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Page 19
Throughout all this time, Gregor could not remember having
heard the violin being played, but this evening it began to
be heard from the kitchen. The three gentlemen had already
finished their meal, the one in the middle had produced a
newspaper, given a page to each of the others, and now they
leant back in their chairs reading them and smoking. When
the violin began playing they became attentive, stood up and
went on tip-toe over to the door of the hallway where they
stood pressed against each other. Someone must have heard
them in the kitchen, as Gregor's father called out: "Is the
playing perhaps unpleasant for the gentlemen? We can stop
it straight away."
"On the contrary", said the middle gentleman, "would the young lady
not like to come in and play for us here in the room, where it is,
after all, much more cosy and comfortable?" "Oh yes, we'd love to",
called back Gregor's father as if he had been the violin player
himself. The gentlemen stepped back into the room and waited.
Gregor's father soon appeared with the music stand, his mother with
the music and his sister with the violin. She calmly prepared
everything for her to begin playing; his parents, who had never rented
a room out before and therefore showed an exaggerated courtesy towards
the three gentlemen, did not even dare to sit on their own chairs; his
father leant against the door with his right hand pushed in between
two buttons on his uniform coat; his mother, though, was offered a
seat by one of the gentlemen and sat - leaving the chair where the
gentleman happened to have placed it - out of the way in a corner.
His sister began to play; father and mother paid close
attention, one on each side, to the movements of her hands.
Drawn in by the playing, Gregor had dared to come forward a
little and already had his head in the living room. Before,
he had taken great pride in how considerate he was but now
it hardly occurred to him that he had become so thoughtless
about the others. What's more, there was now all the more
reason to keep himself hidden as he was covered in the dust
that lay everywhere in his room and flew up at the slightest
movement; he carried threads, hairs, and remains of food
about on his back and sides; he was much too indifferent to
everything now to lay on his back and wipe himself on the
carpet like he had used to do several times a day. And
despite this condition, he was not too shy to move forward a
little onto the immaculate floor of the living room.
No-one noticed him, though. The family was totally
preoccupied with the violin playing; at first, the three
gentlemen had put their hands in their pockets and come up
far too close behind the music stand to look at all the
notes being played, and they must have disturbed Gregor's
sister, but soon, in contrast with the family, they
withdrew back to the window with their heads sunk and
talking to each other at half volume, and they stayed by the
window while Gregor's father observed them anxiously. It
really now seemed very obvious that they had expected to
hear some beautiful or entertaining violin playing but had
been disappointed, that they had had enough of the whole
performance and it was only now out of politeness that they
allowed their peace to be disturbed. It was especially
unnerving, the way they all blew the smoke from their
cigarettes upwards from their mouth and noses. Yet Gregor's
sister was playing so beautifully. Her face was leant to
one side, following the lines of music with a careful and
melancholy expression. Gregor crawled a little further
forward, keeping his head close to the ground so that he
could meet her eyes if the chance came. Was he an animal if
music could captivate him so? It seemed to him that he was
being shown the way to the unknown nourishment he had been
yearning for. He was determined to make his way forward to
his sister and tug at her skirt to show her she might come
into his room with her violin, as no-one appreciated her
playing here as much as he would. He never wanted to let
her out of his room, not while he lived, anyway; his
shocking appearance should, for once, be of some use to him;
he wanted to be at every door of his room at once to hiss
and spit at the attackers; his sister should not be forced
to stay with him, though, but stay of her own free will; she
would sit beside him on the couch with her ear bent down to
him while he told her how he had always intended to send her
to the conservatory, how he would have told everyone about
it last Christmas - had Christmas really come and gone
already? - if this misfortune hadn't got in the way, and
refuse to let anyone dissuade him from it. On hearing all
this, his sister would break out in tears of emotion, and
Gregor would climb up to her shoulder and kiss her neck,
which, since she had been going out to work, she had kept
free without any necklace or collar.
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