1 - The Metamorphosis

Episode Transcript

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This is a LibriVox recording. AllLibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer,please visit LibriVox dot org. The Metamorphosis
by Franz Kafka, translated by IanJohnstone, read for LibriVox by David Barnes,

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London, November two thousand and six. One one morning, as Gregor
Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had
been changed into a monstrous, verminousbug. He lay on his armour hard

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back and saw, as he liftedhis head up a little, his brown
arched abdomen divided up into rigid bowllike sections. From this height, the
blanket, just about ready to slideoff completely, could hardly stay in place.

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His numerous legs, pitifully thin incomparison to the rest of his circumference,
flickered helplessly before his eyes. What'shappened to me? He thought?
It was no dream. His room, a proper room for a human being,
only somewhat too small, lay quietlybetween the four well known walls.

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Above the table on which an unpackedcollection of sample cloth goods was spread out.
Samsa was a traveling salesman hung thepicture, which he had cut out
of an illustrated magazine a little whileago, and set in a pretty gilt
frame. It was a picture ofa woman with a fur hat and a
fur boa. She sat erect there, lifting up in the direction of the

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viewer a solid fur muff into whichher entire forearm had disappeared. Greggor's glance
then turned to the window. Thedreary weather the rain drops were falling audibly
down on the metal window ledge madehim quite melancholy. Why don't I keep

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sleeping for a little while longer andforget all this foolishness, he thought.
But this was entirely impractical, forhe was used to sleeping on his right
side, and in his present state, he couldn't get himself into this position.
No matter how hard he threw himselfon to his right side, he

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always rolled again on to his back. He must have tried it a hundred
times, closing his eyes so thathe would not have to see the wriggling
legs, and gave up only whenhe began to feel a light, dull
pain in his side, which hehad never felt before. Oh God,
he thought, what a demanding jobI have chosen. Day in day out

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on the road. The stresses ofselling are much greater than the work going
on at head office. And inaddition to that, I have to cope
with the problems of traveling, theworries about train connections, irregular, bad
food, temporary and constantly changing humanrelationships which never come from the heart.

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To hell with it all, hefelt a slight itching on the top of
his abdomen. He slowly pushed himselfon his back closer to the bed post
so that he could lift his headmore easily found the itchy part, which
was entirely covered with small white spots. He didn't know what to make of

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them, and wanted to fill theplace with a leg, but he retracted
it immediately, for the contact feltlike a cold shower all over him.
He slid back again into his earlierposition. This getting up early, he
thought, makes a man quite idiotic. A man must have his sleep.

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Other traveling salesmen live like harem women. For instance, when I come back
to the inn during the course ofthe morning to write up the necessary orders,
these gentlemen are just sitting down tobreakfast. If I were to try
that with my boss, i'd bethrown out on the spot. Still,
who knows whether that mightn't be reallygood for me. If I didn't hold

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back for my parents sake, i'dhave quit ages ago. I would have
gone to the boss and told himjust what I think from the bottom of
my heart. He would have fallenright off his desk. How weird it
is to sit up at that deskand talk down to the employee from way
up there. The boss has troublehearing, so the employee has to step

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up quite close to him. Anyway, I haven't completely given up that hope
yet. Once I've got together themoney to pay off my parents debt to
him, that should take another fiveor six years, I'll do it for
sure. Then I'll make the bigbreak In any case, Right now,

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I have to get up. Mytrain leaves at five o'clock. He looked
over at the alarm clock ticking awayby the chest of drawers. Good god,
he thought it was half past six, and the hands were going quietly
on. It was past the halfhour, already nearly quarter two. Could

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the alarm have failed to ring?One saw from the bed that it was
properly set for four o'clock. Certainlyit had rung, yes, but was
it to sleep through that noise whichmade the furniture shake. Now it's true
he hadn't slept quietly, but evidentlyhe'd slept all the more deeply. Still,

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what should he do now? Thenext train left at seven o'clock.
To catch that one, he wouldhave to go in a mad rush.
The sample collection wasn't packed up yet, and he really didn't feel particularly fresh
and active. And even if hecaught the train, there was no avoiding
a blow up with the boss,because the firm's errand boy would have waited

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for the five o'clock train and reportedthe news of his absence long ago.
He was the boss's minion without backboneor intelligence. Well, then what if
he reported in sick? But thatwould be extremely embarrassing and suspicious, because

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during his five years service, Gregorhadn't been sick even once. The boss
would certainly come with the doctor fromthe health insurance company and would reproach his
parents for their lazy son and cutshort all objections with the insurance doctor's comments
for him, everyone was completely healthy, but really lazy about work. And

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besides, would the doctor in thiscase be totally wrong. Apart from a
really excessive drowsiness after the long sleep, Gregor in fact felt quite well and
even had a really strong appetite.As he was thinking all this over in
the greatest haste, without being ableto make the decision to get out of

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bed. The alarm clock was indicatingexactly quarter to seven. There was a
cautious knock on the door by thehead of the bed Gregor. A voice
called. It was his mother.It's quarter to seven. Don't you want
to be on your way? Thesoft voice. Gregor was startled when he

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heard his voice answering. It wasclearly and unmistakably his earlier voice, but
in it was intermingled, as iffrom below, an irrepressibly painful squeaking,
which left the words positively distinct onlyin the first moment, and distorted them

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in the reverberation, so that onedidn't know if one had heard correctly.
Gregor wanted to answer in detail andexplain everything, but in these circumstances he
confined himself to saying, yes,yes, thank you, mother, I'm
getting up right away. Because ofthe wooden door, the change in Gregor's

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voice was not really noticeable outside,so his mother calmed down with this explanation
and shuffled off. However, asa result of the short conversation, the
other family members became aware that Gregorwas unexpectedly still at home and already his
father was knocking on one side doorweakly, but with his fist. Gregor

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Gregor, He called out, what'sgoing on? And after a short while
he urged him on again in adeeper voice, Gregor, Gregor. Yet
the other side door, however,his sister knocked lightly, Gregor, are
you all right? Do you needanything? Gregor directed answers in both directions,

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I'll be ready right away. Hemade an effort with the most careful
articulation and by inserting long pauses betweenthe individual words to remove everything remarkable from
his voice. His father turned backto his breakfast. However, the cister

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whispered, Gregor, open the door, I beg you. Gregor had no
intention of opening the door, butcongratulated himself on his precaution acquired from traveling
of locking all doors during the night, even at home. First, he
wanted to stand up quietly and undisturbed, get dressed, above all, have

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breakfast, and only then consider furtheraction, For he noticed this clearly by
thinking things over in bed, hewould not reach a reasonable conclusion. He
remembered that he had already often felta light pain or other in bed,

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perhaps the result of an awkward lyingposition, which later turned out to be
purely imaginary when he stood up,and he was eager to see how his
present phantasies would gradually dissipate. Thatthe change in his voice was nothing other
than the onset of a real chill, an occupational illness of commercial travelers.

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Of that he had not the slightestdoubt. It was very easy to throw
aside the blanket. He needed onlyto push himself up a little, and
it fell by itself. But tocontinue was difficult, particularly because he was
so unusually wide he needed arms andhands to push himself upright. Instead of

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these, however, he had onlymany small limbs, which were incessantly moving
with very different motions, and which, in addition, he was unable to
control. If he wanted to bendone of them, then it was the
first to extend itself, and ifhe finally succeeded in doing what he wanted

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with this limb, in the meantime, all the others, as if left
free moved around in an excessively painfulagitation. But I must not stay in
bed, uselessly, said Gregor tohimself. At first, he wanted to

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get out of bed with the lowerpart of his body. But this lower
part, which by the way,he had not yet looked at, and
which he also couldn't picture, clearly, proved itself too difficult to move.
The attempt went so slowly, whenhaving become almost frantic, he finally hurled

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himself forward with all his force,and without thinking, he chose his direction
incorrectly, and he hit the lowerbedpost hard. The violent pain he felt
revealed to him that the lower partof his body was, at the moment
probably the most sensitive. Thus hetried to get his upper body out of

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the bed first, and turned hishead carefully toward the edge of the bed.
He managed to do this easily,and in spite of its width and
weight, his body mass at lastslowly followed the turning of his head.
But as he finally raised his headoutside the bed in the open air,
he became anxious about moving forward anyfurther in this manner, for if he

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allowed himself eventually to fall by thisprocess, it would take a miracle to
prevent his head from getting injured,and at all costs, he must not
lose consciousness right now, he preferredto remain in bed. However, after
a similar effort, while he laythere again sighing as before, and once

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again saw his small limbs fighting oneanother, if anything, worse than earlier,
and didn't see any chance of imposingquiet and order on this arbitrary movement,
he told himself again that he couldn'tpossibly remain in bed, and that
it might be the most reasonable thingto sacrifice everything if there was even the

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slightest hope of getting himself out ofbed in the process. At the same
moment, however, he didn't forgetto remind himself from time to time of
the fact that calm, indeed thecalmest reflection, might be better than the
most confused decisions. At such moments, he directed his gaze as precisely as

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he could toward the window, butunfortunately there was little confident cheer to be
had from a glance at the morningmist, which concealed even the other side
of the narrow street. It's alreadyseven o'clock, he told himself, at
the latest striking of the alarm clockalready seven o'clock, and still such a

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fog. And for a little whilelonger he lay quietly, with weak breathing,
as if perhaps waiting for normal andnatural conditions to re emerge out of
the complete stillness. But then hesaid to himself, before it strikes a
quarter past seven, whatever happens,I must be completely out of bed.

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Besides, by then someone from theoffice will arrive to inquire about me,
because the office will open before seveno'clock. And he made an effort then
to rock his entire body length outof the bed with a uniform motion.
If he let himself fall out ofthe bed in this way, his head,

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which in the course of the fallhe intended to lift up sharply,
would probably remain uninjured. His backseemed to be hard. Nothing would really
happen to that as a result ofthe fall. His greatest reservation was a
worry about the loud noise which thefall must create, and which presumably would

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arouse, if not fright, thenat least concern on the other side of
all the doors. However, ithad to be tried. As Gregor was
in the process of lifting himself halfout of bed, the new method was
more of a game than an effort. He needed only to rock with a
constant rhythm. It struck him howeasy all this would be if someone were

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to come to his aid. Twostrong people, he thought of his father
and the servant girl, would havebeen quite sufficient. They would have only
had to push their arms under hisarched back to get him out of the
bed, to bend down with theirload, and then merely to exercise his
patience and care that he completed theflip onto the floor where his diminutive legs

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were. Then he hoped acquire apurpose, now quite apart from the fact
that the doors were locked, shouldhe really call out for help? In
spite of all his distress, hewas unable to suppress a smile at this
idea. He had already got tothe point where by rocking more strongly he

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maintained his equilibrium with difficulty, andvery soon he would finally have to decide.
For in five minutes it would bea quarter past seven. Then there
was a ring at the door ofthe apartment. That's someone from the office,
he told himself, and he almostfroze while his small limbs only danced

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around all the faster for one momenteverything remained still. They aren't opening,
Gregor said to himself, caught upin some absurd hope. But of course,
then, as usual, the servantgirl, with her firm tread,
went to the door and opened it. Gregor needed to hear only the first

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word of the visitor's greeting to recognizeimmediately who it was, the manager himself.
Why was Gregor the only one condemnedto work in a firm where at
the slightest lapse someone immediately attracted thegreatest suspicion? Were all the employees then
collectively one and all scoundrels among them? There was then no truly devoted person,

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who, if he failed to usejust a couple of hours in the
morning for office work, would becomeabnormal from pangs of conscience and really be
in no state to get out ofbed. Was it really not enough to
let an apprentice make inquiries? Ifsuch questioning was even necessary? Must the

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manager himself come, And in theprocess, must it be demonstrated to the
entire innocent family that the investigation ofthis suspicious circumstance could be entrusted only to
the intelligence of the manager. Andmore as a consequence of the excited state
in which this idea put Gregor,than as a result of an actual decision.

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He swung himself with all his mightout of the bed. There was
a loud thud, but not areal crash. The fall was absorbed somewhat
by the carpet, and in addition, his back was more elastic than Gregor
had thought. For that reason,the dull noise was not quite so conspicuous.

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But he had not held his headup with sufficient care, and had
hit it. He turned his head, irritated and in pain, and rubbed
it on the carpet. Something hasfallen in there, said the manager.
In the next room on the left. Gregor tried to imagine to himself whether

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anything similar to what was happening tohim today could have also happened at some
point to the manager. At leastone had to concede the possibility of such
a thing. However, as ifto give a rough answer to this question,
the manager, now with a squeakof his polished boots, took a

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few determined steps in the next room. From the neighboring room on the right,
the sister was whispering to inform Gregor. Gregor the manager is here,
I know, said Gregor to himself, but he did not dare make his
voice loud enough so that his sistercould hear Gregor. His father now said

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from the neighboring room on the left, mister manager has come and is asked
asking why you have not left onthe early train. We don't know what
we should tell him. Besides,he also wants to speak to you personally,
so please open the door. Hewill be good enough to forgive the
mess in your room. In themiddle of all this, the manager called

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out, in a friendly way,good morning, mister Samsa. He's not
well, said his mother to themanager, while his father was still talking
at the door. He is notwell, believe me, mister manager.
Otherwise how would Gregor miss a train. The young man has nothing in his
head except business. I'm almost angrythat he never goes out at night.

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Right now, he's been in thecity eight days, but he's been at
home every evening. He sits herewith us at the table and reads the
newspaper quietly, or studies his travelschedules. It's quite a diversion for him
to busy him with fret work.For instance, he cut out a small
frame over the course of two orthree evenings. You'd be amazed how pretty

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it is. It's hanging right insidethe room. You'll see it immediately as
soon as Gregor opens the door.Anyway, I'm happy that you're here,
mister manager. By ourselves, wewould never have made Gregor open the door.
He's so stubborn, and he's certainlynot well, although he denied that
this morning. I'm coming right away, said Gregor, slowly and deliberately,

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and didn't move so as not tolose one word of the conversation. My
dear lady, I cannot explain itto myself in any other way, said
the manager. I hope it isnothing serious. On the other hand,
I must also say that we businesspeople, luckily or unluckily, however one
looks at it, very often simplyhave to overcome a slight indisposition for business

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reasons. So can mister manager comein to see you now, asked his
father impatiently, and knocked once againon the door. No, said Gregor.
In the neighboring room on the left, a painful stillness descended. In
the neighboring room on the right,the sister began to sob Why didn't his

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sister go to the others. She'dprobably just got up out of bed now
and hadn't even started to get dressedyet. Then why was she crying Because
he wasn't getting up and wasn't lettingthe manager in, because he was in
danger of losing his position, andbecause then his boss would badger his parents

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once again with the old demands.Those were probably unnecessary worries. Right now,
Gregor was still here and wasn't thinkingat all about abandoning his family at
the moment. He was lying rightthere on the carpet, and no one
who knew about his condition would haveseriously demanded that he let the manager in.

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But Gregor wouldn't be casually dismissed rightaway because of this small discourtesy,
for which he would find an easyand suitable excuse later on. It seemed
to Gregor that it might be farmore reasonable to leave him in peace at
the moment instead of disturbing him withcrying and conversation. But it was the

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very uncertainty which distressed the others andexcused their behavior. Mister Samsa, the
manager was now shouting, his voiceraised, what's the matter? You are
barricading yourself in your room. Answerwith only a yes or a no.
Are you making serious and unnecessary troublesfor your parents and neglect? I mention

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this only incidentally your commercial duties ina truly unheard of manner. I am
speaking here in the name of yourparents and your employer, and I'm requesting
you, in all seriousness, foran immediate and clear explanation. I'm amazed.
I am amazed. I thought Iknew you as a calm, reasonable

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person, and now you appear suddenlyto want to start parading round in weird
moods. The Chief indicated to meearlier this very day a possible explanation for
your neglect. It concerned the collectionof cash entrusted to you a short while
ago. But in truth I almostgave him my word of honor that this

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explanation could not be correct. However, now I see here your unimaginable pig
headedness, and I'm totally losing anydesire to speak up for you in the
Slagh, and your position is notat all the most secure. Originally I
intended to mention all this to youprivately, but since you are letting me

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waste my time here uselessly. Idon't know why the matter shouldn't come to
the attention of your parents. Yourproductivity has also been very unsatisfactory recently.
Of course, it's not the timeof year to conduct exceptional business, we
recognize that, but a time ofthe year for conducting no business. There

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is no such thing at all,mister Samsa, and such a thing must
never be. But mister manager calledGregor beside himself, and in his agitation
forgetting everything else, I'm opening thedoor immediately this very moment. A slight
indisposition, a dizzy spell has preventedme from getting up. I'm still lying

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in bed right now, but I'mquite refreshed once again. I am in
the midst of getting out of bed. Just have patience for a short moment.
Things are not going as well asI thought, but things are all
right. How suddenly this can overcomesomeone? Only yesterday evening everything was fine
with me. My parents certainly knowthat. Actually, just yesterday evening I

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had a small premonition. People musthave seen that in me. Why have
I not reported that to the office. But people always think that they'll get
over sickness without having to stay athome mister manager, take it easy on
my parents. There is really nobasis for the criticisms which you are now

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making against me, and really nobodyhas said a word to me about that.
Perhaps you've not read the latest orderswhich I shipped. Besides, now
I'm getting out on my trip onthe eight o'clock train. The few hours
rest have made me stronger. Mistermanager, do not stay. I will

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be in the office in person rightaway. But please have the goodness to
say that and to convey my respectsto the chief. While Gregor was quickly
blurting all this out, hardly awareof what he was saying, he had
moved close to the chest of drawswithout effort, probably as a result of

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the practice he had already had inbed, and now he was trying to
raise himself up on it. Actuallyhe wanted to open the door. He
really wanted to let himself be seenby and to speak with the manager.
He was keen to witness what theothers now asking about him would say when

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they saw him. If they werestartled, then Gregor had no more responsibility
and could be calm. But ifthey accepted everything quietly, then he would
have no reason to get excited,and if he got a move on,
he could really be at the stationaround eight o'clock. At first, he

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slid down a few times on thesmooth chest of drawers, but at last
he gave himself a final swing andstood upright there. He was no longer
at all aware of the pains inhis lower body, no matter how they
might still sting. Now he lethimself fall against the back of a nearby
chair, on the edge of whichhe braced himself with his thin limbs.

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By doing this, he gained controlover himself and kept quiet, for he
could now hear the manager. Didyou understand a single word? The manager
asked his parents. Is he playingthe fool with us? For God's sake?
Cried the mother, nearly in tears. Perhaps he's very ill and ware

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upsetting him. Greta, Greta,she yelled. At that point, mother
called the sister from the other side. They were making them solves understood through
Gregor's room. You must go tothe doctor right away. Gregor is sick.
Hurry to the doctor. Have youheard Gregor speak yet? That was

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an animal's voice, said the manager, remarkably quietly in comparison to the mother's
cries. Anna, Anna, yelledthe father through the hall into the kitchen,
clapping his hands. Fetch a locksmithright away. The two young women
were already running through the hall withswishing skirts. How had his sister dressed

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herself so quickly and yanked opened thedoors of the apartment. One couldn't hear
the doors closing at all. Theyprobably had left them open, as is
customary in an apartment where a hugemisfortune has taken place. However, Gregor
had become much calmer all right.People did not understand his words anymore,

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although they seemed clear enough to himthan previously, perhaps because his ears had
got used to them. But atleast people now thought that things were not
all right with him and were preparedto help him. The confidence and assurance
with which the first arrangements had beencarried out made him feel good. He

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felt himself included once again in thecircle of humanity, and was expecting from
both the doctor and the locksmith,without differentiating between them with any real precision,
splendid and surprising results. In orderto get as clear a voice as
possible for the critical conversation which wasimminent, he coughed a little and certainly

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took the trouble to do this ina really subdued way. Since it was
possible that even this noise sounded somethingdifferent from a human cough, he no
longer trusted himself to decide any more. Meanwhile, in the next room,
it had become really quiet. Perhapshis parents were sitting with the manager at

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the table whispering. Perhaps they wereall leaning against the door listening. Gregor
pushed himself slowly towards the door withthe help of the easy chair, let
go of it. There, threwhimself against the door, held himself upright
against it. The balls of histiny limbs had a little sticky stuff on

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them, and rested there momentarily fromhis exertion. Then he made an effort
to turn the key in the lockwith his mouth. Unfortunately, it seemed
that he had no real teeth.How then was he to grab hold of
the key, But to make upfor that, his jaws were naturally very

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strong. With their help, hemanaged to get the key really moving.
He didn't notice that he was obviouslyinflicting some damage on himself, for a
brown fluid came out of his mouth, flowed over the key, and dripped
on to the floor. Just listenfor a moment, said the manager in

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the next room. He's turning thekey for Gregor. That was a great
encouragement. But they all should havecalled out to him, including his father
and mother. Come on, Gregor. They should have shouted, keep going,
keep working on the lock. Imaginingthat all his efforts were being followed
with suspense, he bit down franticallyon the key with all the force he

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could muster. As the key turnedmore, he danced round the lock.
Now he was holding himself upright onlywith his mouth, and he had to
hang on to the key or thenpress it down again with the whole weight
of his body as necessary. Thequite distinct click of the lock as it

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finally snapped really woke Gregor up,breathing heavily. He said to himself,
so I didn't need the locksmith,and he set his head against the door
handle to open the door completely.Because he had to open the door in
this way it was already open verywide, without him yet being really visible.

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He first had to turn himself slowlyround the edge of the door,
very carefully, of course, ifhe didn't want to fall awkwardly on his
back right at the entrance into theroom. He was still preoccupied with this
difficult movement and had no time topay attention to anything else when he heard

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the manager exclaim aloud, oh,it sounded like the wind whistling. And
now he saw him nearest to thedoor, pressing his hand against his open
mouth and moving slowly back as ifan invisible constant and force were pushing him
away. His mother, in spiteof the presence of the manager, she

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was standing here with her hair stickingup on end, still a mess from
the night, was looking at hisfather with her hands clasped. She then
went two steps towards Gregor and collapsedright in the middle of her skirts,
which were spread out all around her, her face sunk on her breast,

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completely concealed. His father clenched hisfist with a hostile expression as if he
wished to push Gregor back into hisroom, then looked uncertainly round the living
room, covered his eyes with hishands, and cried so that his mighty
breast shook. At this point,Gregor did not take one step into the

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room, but leaned his body fromthe inside against the firmly bolted wing of
the door, so that only halfhis body was visible as well as his
head tilted sideways with which he peepedover at the others. Meanwhile, it
had become much brighter. Standing outclearly from the other side of the street

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was a part of the endless grayblack house situated opposite it was a hospital,
and with its severe regular windows breakingup the facade. The rain was
still coming down, but only inlarge individual drops, visibly and firmly thrown
down one by one on to theground. The breakfast dishes were standing piled

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around on the table, because forhis father, breakfast was the most important
meal time in the day, whichhe prolonged for hours by reading various newspapers.
Directly across on the opposite wall hunga photograph of Gregor from the time
of his military service. It wasa picture of him as a lieutenant,

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as he smiling and worry free,with his hand on his sword, demanded
respect for his bearing and uniform.The door to the hall was ajar,
and since the door to the apartmentwas also open, one could see out
into the landing of the apartment andthe start of the staircase going down.

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Now, said Gregor, well awarethat he was the only one who'd kept
his composure. I'll get dressed rightaway, pack up the collection of samples,
and set off. You'll allow meto set out on my way,
will you not? You see,mister manager, I'm not pig headed,
and I'm happy to work. Travelingis exhausting, but I couldn't live without

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it. Where are you going,mister manager to the office? Really will
you report everything truthfully? A personcan be in capable of work momentarily,
but that's precisely the best time toremember the earlier achievements and to consider that
later, after the obstacles have beenshoved aside, the person will work all

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the more eagerly and intensely. I'mreally so indebted to mister chief. You
know that perfectly well. On theother hand, I am concerned about my
parents and my sister. I'm ina fix, but I'll work myself out
of it. Again, don't makethings more difficult for me than they already
are. Speak up on my behalfin the office. People don't like traveling

(38:38):
salesmen. I know that people thinkthey earn pots of money and thus lead
a fine life. People don't evenhave any special reason to think through this
judgment more clearly. But you mistermanager, you have a better perspective on
what's involved than other people, evenI tell you in total confidence, a

(38:59):
better perspective if the mister chairman himself, who in his capacity as the employer,
may let his judgment make casual mistakesat the expense of an employee.
You also know well enough that thetraveling salesman, who is outside the office
almost the entire year, can becomeso easily a victim of gossip, coincidences,

(39:22):
and groundless complaints against which it's impossiblefor him to defend himself, since
for the most part he doesn't hearabout them at all, and only then
when he's exhausted after finishing a tripand at home gets to feel in his
own body the nasty consequences which can'tbe thoroughly explored back to their origins.

(39:45):
Mister manager, don't leave without speakinga word telling me that you'll at least
concede that I'm a little in theright. But at Gregor's first words,
the manager had already turned away,and now he looked back at Gregor over
his twitching shoulders with pursed lips.During Gregor's speech, he was not still

(40:09):
for a moment, but kept movingaway towards the door without taking his eyes
off Gregor, but really gradually,as if there was a secret ban on
leaving the room. He was alreadyin the hall, and given the sudden
movement with which he finally pulled hisfoot out of the living room, and

(40:29):
would have believed that he'd just burnedthe sole of his foot in the hall,
however, he stretched his right handout away from his body towards the
staircase, as if some truly supernaturalrelief was waiting for him there. Gregor
realized that he must not, underany circumstances, allow the manager to go

(40:52):
away in this frame of mind,especially if his position in the firm was
not to be placed in the greatestdanger. His parents didn't understand all this
very well. Over the long years, they had developed the conviction that Gregor
was set up for life in hisfirm, and in addition, they had

(41:14):
so much to do nowadays with theirpresent troubles, that all foresight was foreign
to them. But Gregor had thisforesight. The manager must be held back,
calmed down, convinced, and finallywon over. The future of Gregor
and his family really depended on it. If only the sister had been there.

(41:36):
She was clever. She had alreadycried while Gregor was still lying quietly
on his back, and the manager, this friend of the ladies, would
certainly let himself be guided by her. She would have closed the door to
the apartment and taught him out ofhis fright in the hall. But the
sister was not even there. Gregormust deal with it himself, without thinking

(42:02):
that as yet he didn't know anythingabout his present ability to move, and
that his speech possibly indeed probably hadonce again not been understood. He left
the wing of the door, pushedhimself through the opening, and wanted to
go over to the manager, whowas already holding tight onto the handrail with

(42:23):
both hands on the landing in aridiculous way. But as he looked for
something to hold on to, witha small scream, Gregor immediately fell down
onto his numerous little legs. Scarcelyhad this happened when he felt for the
first time that morning a general physicalwell being. The small limbs had firm

(42:47):
floor under them, they obeyed perfectly, as he noticed, to his joy,
and strove to carry him forward inthe direction he wanted. Right away,
he believed, But the final ameliorationof all his suffering was immediately at
hand, but at the very moment, when he lay on the floor rocking

(43:08):
in a restrained manner, quite closeand directly across from his mother, who
had apparently totally sunk into herself,she suddenly sprang right up with her arms
spread far apart and her fingers extended, and cried out help, for God's
sake, help. She held herhead bowed down as if she wanted to

(43:31):
view Gregor better, but ran senselesslyback, contradicting that gesture forgetting that behind
her stood the table with all thedishes on it. When she reached the
table, she sat down heavily onit as if absent mindedly, and did
not appear to notice at all thatnext to her, coffee was pouring out

(43:52):
onto the carpet in a full streamfrom the large overturned container. Mother mother,
said Gregor quietly, looking over towardsher. The manager momentarily had disappeared
completely from his mind. At thesight of the flowing coffee. Gregor couldn't

(44:14):
stop himself snapping his jaws in theair a few times. At that his
mother screamed all over again, hurriedfrom the table, and collapsed into the
arms of his father, who wasrushing towards her. But Gregor had no
time right now for his parents.The manager was already on the staircase,

(44:36):
his chin level with the banister.The manager looked back for the last time.
Gregor took an initial movement to catchup to him if possible, but
the manager must have suspected something,because he made a leap down over a
few stairs and disappeared, still shoutingheo. The sound echoed through the entire

(44:58):
stairwell. Now. Unfortunately, thisflight of the manager also seemed to bewilder
his father completely. Earlier, he'dbeen relatively calm for instead of running after
the manager himself, or at leastnot hindering Gregor from his pursuit. With
his right hand, he grabbed holdof the manager's cane, which he left

(45:22):
behind with his hat and overcoat ona chair. With his left hand,
his father picked up a large newspaperfrom the table, and, stamping his
feet on the floor, he setout to drive Gregor back into his room
by waving the cane and the newspaper. No request of Gregor's was any use,

(45:42):
No request would even be understood,no matter how willing he was to
turn his head respectfully. His fatherjust stomped all the harder with his feet
across the room from him. Hismother had pulled open a window in spite
of the cool weather, and leaningout with her hands on her cheeks,
she pushed her face far outside thewindow between the alley and the stairwell.

(46:08):
A strong draft came up. Thecurtains on the window flew around. The
newspapers on the table swished, andindividual sheets fluttered down over the floor.
The father relentlessly pressed forward, pushingout sibilants like a wild man. Now

(46:28):
Gregor had no practice at all ingoing backwards. It was really very slow
going. If Gregor only had beenallowed to turn himself round, he could
have been in his room right away. But he was afraid to make his
father impatient by the time consuming processof turning round, and each moment he
faced the threat of a mortal blowon his back or his head from the

(46:52):
cane in his father's hand. Finally, Gregor had no other option, for
he noticed with horror that he didhe did not understand yet how to maintain
his direction going backwards, and sohe began, amid constantly anxious sideways glances
in his father's direction to turn himselfround as quickly as possible, although in

(47:15):
truth this was only done very slowly. Perhaps his father noticed his good intentions,
for he did not disrupt Gregor inthis motion, but with the tip
of the cane from a distance,he even directed Gregor's rotating movement here and
there. If only his father hadnot hissed so unbearably. Because of that,

(47:39):
Gregor totally lost his head. Hewas already almost totally turned round when
always with this hissing in his ear, he just made a mistake and turned
himself back a little. But whenhe finally was successful in getting his head
in front of the door opening,it became clear that his body was too

(48:00):
wide to go through any further.Naturally, his father, in his present
mental state, had no idea ofopening the other wing of the door a
bit to create a suitable passage forGregor to get through. His single fixed
thought was that Gregor must get intohis room as quickly as possible. He

(48:22):
would never have allowed the elaborate preparationsthat Gregor required to orient himself and thus
perhaps get through the door. Onthe contrary, as if there were no
obstacle and with a peculiar noise.He now drove Gregor forwards. Behind Gregor.
The sound at this point was nolonger like the voice of only a

(48:44):
single father. Now it was reallyno longer a joke, and Gregor forced
himself come what might into the door. One side of his body was lifted
up. He lay at an anglein the door opening. One flank was
sore. With the scraping on thewhite door, ugly blotches were left.

(49:07):
Soon he was stuck fast and wouldhave not been able to move any more
on his own. The tiny legson one side hung twitching in the air
above, and the ones on theother side were pushed painfully into the floor.
Then his father gave him one reallystrong, liberating push from behind,

(49:28):
and he scurried, bleeding severely,far into the interior of his room.
The door was slammed shut with thecane, and finally it was quiet.
End of Section one.