been right in that assumption, he did not want to make any further investigation, he was
dejected enough by what he had already seen, he was not at that moment in a fit state to
confront any higher official such as might appear from behind one of these doors, he
wanted to quit the place with the usher, or, if need be, alone.
But his dumb immobility must make him conspicuous, and the girl and the usher were
actually gazing at him as if they expected some great transformation to happen to him the
next moment, a transformation which they did not want to miss. And at the end of the
passage now stood the man whom K. had noticed before in the distance; he was holding on
to the lintel of the low doorway and rocking lightly on his toes, like an eager spectator. But
the girl was the first to see that K.’s behavior was really caused by a slight feeling of
faintness; she produced a chair and asked: “Won’t you sit down?” K. sat down at once and
leaned his elbows on the arms of the chair so as to support himself still more securely.
“You feel a little dizzy, don’t you?” she asked. Her face was close to him now, it had that
severe look which the faces of many women have in the first flower of their youth. “Don’t
worry,” she said. “That’s nothing out of the common here, almost everybody has an attack of that kind the first time they come here. This is your first visit? Well, then, it’s nothing to
be surprised at. The sun beats on the roof here and the hot roof-beams make the air stuffy
and heavy. That makes this place not particularly suitable for offices, in spite of the other
great advantages it has. But the air, well, on days when there’s a great number of clients to
be attended to, and that’s almost every day, it’s hardly breathable. When you consider, too,
that washing of all sorts is hung up here to dry — you can’t wholly prohibit the tenants from
washing their dirty linen — you won’t find it surprising that you should feel a little faint.
But in the end one gets quite used to it. By the time you’ve come back once or twice you’ll
hardly notice how oppressive it is here. Do you really feel better now?” K. did not answer,
he realized too painfully the shame of being delivered into the hands of these people by his
sudden weakness; besides, even now that he knew the cause of the faintness, it did not get
any better but grew somewhat worse instead. The girl noticed this at once, and to help K.
seized a bar with a hook at the end that leaned against the wall and opened with it a little
skylight just above K. to let in the fresh air. Yet so much soot fell in that she had to close
the skylight again at once and wipe K.’s hands clean with her handkerchief, since K. was
too far gone to attend to himself. He would have preferred to sat quietly there until he
recovered enough strength to walk away, yet the less he was bothered by these people the
sooner he would recover. But now the girl said: “You can’t stay here, we’re causing an
obstruction here” — K. glanced round inquiringly to see what he could be obstructing — “if
you like, I’ll take you to the sick-room. Please give me a hand,” she said to the man
standing in the door, who at once came over. But K. had no wish to go to the sick-room, he
particularly wanted to avoid being taken any farther, the farther he went the worse it must
be for him. “I’m quite able to go away now,” he said and got up from his comfortable seat,
which had relaxed him so that he trembled as he stood. But he could not hold himself
upright. “I can’t manage it after all,” he said, shaking his head, and with a sigh sat down
again. He thought of the usher, who could easily get him out of the place in spite of his