That ridiculous outcry was too much for K.; if the man would not believe that he was
under arrest, so much the better; perhaps he actually took him for a Judge. As a parting
gesture he gripped the man with real force, flung him back on the bench, and went on his
way. “Most of these accused men are so sensitive,” said the usher. Behind them almost all
the clients were now gathered round the man, whose cries had already ceased, and they
seemed to be eagerly asking him about the incident. A guard came up to K., he was mainly
recognizable by his sword, whose sheath, at least to judge from its color, was of aluminum.
K. gaped at it and actually put out his hand to feel it. The guard, who had come to inquire
into the commotion, asked what had happened. The usher tried to put him off with a few
words, but the guard declared that he must look into this matter himself, saluted, and
strutted on with hasty but very short steps, probably resulting from gout.
K. did not trouble his head for long over him and the people in the lobby, particularly as,
when he had walked halfway down the lobby, he saw a turning leading to the right through
an opening which had no door. He inquired of the usher if this was the right way, the usher
nodded, and K. then turned into it. It troubled him that he had always to walk one or two paces ahead of the usher, in a place like this it might look as if he were a prisoner under
escort. Accordingly he paused several times to wait for the usher, but the man always
dropped behind again. At last K. said, to put an end to his discomfort: “I’ve seen the place
now, and I think I’ll go.” “You haven’t seen everything yet,” said the usher innocently. “I
don’t want to see everything,” said K., who by now felt really tired. “I want to get away,
how does one reach the outside door?” “You surely haven’t lost your way already?” asked
the usher in surprise. “You just go along here to the corner and then turn to the right along
the lobby straight to the door.” “You come too,” said K. “Show me the way, there are so
many lobbies here, I’ll never find the way.” “There’s only the one way,” said the usher
reproachfully. “I can’t go back with you, I must deliver my message and I’ve lost a great
deal of time through you already.” “Come with me,” said K. still more sharply, as if he had
at last caught the usher in a falsehood. “Don’t shout like that,” whispered the usher, “there
are offices everywhere hereabouts. If you don’t want to go back by yourself, then come a
little farther with me, or wait here until I’ve delivered my message, then I’ll be glad to take
you back.” “No, no,” said K., “I won’t wait and you must come with me now.” K. had not
yet even glanced round the place where he was, and only when one of the many wooden
doors opened did he turn his head. A girl whose attention must have been caught by K.’s
raised voice appeared and asked: “What does the gentleman want ?” A good way behind
her he could also see a male figure approaching in the half-light. K. looked at the usher.
The man had said that nobody would pay any attention to him, and now two people were
already after him, it wouldn’t take much to bring all the officials down on him, demanding
an explanation of his presence. The only comprehensible and acceptable one was that he
was an accused man and wished to know the date of his next interrogation, but that
explanation he did not wish to give, especially as it was not even in accordance with the
truth, for he had come only out of curiosity or, what was still more impossible as an
explanation of his presence, out of a desire to assure himself that the inside of this legal
system was just as loathsome as its external aspect. And it seemed, indeed, that he had