In the Penal Colony

In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka
Translated by Ian Johnston
This translation, which has been prepared by Ian Johnston of Malaspina
University-College, Nanaimo, BC, Canada, is in the public domain and
may be used by anyone, in whole or in part, without permission and
without charge, provided the source is acknowledged, released October
2003.
* * *
"It's a peculiar apparatus," said the Officer to the Traveler, gazing with
a certain admiration at the device, with which he was, of course,
thoroughly familiar. It appeared that the Traveler had responded to the
invitation of the Commandant only out of politeness, when he had been
invited to attend the execution of a soldier condemned for disobeying
and insulting his superior. Of course, interest in the execution was not
very high, not even in the penal colony itself. At least, here in the small,
deep, sandy valley, closed in on all sides by barren slopes, apart from
the Officer and the Traveler there were present only the Condemned, a
vacant-looking man with a broad mouth and dilapidated hair and face,
and the Soldier, who held the heavy chain to which were connected the
small chains which bound the Condemned Man by his feet and wrist
bones, as well as by his neck, and which were also linked to each other
by connecting chains. The Condemned Man had an expression of such
dog-like resignation that it looked as if one could set him free to roam
around the slopes and would only have to whistle at the start of the
execution for him to return.
The Traveler had little interest in the apparatus and walked back and
forth behind the Condemned Man, almost visibly indifferent, while the
Officer took care of the final preparations. Sometimes he crawled under
the apparatus, which was built deep into the earth, and sometimes he
climbed up a ladder to inspect the upper parts. These were really jobs
which could have been left to a mechanic, but the Officer carried them

out with great enthusiasm, maybe because he was particularly fond of
this apparatus or maybe because there was some other reason why one
could not trust the work to anyone else. "It's all ready now!" he finally
cried and climbed back down the ladder. He was unusually tired,
breathing with his mouth wide open, and he had pushed two fine lady's
handkerchiefs under the collar of his uniform.
"These uniforms are really too heavy for the tropics," the Traveler said,
instead of asking some questions about the apparatus, as the Officer
had expected. "That's true," said the Officer. He washed the oil and
grease from his dirty hands in a bucket of water standing ready, "but
they mean home, and we don't want to lose our homeland." "Now, have
a look at this apparatus," he added immediately, drying his hands with a
towel and pointing to the device. "Up to this point I had to do some
work by hand, but from now on the apparatus should work entirely on
its own." The Traveler nodded and followed the Officer. The latter tried
to protect himself against all eventualities by saying, "Of course,
breakdowns do happen. I really hope none will occur today, but we
must be prepared for it. The apparatus is supposed to keep going for
twelve hours without interruption. But if any breakdowns do occur,
they'll only be very minor, and we'll deal with them right away."
"Don't you want to sit down?" he asked finally, as he pulled out a chair
from a pile of cane chairs and offered it to the Traveler. The latter could
not refuse. He sat on the edge of the pit, into which he cast a fleeting
glance. It was not very deep. On one side of the hole the piled earth was
heaped up into a wall; on the other side stood the apparatus. "I don't
know," the officer said, "whether the Commandant has already
explained the apparatus to you." The Traveler made an vague gesture
with his hand. That was good enough for the Officer, for now he could
explain the apparatus himself.
"This apparatus," he said, grasping a connecting rod and leaning
against it, "is our previous Commandant's invention. I also worked with
him on the very first tests and took part in all the work right up to its
completion. However, the credit for the invention belongs to him alone.
Have you heard of our previous Commandant? No? Well, I'm not

claiming too much when I say that the organization of the entire penal
colony is his work. We, his friends, already knew at the time of his
death that the administration of the colony was so self-contained that
even if his successor had a thousand new plans in mind, he would not
be able to