch, throw himself at his sister's feet and beg her for something 727 | good to eat. However, his sister noticed the full dish immediately 728 | and looked at it and the few drops of milk splashed around it with 729 | some surprise. She immediately picked it up - using a rag, 730 | not her bare hands - and carried it out. Gregor was extremely 731 | curious as to what she would bring in its place, imagining the 732 | wildest possibilities, but he never could have guessed what his 733 | sister, in her goodness, actually did bring. In order to test his 734 | taste, she brought him a whole selection of things, all spread out 735 | on an old newspaper. There were old, half-rotten vegetables; bones 736 | from the evening meal, covered in white sauce that had gone hard; a 737 | few raisins and almonds; some cheese that Gregor had declared 738 | inedible two days before; a dry roll and some bread spread with 739 | butter and salt. As well as all that she had poured some water into 740 | the dish, which had probably been permanently set aside for Gregor's 741 | use, and placed it beside them. Then, out of consideration for 742 | Gregor's feelings, as she knew that he would not eat in front of 743 | her, she hurried out again and even turned the key in the lock so 744 | that Gregor would know he could make things as comfortable for 745 | himself as he liked. Gregor's little legs whirred, at last he could 746 | eat. What's more, his injuries must already have completely healed 747 | as he found no difficulty in moving. This amazed him, as more than 748 | a month earlier he had cut his finger slightly with a knife, he 749 | thought of how his finger had still hurt the day before yesterday. 750 | "Am I less sensitive than I used to be, then?", he thought, and was 751 | already sucking greedily at the cheese which had immediately, almost 752 | compellingly, attracted him much more than the other foods on the 753 | newspaper. Quickly one after another, his eyes watering with 754 | pleasure, he consumed the cheese, the vegetables and the sauce; the 755 | fresh foods, on the other hand, he didn't like at all, and even 756 | dragged the things he did want to eat a little way away from them 757 | because he couldn't stand the smell. Long after he had finished 758 | eating and lay lethargic in the same place, his sister slowly turned 759 | the key in the lock as a sign to him that he should withdraw. He 760 | was immediately startled, although he had been half asleep, and he 761 | hurried back under the couch. But he needed great self-control to 762 | stay there even for the short time that his sister was in the room, 763 | as eating so much food had rounded out his body a little and he 764 | could hardly breathe in that narrow space. Half suffocating, he 765 | watched with bulging eyes as his sister unselfconsciously took a 766 | broom and swept up the left-overs, mixing them in with the food he 767 | had not even touched at all as if it could not be used any more. 768 | She quickly dropped it all into a bin, closed it with its wooden 769 | lid, and carried everything out. She had hardly turned her back 770 | before Gregor came out again from under the couch and stretched 771 | himself. 772 | 773 | This was how Gregor received his food each day now, once in the 774 | morning while his parents and the maid were still asleep, and the 775 | second time after everyone had eaten their meal at midday as his 776 | parents would sleep for a little while then as well, and Gregor's 777 | sister would send the maid away on some errand. Gregor's father and 778 | mother certainly did not want him to starve either, but perhaps it 779 | would have been more than they could stand to have any more 780 | experience of his feeding than being told about it, and perhaps his 781 | sister wanted to spare them what distress she could as they were 782 | indeed suffering enough. 783 | 784 | It was impossible for Gregor to find out what they had told the 785 | doctor and the locksmith that first morning to get them out of the 786 | flat. As nobody could understand him, nobody, not even his sister, 787 | thought that he could understand them, so he had to be content to 788 | hear his sister's sighs and appeals to the saints as she moved about 789 | his room. It was only later, when she had become a little more used 790 | to everything - there was, of course, no question of her ever 791 | becoming fully used to the situation - that Gregor would sometimes 792 | catch a friendly comment, or at least a comment that could be 793 | construed as friendly. "He's enjoyed his dinner today", she might 794 | say when he had diligently cleared away all the food left for him, 795 | or if he left most of it, which slowly became more and more 796 | frequent, she would often say, sadly, "now everything's just been 797 | left there again". 798 | 799 | Although Gregor wasn't able to hear any news directly he did listen 800 | to much of what was said in the next rooms, and whenever he heard 801 | anyone speaking he would scurry straight to the appropriate door and 802 | press his whole body against it. There was seldom any conversation, 803 | especially at first, that was not about him in some way, even if 804 | only in secret. For two whole days, all the talk at every mealtime 805 | was about what they should do now; but even between meals they spoke 806 | about the same subject as there were always at least two members of 807 | the family at home - nobody wanted to be at home by themselves and 808 | it was out of the question to leave the flat entirely empty. And on 809 | the very first day the maid had fallen to her knees and begged 810 | Gregor's mother to let her go without delay. It was not very clear 811 | how much she knew of what had happened but she left within a quarter 812 | of an hour, tearfully thanking Gregor's mother for her dismissal as 813 | if she had done her an enormous service. She even swore 814 | emphatically not to tell anyone the slightest about what had 815 | happened, even though no-one had asked that of her. 816 | 817 | Now Gregor's sister also had to help his mother with the cooking; 818 | although that was not so much bother as no-one ate very much. 819 | Gregor often heard how one of them would unsuccessfully urge another 820 | to eat, and receive no more answer than "no thanks, I've had enough" 821 | or something similar. No-one drank very much either. His sister 822 | would sometimes ask his father whether he would like a beer, hoping 823 | for the chance to go and fetch it herself. When his father then 824 | said nothing she would add, so that he would not feel selfish, that 825 | she could send the housekeeper for it, but then his father would 826 | close the matter with a big, loud "No", and no more would be said. 827 | 828 | Even before the first day had come to an end, his father had 829 | explained to Gregor's mother and sister what their finances and 830 | prospects were. Now and then he stood up from the table and took 831 | some receipt or document from the little cash box he had saved from 832 | his business when it had collapsed five years earlier. Gregor heard 833 | how he opened the complicated lock and then closed it again after he 834 | had taken the item he wanted. What he heard his father say was some 835 | of the first good news that Gregor heard since he had first been 836 | incarcerated in his room. He had thought that nothing at all 837 | remained from his father's business, at least he had never told him 838 | anything different, and Gregor had never asked him about it anyway. 839 | Their business misfortune had reduced the family to a state of total 840 | despair, and Gregor's only concern at that time had been to arrange 841 | things so that they could all forget about it as quickly as 842 | possible. So then he started working especially hard, with a fiery 843 | vigour that raised him from a junior salesman to a travelling 844 | representative almost overnight, bringing with it the chance to earn 845 | money in quite different ways. Gregor converted his success at work 846 | straight into cash that he could lay on the table at home for the 847 | benefit of his astonished and delighted family. They had been good 848 | times and they had never come again, at least not with the same 849 | splendour, even though Gregor had later earned so much that he was 850 | in a position to bear the costs of the whole family, and did bear 851 | them. They had even got used to it, both Gregor and the family, 852 | they took the money with gratitude and he was glad to provide it, 853 | although there was no longer much warm affection given in return. 854 | Gregor only remained close to his sister now. Unlike him, she was 855 | very fond of music and a gifted and expressive violinist, it was his 856 | secret plan to send her to the conservatory next year even though it 857 | would cause great expense that would have to be made up for in some 858 | other way. During Gregor's short periods in town, conversation with 859 | his sister would often turn to the conservatory but it was only ever 860 | mentioned as a lovely dream that could never be realised. Their 861 | parents did not like to hear this innocent talk, but Gregor thought 862 | about it quite hard and decided he would let them know what he 863 | planned with a grand announcement of it on Christmas day. 864 | 865 | That was the sort of totally pointless thing that went through his 866 | mind in his present state, pressed upright against the door and 867 | listening. There were times when he simply became too tired to 868 | continue listening, when his head would fall wearily against the 869 | door and he would pull it up again with a start, as even the 870 | slightest noise he caused would be heard next door and they would 871 | all go silent. "What's that he's doing now", his father would say 872 | after a while, clearly having gone over to the door, and only then 873 | would the interrupted conversation slowly be taken up again. 874 | 875 | When explaining things, his father repeated himself several times, 876 | partly because it was a long time since he had been occupied with 877 | these matters himself and partly because Gregor's mother did not 878 | understand everything the first time. From these repeated explanations 879 | Gregor learned, to his pleasure, that despite all their misfortunes 880 | there was still some money available from the old days. It was not 881 | a lot, but it had not been touched in the meantime and some interest 882 | had accumulated. Besides that, they had not been using up all the 883 | money that Gregor had been bringing home every month, keeping only a 884 | little for himself, so that that, too, had been accumulating. 885 | Behind the door, Gregor nodded with enthusiasm in his pleasure at 886 | this unexpected thrift and caution. He could actually have used 887 | this surplus money to reduce his father's debt to his boss, and the 888 | day when he could have freed himself from that job would have come 889 | much closer, but now it was certainly better the way his father had 890 | done things. 891 | 892 | This money, however, was certainly not enough to enable the family 893 | to live off the interest; it was enough to maintain them for, 894 | perhaps, one or two years, no more. That's to say, it was money 895 | that should not really be touched but set aside for emergencies; 896 | money to live on had to be earned. His father was healthy but old, 897 | and lacking in self confidence. During the five years that he had 898 | not been working - the first holiday in a life that had been full of 899 | strain and no success - he had put on a lot of weight and become 900 | very slow and clumsy. Would Gregor's elderly mother now have to go 901 | and earn money? She suffered from asthma and it was a strain for her 902 | just to move about the home, every other day would be spent 903 | struggling for breath on the sofa by the open window. Would his 904 | sister have to go and earn money? She was still a child of 905 | seventeen, her life up till then had been very enviable, consisting 906 | of wearing nice clothes, sleeping late, helping out in the business, 907 | joining in with a few modest pleasures and most of all playing the 908 | violin. Whenever they began to talk of the need to earn money, 909 | Gregor would always first let go of the door and then throw himself 910 | onto the cool, leather sofa next to it, as he became quite hot with 911 | shame and regret. 912 | 913 | He would often lie there the whole night through, not sleeping a 914 | wink but scratching at the leather for hours on end. Or he might go 915 | to all the effort of pushing a chair to the window, climbing up onto 916 | the sill and, propped up in the chair, leaning on the window to 917 | stare out of it. He had used to feel a great sense of freedom from 918 | doing this, but doing it now was obviously something more remembered 919 | than experienced, as what he actually saw in this way was becoming 920 | less distinct every day, even things that were quite near; he had 921 | used to curse the ever-present view of the hospital across the 922 | street, but now he could not see it at all, and if he had not known 923 | that he lived in Charlottenstrasse, which was a quiet street despite 924 | being in the middle of the city, he could have thought that he was 925 | looking out the window at a barren waste where the grey sky and the 926 | grey earth mingled inseparably. His observant sister only needed to 927 | notice the chair twice before she would always push it back to its 928 | exact position by the window after she had tidied up the room, and 929 | even left the inner pane of the window open from then on. 930 | 931 | If Gregor had only been able to speak to his sister and thank her 932 | for all that she had to do for him it would have been easier for him 933 | to bear it; but as it was it caused him pain. His sister, 934 | naturally, tried as far as possible to pretend there was nothing 935 | burdensome about it, and the longer it went on, of course, the 936 | better she was able to do so, but as time went by Gregor was also 937 | able to see through it all so much better. It had even become very 938 | unpleasant for him, now, whenever she entered the room. No sooner 939 | had she come in than she would quickly close the door as a 940 | precaution so that no-one would have to suffer the view into 941 | Gregor's room, then she would go straight to the window and pull it 942 | hurriedly open almost as if she were suffocating. Even if it was 943 | cold, she would stay at the window breathing deeply for a little 944 | while. She would alarm Gregor twice a day with this running about 945 | and noise making; he would stay under the couch shivering the whole 946 | while, knowing full well that she would certainly have liked to 947 | spare him this ordeal, but it was impossible for her to be in the 948 | same room with him with the windows closed. 949 | 950 | One day, about a month after Gregor's transformation when his sister 951 | no longer had any particular reason to be shocked at his appearance, 952 | she came into the room a little earlier than usual and found him 953 | still staring out the window, motionless, and just where he would be 954 | most horrible. In itself, his sister's not coming into the room 955 | would have been no surprise for Gregor as it would have been 956 | difficult for her to immediately open the window while he was still 957 | there, but not only did she not come in, she went straight back and 958 | closed the door behind her, a stranger would have thought he had 959 | threatened her and tried to bite her. Gregor went straight to hide 960 | himself under the couch, of course, but he had to wait until midday 961 | before his sister came back and she seemed much more uneasy than 962 | usual. It made him realise that she still found his appearance 963 | unbearable and would continue to do so, she probably even had to 964 | overcome the urge to flee when she saw the little bit of him that 965 | protruded from under the couch. One day, in order to spare her even 966 | this sight, he spent four hours carrying the bedsheet over to the 967 | couch on his back and arranged it so that he was completely covered 968 | and his sister would not be able to see him even if she bent down. 969 | If she did not think this sheet was necessary then all she had to do 970 | was take it off again, as it was clear enough that it was no 971 | pleasure for Gregor to cut himself off so completely. She left the 972 | sheet where it was. Gregor even thought he glimpsed a look of 973 | gratitude one time when he carefully looked out from under the sheet 974 | to see how his sister liked the new arrangement. 975 | 976 | For the first fourteen days, Gregor's parents could not bring 977 | themselves to come into the room to see him. He would often hear 978 | them say how they appreciated all the new work his sister was doing 979 | even though, before, they had seen her as a girl who was somewhat 980 | useless and frequently been annoyed with her. But now the two of 981 | them, father and mother, would often both wait outside the door of 982 | Gregor's room while his sister tidied up in there, and as soon as 983 | she went out again she would have to tell them exactly how 984 | everything looked, what Gregor had eaten, how he had behaved this 985 | time and whether, perhaps, any slight improvement could be seen. 986 | His mother also wanted to go in and visit Gregor relatively soon but 987 | his father and sister at first persuaded her against it. Gregor 988 | listened very closely to all this, and approved fully. Later, 989 | though, she had to be held back by force, which made her call out: 990 | "Let me go and see Gregor, he is my unfortunate son! Can't you 991 | understand I have to see him?", and Gregor would think to himself 992 | that maybe it would be better if his mother came in, not every day 993 | of course, but one day a week, perhaps; she could understand 994 | everything much better than his sister who, for all her courage, was 995 | still just a child after all, and really might not have had an 996 | adult's appreciation of the burdensome job she had taken on. 997 | 998 | Gregor's wish to see his mother was soon realised. Out of 999 | consideration for his parents, Gregor wanted to avoid being seen at 1000 | the window during the day, the few square meters of the floor did 1001 | not give him much room to crawl about, it was hard to just lie 1002 | quietly through the night, his food soon stopped giving him any 1003 | pleasure at all, and so, to entertain himself, he got into the habit 1004 | of crawling up and down the walls and ceiling. He was especially 1005 | fond of hanging from the ceiling; it was quite different from lying 1006 | on the floor; he could breathe more freely; his body had a light 1007 | swing to it; and up there, relaxed and almost happy, it might happen 1008 | that he would surprise even himself by letting go of the ceiling and 1009 | landing on the floor with a crash. But now, of course, he had far 1010 | better control of his body than before and, even with a fall as 1011 | great as that, caused himself no damage. Very soon his sister 1012 | noticed Gregor's new way of entertaining himself - he had, after 1013 | all, left traces of the adhesive from his feet as he crawled about - 1014 | and got it into her head to make it as easy as possible for him by 1015 | removing the furniture that got in his way, especially the chest of 1016 | drawers and the desk. Now, this was not something that she would be 1017 | able to do by herself; she did not dare to ask for help from her 1018 | father; the sixteen year old maid had carried on bravely since the 1019 | cook had left but she certainly would not have helped in this, she 1020 | had even asked to be allowed to keep the kitchen locked at all times 1021 | and never to have to open the door unless it was especially 1022 | important; so his sister had no choice but to choose some time when 1023 | Gregor's father was not there and fetch his mother to help her. As 1024 | she approached the room, Gregor could hear his mother express her 1025 | joy, but once at the door she went silent. First, of course, his 1026 | sister came in and looked round to see that everything in the room 1027 | was alright; and only then did she let her mother enter. Gregor had 1028 | hurriedly pulled the sheet down lower over the couch and put more 1029 | folds into it so that everything really looked as if it had just 1030 | been thrown down by chance. Gregor also refrained, this time, from 1031 | spying out from under the sheet; he gave up the chance to see his 1032 | mother until later and was simply glad that she had come. "You can 1033 | come in, he can't be seen", said his sister, obviously leading her 1034 | in by the hand. The old chest of drawers was too heavy for a pair 1035 | of feeble women to be heaving about, but Gregor listened as they 1036 | pushed it from its place, his sister always taking on the heaviest 1037 | part of the work for herself and ignoring her mother's warnings that 1038 | she would strain herself. This lasted a very long time. After 1039 | labouring at it for fifteen minutes or more his mother said it would 1040 | be better to leave the chest where it was, for one thing it was too 1041 | heavy for them to get the job finished before Gregor's father got 1042 | home and leaving it in the middle of the room it would be in his way 1043 | even more, and for another thing it wasn't even sure that taking the 1044 | furniture away would really be any help to him. She thought just 1045 | the opposite; the sight of the bare walls saddened her right to her 1046 | heart; and why wouldn't Gregor feel the same way about it, he'd been 1047 | used to this furniture in his room for a long time and it would make 1048 | him feel abandoned to be in an empty room like that. Then, quietly, 1049 | almost whispering as if wanting Gregor (whose whereabouts she did 1050 | not know) to hear not even the tone of her voice, as she was 1051 | convinced that he did not understand her words, she added "and by 1052 | taking the furniture away, won't it seem like we're showing that 1053 | we've given up all hope of improvement and we're abandoning him to 1054 | cope for himself? I think it'd be best to leave the room exactly the 1055 | way it was before so that when Gregor comes back to us again he'll 1056 | find everything unchanged and he'll be able to forget the time in 1057 | between all the easier". 1058 | 1059 | Hearing these words from his mother made Gregor realise that the 1060 | lack of any direct human communication, along with the monotonous 1061 | life led by the family during these two months, must have made him 1062 | confused - he could think of no other way of explaining to himself 1063 | why he had seriously wanted his room emptied out. Had he really 1064 | wanted to transform his room into a cave, a warm room fitted out 1065 | with the nice furniture he had inherited? That would have let him 1066 | crawl around unimpeded in any direction, but it would also have let 1067 | him quickly forget his past when he had still been human. He had 1068 | come very close to forgetting, and it had only been the voice of his 1069 | mother, unheard for so long, that had shaken him out of it. Nothing 1070 | should be removed; everything had to stay; he could not do without 1071 | the good influence the furniture had on his condition; and if the 1072 | furniture made it difficult for him to crawl about mindlessly that 1073 | was not a loss but a great advantage. 1074 | 1075 | His sister, unfortunately, did not agree; she had become used to the 1076 | idea, not without reason, that she was Gregor's spokesman to his 1077 | parents about the things that concerned him. This meant that his 1078 | mother's advice now was sufficient reason for her to insist on 1079 | removing not only the chest of drawers and the desk, as she had 1080 | thought at first, but all the furniture apart from the all-important 1081 | couch. It was more than childish perversity, of course, or the 1082 | unexpected confidence she had recently acquired, that made her 1083 | insist; she had indeed noticed that Gregor needed a lot of room to 1084 | crawl about in, whereas the furniture, as far as anyone could see, 1085 | was of no use to him at all. Girls of that age, though, do become 1086 | enthusiastic about things and feel they must get their way whenever 1087 | they can. Perhaps this was what tempted Grete to make Gregor's 1088 | situation seem even more shocking than it was so that she could do 1089 | even more for him. Grete would probably be the only one who would 1090 | dare enter a room dominated by Gregor crawling about the bare walls 1091 | by himself. 1092 | 1093 | So she refused to let her mother dissuade her. Gregor's mother 1094 | already looked uneasy in his room, she soon stopped speaking and 1095 | helped Gregor's sister to get the chest of drawers out with what 1096 | strength she had. The chest of drawers was something that Gregor 1097 | could do without if he had to, but the writing desk had to stay. 1098 | Hardly had the two women pushed the chest of drawers, groaning, out 1099 | of the room than Gregor poked his head out from under the couch to 1100 | see what he could do about it. He meant to be as careful and 1101 | considerate as he could, but, unfortunately, it was his mother who 1102 | came back first while Grete in the next room had her arms round the 1103 | chest, pushing and pulling at it from side to side by herself 1104 | without, of course, moving it an inch. His mother was not used to 1105 | the sight of Gregor, he might have made her ill, so Gregor hurried 1106 | backwards to the far end of the couch. In his startlement, though, 1107 | he was not able to prevent the sheet at its front from moving a 1108 | little. It was enough to attract his mother's attention. She stood 1109 | very still, remained there a moment, and then went back out to 1110 | Grete. 1111 | 1112 | Gregor kept trying to assure himself that nothing unusual was 1113 | happening, it was just a few pieces of furniture being moved after 1114 | all, but he soon had to admit that the women going to and fro, their 1115 | little calls to each other, the scraping of the furniture on the 1116 | floor, all these things made him feel as if he were being assailed 1117 | from all sides. With his head and legs pulled in against him and 1118 | his body pressed to the floor, he was forced to admit to himself 1119 | that he could not stand all of this much longer. They were emptying 1120 | his room out; taking away everything that was dear to him; they had 1121 | already taken out the chest containing his fretsaw and other tools; 1122 | now they threatened to remove the writing desk with its place 1123 | clearly worn into the floor, the desk where he had done his homework 1124 | as a business trainee, at high school, even while he had been at 1125 | infant school--he really could not wait any longer to see whether 1126 | the two women's intentions were good. He had nearly forgotten they 1127 | were there anyway, as they were now too tired to say anything while 1128 | they worked and he could only hear their feet as they stepped 1129 | heavily on the floor. 1130 | 1131 | So, while the women were leant against the desk in the other room 1132 | catching their breath, he sallied out, changed direction four times 1133 | not knowing what he should save first before his attention was 1134 | suddenly caught by the picture on the wall - which was already 1135 | denuded of everything else that had been on it - of the lady dressed 1136 | in copious fur. He hurried up onto the picture and pressed himself 1137 | against its glass, it held him firmly and felt good on his hot 1138 | belly. This picture at least, now totally covered by Gregor, would 1139 | certainly be taken away by no-one. He turned his head to face the 1140 | door into the living room so that he could watch the women when they 1141 | came back. 1142 | 1143 | They had not allowed themselves a long rest and came back quite 1144 | soon; Grete had put her arm around her mother and was nearly 1145 | carrying her. "What shall we take now, then?", said Grete and 1146 | looked around. Her eyes met those of Gregor on the wall. Perhaps 1147 | only because her mother was there, she remained calm, bent her face 1148 | to her so that she would not look round and said, albeit hurriedly 1149 | and with a tremor in her voice: "Come on, let's go back in the 1150 | living room for a while?" Gregor could see what Grete had in mind, 1151 | she wanted to take her mother somewhere safe and then chase him down 1152 | from the wall. Well, she could certainly try it! He sat unyielding 1153 | on his picture. He would rather jump at Grete's face. 1154 | 1155 | But Grete's words had made her mother quite worried, she stepped to 1156 | one side, saw the enormous brown patch against the flowers of the 1157 | wallpaper, and before she even realised it was Gregor that she saw 1158 | screamed: "Oh God, oh God!" Arms outstretched, she fell onto the 1159 | couch as if she had given up everything and stayed there immobile. 1160 | "Gregor!" shouted his sister, glowering at him and shaking her fist. 1161 | That was the first word she had spoken to him directly since his 1162 | transformation. She ran into the other room to fetch some kind of 1163 | smelling salts to bring her mother out of her faint; Gregor wanted 1164 | to help too - he could save his picture later, although he stuck 1165 | fast to the glass and had to pull himself off by force; then he, 1166 | too, ran into the next room as if he could advise his sister like in 1167 | the old days; but he had to just stand behind her doing nothing; she 1168 | was looking into various bottles, he startled her when she turned 1169 | round; a bottle fell to the ground and broke; a splinter cut 1170 | Gregor's face, some kind of caustic medicine splashed all over him; 1171 | now, without delaying any longer, Grete took hold of all the bottles 1172 | she could and ran with them in to her mother; she slammed the door 1173 | shut with her foot. So now Gregor was shut out from his mother, 1174 | who, because of him, might be near to death; he could not open the 1175 | door if he did not want to chase his sister away, and she had to 1176 | stay with his mother; there was nothing for him to do but wait; and, 1177 | oppressed with anxiety and self-reproach, he began to crawl about, 1178 | he crawled over everything, walls, furniture, ceiling, and finally 1179 | in his confusion as the whole room began to spin around him he fell 1180 | down into the middle of the dinner table. 1181 | 1182 | He lay there for a while, numb and immobile, all around him it was 1183 | quiet, maybe that was a good sign. Then there was someone at the 1184 | door. The maid, of course, had locked herself in her kitchen so 1185 | that Grete would have to go and answer it. His father had arrived 1186 | home. "What's happened?" were his first words; Grete's appearance 1187 | must have made everything clear to him. She answered him with 1188 | subdued voice, and openly pressed her face into his chest: "Mother's 1189 | fainted, but she's better now. Gregor got out." "Just as I 1190 | expected", said his father, "just as I always said, but you women 1191 | wouldn't listen, would you." It was clear to Gregor that Grete had 1192 | not said enough and that his father took it to mean that something 1193 | bad had happened, that he was responsible for some act of violence. 1194 | That meant Gregor would now have to try to calm his father, as he 1195 | did not have the time to explain things to him even if that had been 1196 | possible. So he fled to the door of his room and pressed himself 1197 | against it so that his father, when he came in from the hall, could 1198 | see straight away that Gregor had the best intentions and would go 1199 | back into his room without delay, that it would not be necessary to 1200 | drive him back but that they had only to open the door and he would 1201 | disappear. 1202 | 1203 | His father, though, was not in the mood to notice subtleties like 1204 | that; "Ah!", he shouted as he came in, sounding as if he were both 1205 | angry and glad at the same time. Gregor drew his head back from the 1206 | door and lifted it towards his father. He really had not imagined 1207 | his father the way he stood there now; of late, with his new habit 1208 | of crawling about, he had neglected to pay attention to what was 1209 | going on the rest of the flat the way he had done before. He really 1210 | ought to have expected things to have changed, but still, still, was 1211 | that really his father? The same tired man as used to be laying 1212 | there entombed in his bed when Gregor came back from his business 1213 | trips, who would receive him sitting in the armchair in his 1214 | nightgown when he came back in the evenings; who was hardly even 1215 | able to stand up but, as a sign of his pleasure, would just raise 1216 | his arms and who, on the couple of times a year when they went for a 1217 | walk together on a Sunday or public holiday wrapped up tightly in 1218 | his overcoat between Gregor and his mother, would always labour his 1219 | way forward a little more slowly than them, who were already walking 1220 | slowly for his sake; who would place his stick down carefully and, 1221 | if he wanted to say something would invariably stop and gather his 1222 | companions around him. He was standing up straight enough now; 1223 | dressed in a smart blue uniform with gold buttons, the sort worn by 1224 | the employees at the banking institute; above the high, stiff collar 1225 | of the coat his strong double-chin emerged; under the bushy 1226 | eyebrows, his piercing, dark eyes looked out fresh and alert; his 1227 | normally unkempt white hair was combed down painfully close to his 1228 | scalp. He took his cap, with its gold monogram from, probably, some 1229 | bank, and threw it in an arc right across the room onto the sofa, 1230 | put his hands in his trouser pockets, pushing back the bottom of his 1231 | long uniform coat, and, with look of determination, walked towards 1232 | Gregor. He probably did not even know himself what he had in mind, 1233 | but nonetheless lifted his feet unusually high. Gregor was amazed 1234 | at the enormous size of the soles of his boots, but wasted no time 1235 | with that - he knew full well, right from the first day of his new 1236 | life, that his father thought it necessary to always be extremely 1237 | strict with him. And so he ran up to his father, stopped when his 1238 | father stopped, scurried forwards again when he moved, even 1239 | slightly. In this way they went round the room several times 1240 | without anything decisive happening, without even giving the 1241 | impression of a chase as everything went so slowly. Gregor remained 1242 | all this time on the floor, largely because he feared his father 1243 | might see it as especially provoking if he fled onto the wall or 1244 | ceiling. Whatever he did, Gregor had to admit that he certainly 1245 | would not be able to keep up this running about for long, as for 1246 | each step his father took he had to carry out countless movements. 1247 | He became noticeably short of breath, even in his earlier life his 1248 | lungs had not been very reliable. Now, as he lurched about in his 1249 | efforts to muster all the strength he could for running he could 1250 | hardly keep his eyes open; his thoughts became too slow for him to 1251 | think of any other way of saving himself than running; he almost 1252 | forgot that the walls were there for him to use although, here, they 1253 | were concealed behind carefully carved furniture full of notches and 1254 | protrusions - then, right beside him, lightly tossed, something flew 1255 | down and rolled in front of him. It was an apple; then another one 1256 | immediately flew at him; Gregor froze in shock; there was no longer 1257 | any point in running as his father had decided to bombard him. He 1258 | had filled his pockets with fruit from the bowl on the sideboard and 1259 | now, without even taking the time for careful aim, threw one apple 1260 | after another. These little, red apples rolled about on the floor, 1261 | knocking into each other as if they had electric motors. An apple 1262 | thrown without much force glanced against Gregor's back and slid off 1263 | without doing any harm. Another one however, immediately following 1264 | it, hit squarely and lodged in his back; Gregor wanted to drag 1265 | himself away, as if he could remove the surprising, the incredible 1266 | pain by changing his position; but he felt as if nailed to the spot 1267 | and spread himself out, all his senses in confusion. The last thing 1268 | he saw was the door of his room being pulled open, his sister was 1269 | screaming, his mother ran out in front of her in her blouse (as his 1270 | sister had taken off some of her clothes after she had fainted to 1271 | make it easier for her to breathe), she ran to his father, her 1272 | skirts unfastened and sliding one after another to the ground, 1273 | stumbling over the skirts she pushed herself to his father, her arms 1274 | around him, uniting herself with him totally - now Gregor lost his 1275 | ability to see anything - her hands behind his father's head begging 1276 | him to spare Gregor's life. 1277 | 1278 | 1279 | 1280 | III 1281 | 1282 | 1283 | No-one dared to remove the apple lodged in Gregor's flesh, so it 1284 | remained there as a visible reminder of his injury. He had suffered 1285 | it there for more than a month, and his condition seemed serious 1286 | enough to remind even his father that Gregor, despite his current 1287 | sad and revolting form, was a family member who could not be treated 1288 | as an enemy. On the contrary, as a family there was a duty to 1289 | swallow any revulsion for him and to be patient, just to be patient. 1290 | 1291 | Because of his injuries, Gregor had lost much of his mobility - 1292 | probably permanently. He had been reduced to the condition of an 1293 | ancient invalid and it took him long, long minutes to crawl across 1294 | his room - crawling over the ceiling was out of the question - but 1295 | this deterioration in his condition was fully (in his opinion) made 1296 | up for by the door to the living room being left open every evening. 1297 | He got into the habit of closely watching it for one or two hours 1298 | before it was opened and then, lying in the darkness of his room 1299 | where he could not be seen from the living room, he could watch the 1300 | family in the light of the dinner table and listen to their 1301 | conversation - with everyone's permission, in a way, and thus quite 1302 | differently from before. 1303 | 1304 | They no longer held the lively conversations of earlier times, of 1305 | course, the ones that Gregor always thought about with longing when 1306 | he was tired and getting into the damp bed in some small hotel room. 1307 | All of them were usually very quiet nowadays. Soon after dinner, 1308 | his father would go to sleep in his chair; his mother and sister 1309 | would urge each other to be quiet; his mother, bent deeply under the 1310 | lamp, would sew fancy underwear for a fashion shop; his sister, who 1311 | had taken a sales job, learned shorthand and French in the evenings 1312 | so that she might be able to get a better position later on. 1313 | Sometimes his father would wake up and say to Gregor's mother 1314 | "you're doing so much sewing again today!", as if he did not know 1315 | that he had been dozing - and then he would go back to sleep again 1316 | while mother and sister would exchange a tired grin. 1317 | 1318 | With a kind of stubbornness, Gregor's father refused to take his 1319 | uniform off even at home; while his nightgown hung unused on its peg 1320 | Gregor's father would slumber where he was, fully dressed, as if 1321 | always ready to serve and expecting to hear the voice of his 1322 | superior even here. The uniform had not been new to start with, but 1323 | as a result of this it slowly became even shabbier despite the 1324 | efforts of Gregor's mother and sister to look after it. Gregor 1325 | would often spend the whole evening looking at all the stains on 1326 | this coat, with its gold buttons always kept polished and shiny, 1327 | while the old man in it would sleep, highly uncomfortable but 1328 | peaceful. 1329 | 1330 | As soon as it struck ten, Gregor's mother would speak gently to his 1331 | father to wake him and try to persuade him to go to bed, as he 1332 | couldn't sleep properly where he was and he really had to get his 1333 | sleep if he was to be up at six to get to work. But since he had 1334 | been in work he had become more obstinate and would always insist on 1335 | staying longer at the table, even though he regularly fell asleep 1336 | and it was then harder than ever to persuade him to exchange the 1337 | chair for his bed. Then, however much mother and sister would 1338 | importune him with little reproaches and warnings he would keep 1339 | slowly shaking his head for a quarter of an hour with his eyes 1340 | closed and refusing to get up. Gregor's mother would tug at his 1341 | sleeve, whisper endearments into his ear, Gregor's sister would 1342 | leave her work to help her mother, but nothing would have any effect 1343 | on him. He would just sink deeper into his chair. Only when the 1344 | two women took him under the arms he would abruptly open his eyes, 1345 | look at them one after the other and say: "What a life! This is what 1346 | peace I get in my old age!" And supported by the two women he would 1347 | lift himself up carefully as if he were carrying the greatest load 1348 | himself, let the women take him to the door, send them off and carry 1349 | on by himself while Gregor's mother would throw down her needle and 1350 | his sister her pen so that they could run after his father and 1351 | continue being of help to him. 1352 | 1353 | Who, in this tired and overworked family, would have had time to 1354 | give more attention to Gregor than was absolutely necessary? The 1355 | household budget became even smaller; so now the maid was dismissed; 1356 | an enormous, thick-boned charwoman with white hair that flapped 1357 | around her head came every morning and evening to do the heaviest 1358 | work; everything else was looked after by Gregor's mother on top of 1359 | the large amount of sewing work she did. Gregor even learned, 1360 | listening to the evening conversation about what price they had 1361 | hoped for, that several items of jewellery belonging to the family 1362 | had been sold, even though both mother and sister had been very fond 1363 | of wearing them at functions and celebrations. But the loudest 1364 | complaint was that although the flat was much too big for their 1365 | present circumstances, they could not move out of it, there was no 1366 | imaginable way of transferring Gregor to the new address. He could 1367 | see quite well, though, that there were more reasons than 1368 | consideration for him that made it difficult for them to move, it 1369 | would have been quite easy to transport him in any suitable crate 1370 | with a few air holes in it; the main thing holding the family back 1371 | from their decision to move was much more to do with their total 1372 | despair, and the thought that they had been struck with a misfortune 1373 | unlike anything experienced by anyone else they knew or were related 1374 | to. They carried out absolutely everything that the world expects 1375 | from poor people, Gregor's father brought bank employees their 1376 | breakfast, his mother sacrificed herself by washing clothes for 1377 | strangers, his sister ran back and forth behind her desk at the 1378 | behest of the customers, but they just did not have the strength to 1379 | do any more. And the injury in Gregor's back began to hurt as much 1380 | as when it was new. After they had come back from taking his father 1381 | to bed Gregor's mother and sister would now leave their work where 1382 | it was and sit close together, cheek to cheek; his mother would 1383 | point to Gregor's room and say "Close that door, Grete", and then, 1384 | when he was in the dark again, they would sit in the next room and 1385 | their tears would mingle, or they would simply sit there staring 1386 | dry-eyed at the table. 1387 | 1388 | Gregor hardly slept at all, either night or day. Sometimes he would 1389 | think of taking over the family's affairs, just like before, the 1390 | next time the door was opened; he had long forgotten about his boss 1391 | and the chief clerk, but they would appear again in his thoughts, 1392 | the salesmen and the apprentices, that stupid teaboy, two or three 1393 | friends from other businesses, one of the chambermaids from a 1394 | provincial hotel, a tender memory that appeared and disappeared 1395 | again, a cashier from a hat shop for whom his attention had been 1396 | serious but too slow, - all of them appeared to him, mixed together 1397 | with strangers and others he had forgotten, but instead of helping 1398 | him and his family they were all of them inaccessible, and he was 1399 | glad when they disappeared. Other times he was not at all in the 1400 | mood to look after his family, he was filled with simple rage about 1401 | the lack of attention he was shown, and although he could think of 1402 | nothing he would have wanted, he made plans of how he could get into 1403 | the pantry where he could take all the things he was entitled to, 1404 | even if he was not hungry. Gregor's sister no longer thought about 1405 | how she could please him but would hurriedly push some food or other 1406 | into his room with her foot before she rushed out to work in the 1407 | morning and at midday, and in the evening she would sweep it away 1408 | again with the broom, indifferent as to whether it had been eaten or 1409 | - more often than not - had been left totally untouched. She still 1410 | cleared up the room in the evening, but now she could not have been 1411 | any quicker about it. Smears of dirt were left on the walls, here 1412 | and there were little balls of dust and filth. At first, Gregor 1413 | went into one of the worst of these places when his sister arrived 1414 | as a reproach to her, but he could have stayed there for weeks 1415 | without his sister doing anything about it; she could see the dirt 1416 | as well as he could but she had simply decided to leave him to it. 1417 | At the same time she became touchy in a way that was quite new for 1418 | her and which everyone in the family understood - cleaning up 1419 | Gregor's room was for her and her alone. Gregor's mother did once 1420 | thoroughly clean his room, and needed to use several bucketfuls of 1421 | water to do it - although that much dampness also made Gregor ill 1422 | and he lay flat on the couch, bitter and immobile. But his mother 1423 | was to be punished still more for what she had done, as hardly had 1424 | his sister arrived home in the evening than she noticed the change 1425 | in Gregor's room and, highly aggrieved, ran back into the living 1426 | room where, despite her mothers raised and imploring hands, she 1427 | broke into convulsive tears. Her father, of course, was startled 1428 | out of his chair and the two parents looked on astonished and 1429 | helpless; then they, too, became agitated; Gregor's father, standing 1430 | to the right of his mother, accused her of not leaving the cleaning 1431 | of Gregor's room to his sister; from her left, Gregor's sister 1432 | screamed at her that she was never to clean Gregor's room again; 1433 | while his mother tried to draw his father, who was beside himself 1434 | with anger, into the bedroom; his sister, quaking with tears, 1435 | thumped on the table with her small fists; and Gregor hissed in 1436 | anger that no-one had even thought of closing the door to save him 1437 | the sight of this and all its noise. 1438 | 1439 | Gregor's sister was exhausted from going out to work, and looking 1440 | after Gregor as she had done before was even more work for her, but 1441 | even so his mother ought certainly not to have taken her place. 1442 | Gregor, on the other hand, ought not to be neglected. Now, though, 1443 | the charwoman was here. This elderly widow, with a robust bone 1444 | structure that made her able to withstand the hardest of things in 1445 | her long life, wasn't really repelled by Gregor. Just by chance one 1446 | day, rather than any real curiosity, she opened the door to Gregor's 1447 | room and found herself face to face with him. He was taken totally 1448 | by surprise, no-one was chasing him but he began to rush to and fro 1449 | while she just stood there in amazement with her hands crossed in 1450 | front of her. From then on she never failed to open the door 1451 | slightly every evening and morning and look briefly in on him. At 1452 | first she would call to him as she did so with words that she 1453 | probably considered friendly, such as "come on then, you old 1454 | dung-beetle!", or "look at the old dung-beetle there!" Gregor never 1455 | responded to being spoken to in that way, but just remained where he 1456 | was without moving as if the door had never even been opened. If 1457 | only they had told this charwoman to clean up his room every day 1458 | instead of letting her disturb him for no reason whenever she felt 1459 | like it! One day, early in the morning while a heavy rain struck the 1460 | windowpanes, perhaps indicating that spring was coming, she began to 1461 | speak to him in that way once again. Gregor was so resentful of it 1462 | that he started to move toward her, he was slow and infirm, but it 1463 | was like a kind of attack. Instead of being afraid, the charwoman 1464 | just lifted up one of the chairs from near the door and stood there 1465 | with her mouth open, clearly intending not to close her mouth until 1466 | the chair in her hand had been slammed down into Gregor's back. 1467 | "Aren't you coming any closer, then?", she asked when Gregor turned 1468 | round again, and she calmly put the chair back in the corner. 1469 | 1470 | Gregor had almost entirely stopped eating. Only if he happened to 1471 | find himself next to the food that had been prepared for him he 1472 | might take some of it into his mouth to play with it, leave it there 1473 | a few hours and then, more often than not, spit it out again. At 1474 | first he thought it was distress at the state of his room that 1475 | stopped him eating, but he had soon got used to the changes made 1476 | there. They had got into the habit of putting things into this room 1477 | that they had no room for anywhere else, and there were now many 1478 | such things as one of the rooms in the flat had been rented out to 1479 | three gentlemen. These earnest gentlemen - all three of them had 1480 | full beards, as Gregor learned peering through the crack in the door 1481 | one day - were painfully insistent on things' being tidy. This 1482 | meant not only in their own room but, since they had taken a room in 1483 | this establishment, in the entire flat and especially in the 1484 | kitchen. Unnecessary clutter was something they could not tolerate, 1485 | especially if it was dirty. They had moreover brought most of their 1486 | own furnishings and equipment with them. For this reason, many 1487 | things had become superfluous which, although they could not be 1488 | sold, the family did not wish to discard. All these things found 1489 | their way into Gregor's room. The dustbins from the kitchen found 1490 | their way in there too. The charwoman was always in a hurry, and 1491 | anything she couldn't use for the time being she would just chuck in 1492 | there. He, fortunately, would usually see no more than the object 1493 | and the hand that held it. The woman most likely meant to fetch the 1494 | things back out again when she had time and the opportunity, or to 1495 | throw everything out in one go, but what actually happened was that 1496 | they were left where they landed when they had first been thrown 1497 | unless Gregor made his way through the junk and moved it somewhere 1498 | else. At first he moved it because, with no other room free where 1499 | he could crawl about, he was forced to, but later on he came to 1500 | enjoy it although moving about in that way left him sad and tired to 1501 | death, and he would remain immobile for hours afterwards. 1502 | 1503 | The gentlemen who rented the room would sometimes take their evening 1504 | meal at home in the living room that was used by everyone, and so 1505 | the door to this room was often kept closed in the evening. But 1506 | Gregor found it easy to give up having the door open, he had, after 1507 | all, often failed to make use of it when it was open and, without 1508 | the family having noticed it, lain in his room in its darkest 1509 | corner. One time, though, the charwoman left the door to the living 1510 | room slightly open, and it remained open when the gentlemen who 1511 | rented the room came in in the evening and the light was put on. 1512 | They sat up at the table where, formerly, Gregor had taken his meals 1513 | with his father and mother, they unfolded the serviettes and picked 1514 | up their knives and forks. Gregor's mother immediately appeared in 1515 | the doorway with a dish of meat and soon behind her came his sister 1516 | with a dish piled high with potatoes. The food was steaming, and 1517 | filled the room with its smell. The gentlemen bent over the dishes 1518 | set in front of them as if they wanted to test the food before 1519 | eating it, and the gentleman in the middle, who seemed to count as 1520 | an authority for the other two, did indeed cut off a piece of meat 1521 | while it was still in its dish, clearly wishing to establish whether 1522 | it was sufficiently cooked or whether it should be sent back to the 1523 | kitchen. It was to his satisfaction, and Gregor's mother and 1524 | sister, who had been looking on anxiously, began to breathe again 1525 | and smiled. 1526 | 1527 | The family themselves ate in the kitchen. Nonetheless, Gregor's 1528 | father came into the living room before he went into the kitchen, 1529 | bowed once with his cap in his hand and did his round of the table. 1530 | The gentlemen stood as one, and mumbled something into their beards. 1531 | Then, once they were alone, they ate in near perfect silence. It 1532 | seemed remarkable to Gregor that above all the various noises of 1533 | eating their chewing teeth could still be heard, as if they had 1534 | wanted to show Gregor that you need teeth in order to eat and it was 1535 | not possible to perform anything with jaws that are toothless 1536 | however nice they might be. "I'd like to eat something", said 1537 | Gregor anxiously, "but not anything like they're eating. They do 1538 | feed themselves. And here I am, dying!" 1539 | 1540 | Throughout all this time, Gregor could not remember having heard the 1541 | violin being played, but this evening it began to be heard from the 1542 | kitchen. The three gentlemen had already finished their meal, the 1543 | one in the middle had produced a newspaper, given a page to each of 1544 | the others, and now they leant back in their chairs reading them and 1545 | smoking. When the violin began playing they became attentive, stood 1546 | up and went on tip-toe over to the door of the hallway where they 1547 | stood pressed against each other. Someone must have heard them in 1548 | the kitchen, as Gregor's father called out: "Is the playing perhaps 1549 | unpleasant for the gentlemen? We can stop it straight away." "On 1550 | the contrary", said the middle gentleman, "would the young lady not 1551 | like to come in and play for us here in the room, where it is, after 1552 | all, much more cosy and comfortable?" "Oh yes, we'd love to", 1553 | called back Gregor's father as if he had been the violin player 1554 | himself. The gentlemen stepped back into the room and waited. 1555 | Gregor's father soon appeared with the music stand, his mother with 1556 | the music and his sister with the violin. She calmly prepared 1557 | everything for her to begin playing; his parents, who had never 1558 | rented a room out before and therefore showed an exaggerated 1559 | courtesy towards the three gentlemen, did not even dare to sit on 1560 | their own chairs; his father leant against the door with his right 1561 | hand pushed in between two buttons on his uniform coat; his mother, 1562 | though, was offered a seat by one of the gentlemen and sat - leaving 1563 | the chair where the gentleman happened to have placed it - out of 1564 | the way in a corner. 1565 | 1566 | His sister began to play; father and mother paid close attention, 1567 | one on each side, to the movements of her hands. Drawn in by the 1568 | playing, Gregor had dared to come forward a little and already had 1569 | his head in the living room. Before, he had taken great pride in 1570 | how considerate he was but now it hardly occurred to him that he had 1571 | become so thoughtless about the others. What's more, there was now 1572 | all the more reason to keep himself hidden as he was covered in the 1573 | dust that lay everywhere in his room and flew up at the slightest 1574 | movement; he carried threads, hairs, and remains of food about on 1575 | his back and sides; he was much too indifferent to everything now to 1576 | lay on his back and wipe himself on the carpet like he had used to 1577 | do several times a day. And despite this condition, he was not too 1578 | shy to move forward a little onto the immaculate floor of the living 1579 | room. 1580 | 1581 | No-one noticed him, though. The family was totally preoccupied with 1582 | the violin playing; at first, the three gentlemen had put their 1583 | hands in their pockets and come up far too close behind the music 1584 | stand to look at all the notes being played, and they must have 1585 | disturbed Gregor's sister, but soon, in contrast with the family, 1586 | they withdrew back to the window with their heads sunk and talking 1587 | to each other at half volume, and they stayed by the window while 1588 | Gregor's father observed them anxiously. It really now seemed very 1589 | obvious that they had expected to hear some beautiful or 1590 | entertaining violin playing but had been disappointed, that they had 1591 | had enough of the whole performance and it was only now out of 1592 | politeness that they allowed their peace to be disturbed. It was 1593 | especially unnerving, the way they all blew the smoke from their 1594 | cigarettes upwards from their mouth and noses. Yet Gregor's sister 1595 | was playing so beautifully. Her face was leant to one side, 1596 | following the lines of music with a careful and melancholy 1597 | expression. Gregor crawled a little further forward, keeping his 1598 | head close to the ground so that he could meet her eyes if the 1599 | chance came. Was he an animal if music could captivate him so? It 1600 | seemed to him that he was being shown the way to the unknown 1601 | nourishment he had been yearning for. He was determined to make his 1602 | way forward to his sister and tug at her skirt to show her she might 1603 | come into his room with her violin, as no-one appreciated her 1604 | playing here as much as he would. He never wanted to let her out of 1605 | his room, not while he lived, anyway; his shocking appearance 1606 | should, for once, be of some use to him; he wanted to be at every 1607 | door of his room at once to hiss and spit at the attackers; his 1608 | sister should not be forced to stay with him, though, but stay of 1609 | her own free will; she would sit beside him on the couch with her 1610 | ear bent down to him while he told her how he had always intended to 1611 | send her to the conservatory, how he would have told everyone about 1612 | it last Christmas - had Christmas really come and gone already? - if 1613 | this misfortune hadn't got in the way, and refuse to let anyone 1614 | dissuade him from it. On hearing all this, his sister would break 1615 | out in tears of emotion, and Gregor would climb up to her shoulder 1616 | and kiss her neck, which, since she had been going out to work, she 1617 | had kept free without any necklace or collar. 1618 | 1619 | "Mr. Samsa!", shouted the middle gentleman to Gregor's father, 1620 | pointing, without wasting any more words, with his forefinger at 1621 | Gregor as he slowly moved forward. The violin went silent, the 1622 | middle of the three gentlemen first smiled at his two friends, 1623 | shaking his head, and then looked back at Gregor. His father seemed 1624 | to think it more important to calm the three gentlemen before 1625 | driving Gregor out, even though they were not at all upset and 1626 | seemed to think Gregor was more entertaining than the violin playing 1627 | had been. He rushed up to them with his arms spread out and 1628 | attempted to drive them back into their room at the same time as 1629 | trying to block their view of Gregor with his body. Now they did 1630 | become a little annoyed, and it was not clear whether it was his 1631 | father's behaviour that annoyed them or the dawning realisation that 1632 | they had had a neighbour like Gregor in the next room without 1633 | knowing it. They asked Gregor's father for explanations, raised 1634 | their arms like he had, tugged excitedly at their beards and moved 1635 | back towards their room only very slowly. Meanwhile Gregor's sister 1636 | had overcome the despair she had fallen into when her playing was 1637 | suddenly interrupted. She had let her hands drop and let violin and 1638 | bow hang limply for a while but continued to look at the music as if 1639 | still playing, but then she suddenly pulled herself together, lay 1640 | the instrument on her mother's lap who still sat laboriously 1641 | struggling for breath where she was, and ran into the next room 1642 | which, under pressure from her father, the three gentlemen were more 1643 | quickly moving toward. Under his sister's experienced hand, the 1644 | pillows and covers on the beds flew up and were put into order and 1645 | she had already finished making the beds and slipped out again 1646 | before the three gentlemen had reached the room. Gregor's father 1647 | seemed so obsessed with what he was doing that he forgot all the 1648 | respect he owed to his tenants. He urged them and pressed them 1649 | until, when he was already at the door of the room, the middle of 1650 | the three gentlemen shouted like thunder and stamped his foot and 1651 | thereby brought Gregor's father to a halt. "I declare here and 1652 | now", he said, raising his hand and glancing at Gregor's mother and 1653 | sister to gain their attention too, "that with regard to the 1654 | repugnant conditions that prevail in this flat and with this family" 1655 | - here he looked briefly but decisively at the floor - "I give 1656 | immediate notice on my room. For the days that I have been living 1657 | here I will, of course, pay nothing at all, on the contrary I will 1658 | consider whether to proceed with some kind of action for damages 1659 | from you, and believe me it would be very easy to set out the 1660 | grounds for such an action." He was silent and looked straight 1661 | ahead as if waiting for something. And indeed, his two friends 1662 | joined in with the words: "And we also give immediate notice." With 1663 | that, he took hold of the door handle and slammed the door. 1664 | 1665 | Gregor's father staggered back to his seat, feeling his way with his 1666 | hands, and fell into it; it looked as if he was stretching himself 1667 | out for his usual evening nap but from the uncontrolled way his head 1668 | kept nodding it could be seen that he was not sleeping at all. 1669 | Throughout all this, Gregor had lain still where the three gentlemen 1670 | had first seen him. His disappointment at the failure of his plan, 1671 | and perhaps also because he was weak from hunger, made it impossible 1672 | for him to move. He was sure that everyone would turn on him any 1673 | moment, and he waited. He was not even startled out of this state 1674 | when the violin on his mother's lap fell from her trembling fingers 1675 | and landed loudly on the floor. 1676 | 1677 | "Father, Mother", said his sister, hitting the table with her hand 1678 | as introduction, "we can't carry on like this. Maybe you can't see 1679 | it, but I can. I don't want to call this monster my brother, all I 1680 | can say is: we have to try and get rid of it. We've done all that's 1681 | humanly possible to look after it and be patient, I don't think 1682 | anyone could accuse us of doing anything wrong." 1683 | 1684 | "She's absolutely right", said Gregor's father to himself. His 1685 | mother, who still had not had time to catch her breath, began to 1686 | cough dully, her hand held out in front of her and a deranged 1687 | expression in her eyes. 1688 | 1689 | Gregor's sister rushed to his mother and put her hand on her 1690 | forehead. Her words seemed to give Gregor's father some more 1691 | definite ideas. He sat upright, played with his uniform cap between 1692 | the plates left by the three gentlemen after their meal, and 1693 | occasionally looked down at Gregor as he lay there immobile. 1694 | 1695 | "We have to try and get rid of it", said Gregor's sister, now 1696 | speaking only to her father, as her mother was too occupied with 1697 | coughing to listen, "it'll be the death of both of you, I can see it 1698 | coming. We can't all work as hard as we have to and then come home 1699 | to be tortured like this, we can't endure it. I can't endure it any 1700 | more." And she broke out so heavily in tears that they flowed down 1701 | the face of her mother, and she wiped them away with mechanical hand 1702 | movements. 1703 | 1704 | "My child", said her father with sympathy and obvious understanding, 1705 | "what are we to do?" 1706 | 1707 | His sister just shrugged her shoulders as a sign of the helplessness 1708 | and tears that had taken hold of her, displacing her earlier 1709 | certainty. 1710 | 1711 | "If he could just understand us", said his father almost as a 1712 | question; his sister shook her hand vigorously through her tears as 1713 | a sign that of that there was no question. 1714 | 1715 | "If he could just understand us", repeated Gregor's father, closing 1716 | his eyes in acceptance of his sister's certainty that that was quite 1717 | impossible, "then perhaps we could come to some kind of arrangement 1718 | with him. But as it is ..." 1719 | 1720 | "It's got to go", shouted his sister, "that's the only way, Father. 1721 | You've got to get rid of the idea that that's Gregor. We've only 1722 | harmed ourselves by believing it for so long. How can that be 1723 | Gregor? If it were Gregor he would have seen long ago that it's not 1724 | possible for human beings to live with an animal like that and he 1725 | would have gone of his own free will. We wouldn't have a brother 1726 | any more, then, but we could carry on with our lives and remember 1727 | him with respect. As it is this animal is persecuting us, it's 1728 | driven out our tenants, it obviously wants to take over the whole 1729 | flat and force us to sleep on the streets. Father, look, just 1730 | look", she suddenly screamed, "he's starting again!" In her alarm, 1731 | which was totally beyond Gregor's comprehension, his sister even 1732 | abandoned his mother as she pushed herself vigorously out of her 1733 | chair as if more willing to sacrifice her own mother than stay 1734 | anywhere near Gregor. She rushed over to behind her father, who had 1735 | become excited merely because she was and stood up half raising his 1736 | hands in front of Gregor's sister as if to protect her. 1737 | 1738 | But Gregor had had no intention of frightening anyone, least of all 1739 | his sister. All he had done was begin to turn round so that he 1740 | could go back into his room, although that was in itself quite 1741 | startling as his pain-wracked condition meant that turning round 1742 | required a great deal of effort and he was using his head to help 1743 | himself do it, repeatedly raising it and striking it against the 1744 | floor. He stopped and looked round. They seemed to have realised 1745 | his good intention and had only been alarmed briefly. Now they all 1746 | looked at him in unhappy silence. His mother lay in her chair with 1747 | her legs stretched out and pressed against each other, her eyes 1748 | nearly closed with exhaustion; his sister sat next to his father 1749 | with her arms around his neck. 1750 | 1751 | "Maybe now they'll let me turn round", thought Gregor and went back 1752 | to work. He could not help panting loudly with the effort and had 1753 | sometimes to stop and take a rest. No-one was making him rush any 1754 | more, everything was left up to him. As soon as he had finally 1755 | finished turning round he began to move straight ahead. He was 1756 | amazed at the great distance that separated him from his room, and 1757 | could not understand how he had covered that distance in his weak 1758 | state a little while before and almost without noticing it. He 1759 | concentrated on crawling as fast as he could and hardly noticed that 1760 | there was not a word, not any cry, from his family to distract him. 1761 | He did not turn his head until he had reached the doorway. He did 1762 | not turn it all the way round as he felt his neck becoming stiff, 1763 | but it was nonetheless enough to see that nothing behind him had 1764 | changed, only his sister had stood up. With his last glance he saw 1765 | that his mother had now fallen completely asleep. 1766 | 1767 | He was hardly inside his room before the door was hurriedly shut, 1768 | bolted and locked. The sudden noise behind Gregor so startled him 1769 | that his little legs collapsed under him. It was his sister who had 1770 | been in so much of a rush. She had been standing there waiting and 1771 | sprung forward lightly, Gregor had not heard her coming at all, and 1772 | as she turned the key in the lock she said loudly to her parents "At 1773 | last!". 1774 | 1775 | "What now, then?", Gregor asked himself as he looked round in the 1776 | darkness. He soon made the discovery that he could no longer move 1777 | at all. This was no surprise to him, it seemed rather that being 1778 | able to actually move around on those spindly little legs until then 1779 | was unnatural. He also felt relatively comfortable. It is true 1780 | that his entire body was aching, but the pain seemed to be slowly 1781 | getting weaker and weaker and would finally disappear altogether. 1782 | He could already hardly feel the decayed apple in his back or the 1783 | inflamed area around it, which was entirely covered in white dust. 1784 | He thought back of his family with emotion and love. If it was 1785 | possible, he felt that he must go away even more strongly than his 1786 | sister. He remained in this state of empty and peaceful rumination 1787 | until he heard the clock tower strike three in the morning. He 1788 | watched as it slowly began to get light everywhere outside the 1789 | window too. Then, without his willing it, his head sank down 1790 | completely, and his last breath flowed weakly from his nostrils. 1791 | 1792 | When the cleaner came in early in the morning - they'd often asked 1793 | her not to keep slamming the doors but with her strength and in her 1794 | hurry she still did, so that everyone in the flat knew when she'd 1795 | arrived and from then on it was impossible to sleep in peace - she 1796 | made her usual brief look in on Gregor and at first found nothing 1797 | special. She thought he was laying there so still on purpose, 1798 | playing the martyr; she attributed all possible understanding to 1799 | him. She happened to be holding the long broom in her hand, so she 1800 | tried to tickle Gregor with it from the doorway. When she had no 1801 | success with that she tried to make a nuisance of herself and poked 1802 | at him a little, and only when she found she could shove him across 1803 | the floor with no resistance at all did she start to pay attention. 1804 | She soon realised what had really happened, opened her eyes wide, 1805 | whistled to herself, but did not waste time to yank open the bedroom 1806 | doors and shout loudly into the darkness of the bedrooms: "Come and 1807 | 'ave a look at this, it's dead, just lying there, stone dead!" 1808 | 1809 | Mr. and Mrs. Samsa sat upright there in their marriage bed and had 1810 | to make an effort to get over the shock caused by the cleaner before 1811 | they could grasp what she was saying. But then, each from his own 1812 | side, they hurried out of bed. Mr. Samsa threw the blanket over his 1813 | shoulders, Mrs. Samsa just came out in her nightdress; and that is 1814 | how they went into Gregor's room. On the way they opened the door 1815 | to the living room where Grete had been sleeping since the three 1816 | gentlemen had moved in; she was fully dressed as if she had never 1817 | been asleep, and the paleness of her face seemed to confirm this. 1818 | "Dead?", asked Mrs. Samsa, looking at the charwoman enquiringly, 1819 | even though she could have checked for herself and could have known 1820 | it even without checking. "That's what I said", replied the 1821 | cleaner, and to prove it she gave Gregor's body another shove with 1822 | the broom, sending it sideways across the floor. Mrs. Samsa made a 1823 | movement as if she wanted to hold back the broom, but did not 1824 | complete it. "Now then", said Mr. Samsa, "let's give thanks to God 1825 | for that". He crossed himself, and the three women followed his 1826 | example. Grete, who had not taken her eyes from the corpse, said: 1827 | "Just look how thin he was. He didn't eat anything for so long. 1828 | The food came out again just the same as when it went in". Gregor's 1829 | body was indeed completely dried up and flat, they had not seen it 1830 | until then, but now he was not lifted up on his little legs, nor did 1831 | he do anything to make them look away. 1832 | 1833 | "Grete, come with us in here for a little while", said Mrs. Samsa 1834 | with a pained smile, and Grete followed her parents into the bedroom 1835 | but not without looking back at the body. The cleaner shut the door 1836 | and opened the window wide. Although it was still early in the 1837 | morning the fresh air had something of warmth mixed in with it. It 1838 | was already the end of March, after all. 1839 | 1840 | The three gentlemen stepped out of their room and looked round in 1841 | amazement for their breakfasts; they had been forgotten about. 1842 | "Where is our breakfast?", the middle gentleman asked the cleaner 1843 | irritably. She just put her finger on her lips and made a quick and 1844 | silent sign to the men that they might like to come into Gregor's 1845 | room. They did so, and stood around Gregor's corpse with their 1846 | hands in the pockets of their well-worn coats. It was now quite 1847 | light in the room. 1848 | 1849 | Then the door of the bedroom opened and Mr. Samsa appeared in his 1850 | uniform with his wife on one arm and his daughter on the other. All 1851 | of them had been crying a little; Grete now and then pressed her 1852 | face against her father's arm. 1853 | 1854 | "Leave my home. Now!", said Mr. Samsa, indicating the door and 1855 | without letting the women from him. "What do you mean?", asked the 1856 | middle of the three gentlemen somewhat disconcerted, and he smiled 1857 | sweetly. The other two held their hands behind their backs and 1858 | continually rubbed them together in gleeful anticipation of a loud 1859 | quarrel which could only end in their favour. "I mean just what I 1860 | said", answered Mr. Samsa, and, with his two companions, went in a 1861 | straight line towards the man. At first, he stood there still, 1862 | looking at the ground as if the contents of his head were 1863 | rearranging themselves into new positions. "Alright, we'll go 1864 | then", he said, and looked up at Mr. Samsa as if he had been 1865 | suddenly overcome with humility and wanted permission again from 1866 | Mr. Samsa for his decision. Mr. Samsa merely opened his eyes wide 1867 | and briefly nodded to him several times. At that, and without 1868 | delay, the man actually did take long strides into the front 1869 | hallway; his two friends had stopped rubbing their hands some time 1870 | before and had been listening to what was being said. Now they 1871 | jumped off after their friend as if taken with a sudden fear that 1872 | Mr. Samsa might go into the hallway in front of them and break the 1873 | connection with their leader. Once there, all three took their hats 1874 | from the stand, took their sticks from the holder, bowed without a 1875 | word and left the premises. Mr. Samsa and the two women followed 1876 | them out onto the landing; but they had had no reason to mistrust 1877 | the men's intentions and as they leaned over the landing they saw how 1878 | the three gentlemen made slow but steady progress down the many 1879 | steps. As they turned the corner on each floor they disappeared and 1880 | would reappear a few moments later; the further down they went, the 1881 | more that the Samsa family lost interest in them; when a butcher's 1882 | boy, proud of posture with his tray on his head, passed them on his 1883 | way up and came nearer than they were, Mr. Samsa and the women came 1884 | away from the landing and went, as if relieved, back into the flat. 1885 | 1886 | They decided the best way to make use of that day was for relaxation 1887 | and to go for a walk; not only had they earned a break from work but 1888 | they were in serious need of it. So they sat at the table and wrote 1889 | three letters of excusal, Mr. Samsa to his employers, Mrs. Samsa 1890 | to her contractor and Grete to her principal. The cleaner came in 1891 | while they were writing to tell them she was going, she'd finished 1892 | her work for that morning. The three of them at first just nodded 1893 | without looking up from what they were writing, and it was only when 1894 | the cleaner still did not seem to want to leave that they looked up 1895 | in irritation. "Well?", asked Mr. Samsa. The charwoman stood in 1896 | the doorway with a smile on her face as if she had some tremendous 1897 | good news to report, but would only do it if she was clearly asked 1898 | to. The almost vertical little ostrich feather on her hat, which 1899 | had been a source of irritation to Mr. Samsa all the time she had 1900 | been working for them, swayed gently in all directions. "What is it 1901 | you want then?", asked Mrs. Samsa, whom the cleaner had the most 1902 | respect for. "Yes", she answered, and broke into a friendly laugh 1903 | that made her unable to speak straight away, "well then, that thing 1904 | in there, you needn't worry about how you're going to get rid of it. 1905 | That's all been sorted out." Mrs. Samsa and Grete bent down over 1906 | their letters as if intent on continuing with what they were 1907 | writing; Mr. Samsa saw that the cleaner wanted to start describing 1908 | everything in detail but, with outstretched hand, he made it quite 1909 | clear that she was not to. So, as she was prevented from telling 1910 | them all about it, she suddenly remembered what a hurry she was in 1911 | and, clearly peeved, called out "Cheerio then, everyone", turned 1912 | round sharply and left, slamming the door terribly as she went. 1913 | 1914 | "Tonight she gets sacked", said Mr. Samsa, but he received no reply 1915 | from either his wife or his daughter as the charwoman seemed to have 1916 | destroyed the peace they had only just gained. They got up and went 1917 | over to the window where they remained with their arms around each 1918 | other. Mr. Samsa twisted round in his chair to look at them and sat 1919 | there watching for a while. Then he called out: "Come here, then. 1920 | Let's forget about all that old stuff, shall we. Come and give me a 1921 | bit of attention". The two women immediately did as he said, 1922 | hurrying over to him where they kissed him and hugged him and then 1923 | they quickly finished their letters. 1924 | 1925 | After that, the three of them left the flat together, which was 1926 | something they had not done for months, and took the tram out to the 1927 | open country outside the town. They had the tram, filled with warm 1928 | sunshine, all to themselves. Leant back comfortably on their seats, 1929 | they discussed their prospects and found that on closer examination 1930 | they were not at all bad - until then they had never asked each 1931 | other about their work but all three had jobs which were very good 1932 | and held particularly good promise for the future. The greatest 1933 | improvement for the time being, of course, would be achieved quite 1934 | easily by moving house; what they needed now was a flat that was 1935 | smaller and cheaper than the current one which had been chosen by 1936 | Gregor, one that was in a better location and, most of all, more 1937 | practical. All the time, Grete was becoming livelier. With all the 1938 | worry they had been having of late her cheeks had become pale, but, 1939 | while they were talking, Mr. and Mrs. Samsa were struck, almost 1940 | simultaneously, with the thought of how their daughter was 1941 | blossoming into a well built and beautiful young lady. They became 1942 | quieter. Just from each other's glance and almost without knowing 1943 | it they agreed that it would soon be time to find a good man for 1944 | her. And, as if in confirmation of their new dreams and good 1945 | intentions, as soon as they reached their destination Grete was the 1946 | first to get up and stretch out her young body. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------