Metamorphosis | Page 4

noise he was
bound to make, and which even through all the doors would probably
raise concern if not alarm. But it was something that had to be risked.
When Gregor was already sticking half way out of the bed - the new
method was more of a game than an effort, all he had to do was rock
back and forth - it occurred to him how simple everything would be if
somebody came to help him. Two strong people - he had his father and
the maid in mind - would have been more than enough; they would
only have to push their arms under the dome of his back, peel him
away from the bed, bend down with the load and then be patient and
careful as he swang over onto the floor, where, hopefully, the little legs
would find a use. Should he really call for help though, even apart from
the fact that all the doors were locked? Despite all the difficulty he was
in, he could not suppress a smile at this thought.
After a while he had already moved so far across that it would have
been hard for him to keep his balance if he rocked too hard. The time
was now ten past seven and he would have to make a final decision

very soon. Then there was a ring at the door of the flat. "That'll be
someone from work", he said to himself, and froze very still, although
his little legs only became all the more lively as they danced around.
For a moment everything remained quiet. "They're not opening the
door", Gregor said to himself, caught in some nonsensical hope. But
then of course, the maid's firm steps went to the door as ever and
opened it. Gregor only needed to hear the visitor's first words of
greeting and he knew who it was - the chief clerk himself. Why did
Gregor have to be the only one condemned to work for a company
where they immediately became highly suspicious at the slightest
shortcoming? Were all employees, every one of them, louts, was there
not one of them who was faithful and devoted who would go so mad
with pangs of conscience that he couldn't get out of bed if he didn't
spend at least a couple of hours in the morning on company business?
Was it really not enough to let one of the trainees make enquiries -
assuming enquiries were even necessary - did the chief clerk have to
come himself, and did they have to show the whole, innocent family
that this was so suspicious that only the chief clerk could be trusted to
have the wisdom to investigate it? And more because these thoughts
had made him upset than through any proper decision, he swang
himself with all his force out of the bed. There was a loud thump, but it
wasn't really a loud noise. His fall was softened a little by the carpet,
and Gregor's back was also more elastic than he had thought, which
made the sound muffled and not too noticeable. He had not held his
head carefully enough, though, and hit it as he fell; annoyed and in pain,
he turned it and rubbed it against the carpet.
"Something's fallen down in there", said the chief clerk in the room on
the left. Gregor tried to imagine whether something of the sort that had
happened to him today could ever happen to the chief clerk too; you
had to concede that it was possible. But as if in gruff reply to this
question, the chief clerk's firm footsteps in his highly polished boots
could now be heard in the adjoining room. From the room on his right,
Gregor's sister whispered to him to let him know: "Gregor, the chief
clerk is here."
"Yes, I know", said Gregor to himself; but without daring to raise his

voice loud enough for his sister to hear him.
"Gregor", said his father now from the room to his left, "the chief clerk
has come round and wants to know why you didn't leave on the early
train. We don't know what to say to him. And anyway, he wants to
speak to you personally. So please open up this door. I'm sure he'll be
good enough to forgive the untidiness of your room."
Then the chief clerk called "Good morning, Mr. Samsa".
"He isn't well", said his mother to the chief clerk, while his father
continued to speak through the door. "He isn't well, please believe me.
Why else would Gregor have missed a train! The lad only ever thinks
about the business. It nearly makes me cross the way he never goes out
in the evenings; he's been in town for a week now