locksmith. “But Gregor was now much calmer. The words he uttered were no longer
understandable, apparently, although they seemed clear enough to him, even clearer than
before, perhaps because his ear had grown accustomed to the sound of them. Yet at any
rate people now believed that something was wrong with him, and were ready to help
him. The positive certainty with which these first measures had been taken comforted
him. He felt himself drawn once more into the human circle and hoped for great and
remarkable results from both the doctor and the locksmith, without really distinguishing
precisely between them.”
Scene V: Gregor opens the door. “Slowly Gregor pushed the chair towards the door,
then let go of it, caught hold of the door for support—the soles at the end of his little legs
were somewhat sticky—and rested against it for a moment after his efforts. Then he set
himself to turning the key in the lock with his mouth. It seemed, unhappily, that he hadn’t
really any teeth—what could he grip the key with?—but on the other hand his jaws were
certainly very strong; with their help he did manage to set the key in motion, heedless of
the fact that he was undoubtedly damaging them somewhere, since a brown fluid issued
from his mouth, flowed over the key and dripped on the floor. . . Since he had to pull the
door towards him, he was still invisible when it was really wide open. He had to edge
himself slowly round the near half of the double door, and to do it very carefully if he
was not to fall plump upon his back just on the threshold. He was still carrying out this
difficult manoeuvre, with no time to observe anything else, when he heard the chief clerk
utter a loud ‘Oh!’—it sounded like a gust of wind—and now he could see the man,
standing as he was nearest to the door, clapping one hand before his open mouth and
slowly backing away as if driven by some invisible steady pressure. His mother— in
spite of the chief clerk’s being there her hair was still undone and sticking up in all
directions—first clasped her hands and looked at his father, then took two steps towards
Gregor and fell on the floor among her outspread skirts, her face quite hidden on her
breast. His father knotted his fist with a fierce expression on his face as if he meant to
knock Gregor back into his room, then looked uncertainly round the living room, covered
his eyes with his hands and wept till his great chest heaved.”
Scene VI: Gregor tries to calm the chief clerk so that he will not be discharged. “‘Well,’
said Gregor, knowing perfectly that he was the only one who had retained any composure
‘I’ll put my clothes on at once, pack up my samples and start off. Will you only let me go?
You see, sir, I’m not obstinate, and I’m willing to work; traveling is a hard life, but I
couldn’t live without it. Where are you going, sir? To the office? Yes? Will you give a
true account of all this? One can be temporarily incapacitated, but that’s just the moment
for remembering former services and bearing in mind that later on, when the incapacity
has been got over, one will certainly work with all the more industry and concentration.’ ”
But the chief clerk in horror and as if in a trance is stumbling towards the staircase to
escape. Gregor starts to walk towards him—a wonderful bit here—on the hind pair of his
three pairs of legs, “but immediately, as he was feeling for a support, he fell down with a
little cry upon his many little legs. Hardly was he down when he experienced for the first
time this morning a sense of physical comfort; his legs had firm ground under them; they
were completely obedient, as he noted with joy; they even strove to carry him forward in
whatever direction he chose; and he was inclined to believe that a final relief from all his
sufferings was at hand.” His mother springs up, and in backing away from him she upsets