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Page 3
But then he said to himself: "Before it strikes quarter past
seven I'll definitely have to have got properly out of bed.
And by then somebody will have come round from work to ask
what's happened to me as well, as they open up at work
before seven o'clock." And so he set himself to the task of
swinging the entire length of his body out of the bed all at
the same time. If he succeeded in falling out of bed in
this way and kept his head raised as he did so he could
probably avoid injuring it. His back seemed to be quite
hard, and probably nothing would happen to it falling onto
the carpet. His main concern was for the loud 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."
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