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Page 6
So Gregor did not go into the room, but leant against the
inside of the other door which was still held bolted in
place. In this way only half of his body could be seen,
along with his head above it which he leant over to one side
as he peered out at the others. Meanwhile the day had
become much lighter; part of the endless, grey-black
building on the other side of the street - which was a
hospital - could be seen quite clearly with the austere and
regular line of windows piercing its facade; the rain was
still falling, now throwing down large, individual droplets
which hit the ground one at a time. The washing up from
breakfast lay on the table; there was so much of it because,
for Gregor's father, breakfast was the most important meal
of the day and he would stretch it out for several hours as
he sat reading a number of different newspapers. On the
wall exactly opposite there was photograph of Gregor when he
was a lieutenant in the army, his sword in his hand and a
carefree smile on his face as he called forth respect for
his uniform and bearing. The door to the entrance hall was
open and as the front door of the flat was also open he
could see onto the landing and the stairs where they began
their way down below.
"Now, then", said Gregor, well aware that he was the only
one to have kept calm, "I'll get dressed straight away now,
pack up my samples and set off. Will you please just let me
leave? You can see", he said to the chief clerk, "that I'm
not stubborn and like I like to do my job; being a
commercial traveller is arduous but without travelling I
couldn't earn my living. So where are you going, in to the
office? Yes? Will you report everything accurately, then?
It's quite possible for someone to be temporarily unable to
work, but that's just the right time to remember what's been
achieved in the past and consider that later on, once the
difficulty has been removed, he will certainly work with all
the more diligence and concentration. You're well aware
that I'm seriously in debt to our employer as well as having
to look after my parents and my sister, so that I'm trapped
in a difficult situation, but I will work my way out of it
again. Please don't make things any harder for me than they
are already, and don't take sides against me at the office.
I know that nobody likes the travellers. They think we earn
an enormous wage as well as having a soft time of it.
That's just prejudice but they have no particular reason to
think better it. But you, sir, you have a better overview
than the rest of the staff, in fact, if I can say this in
confidence, a better overview than the boss himself - it's
very easy for a businessman like him to make mistakes about
his employees and judge them more harshly than he should.
And you're also well aware that we travellers spend almost
the whole year away from the office, so that we can very
easily fall victim to gossip and chance and groundless
complaints, and it's almost impossible to defend yourself
from that sort of thing, we don't usually even hear about
them, or if at all it's when we arrive back home exhausted
from a trip, and that's when we feel the harmful effects of
what's been going on without even knowing what caused them.
Please, don't go away, at least first say something to show
that you grant that I'm at least partly right!"
But the chief clerk had turned away as soon as Gregor had
started to speak, and, with protruding lips, only stared
back at him over his trembling shoulders as he left. He did
not keep still for a moment while Gregor was speaking, but
moved steadily towards the door without taking his eyes off
him. He moved very gradually, as if there had been some
secret prohibition on leaving the room. It was only when he
had reached the entrance hall that he made a sudden
movement, drew his foot from the living room, and rushed
forward in a panic. In the hall, he stretched his right
hand far out towards the stairway as if out there, there
were some supernatural force waiting to save him.
Gregor realised that it was out of the question to let the
chief clerk go away in this mood if his position in the firm
was not to be put into extreme danger. That was something
his parents did not understand very well; over the years,
they had become convinced that this job would provide for
Gregor for his entire life, and besides, they had so much to
worry about at present that they had lost sight of any
thought for the future. Gregor, though, did think about the
future. The chief clerk had to be held back, calmed down,
convinced and finally won over; the future of Gregor and his
family depended on it! If only his sister were here! She
was clever; she was already in tears while Gregor was still
lying peacefully on his back. And the chief clerk was a
lover of women, surely she could persuade him; she would
close the front door in the entrance hall and talk him out
of his shocked state. But his sister was not there, Gregor
would have to do the job himself.
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