The Metamorphosis - Oklahoma State University–Stillwater

1 The MetamorphosisKafka, Franz(Translator: Ian Johnston)Published:1912 Categorie(s):Fiction, Horror, Short StoriesSource:Feedbooks1 About ,hisuniquebodyofwriting manyincompleteandmostpublishedposthumous ly 'sworks includingthestoriesDasUrteil(1913,"TheJu dgement"),InderStrafkolonie(1920,"IntheP enalColony");thenovellaDieVerwandlung("T heMetamorphosis");andunfinishednovelsDer Prozess("TheTrial")andDasSchlo ("TheCastle") havecometoembodytheblendofab-surd,surrea landmundanewhichgaverisetotheadjective"k afkaesque".Source: WikipediaAlso available on Feedbooks for Kafka: The Trial(1925) A Hunger Artist(1922) In the Penal Colony(1914) The Country Doctor(1919)Copyright:This work is available for countries where copyright isLife+70and in the.

2 This book is brought to you by for personal use, do not use this file for commercial ,asGregorSamsawaswakingupfromanxiousdrea ms, ,asheliftedhisheadupalittle,hisbrown, ,justaboutreadytoslideoffcompletely, ,pitifullythinincomparis-on to the rest of his circumference, flickered helplessly before his eyes."What'shappenedtome?" ,aproperroomforahumanbeing,onlysomewhatt oosmall, ,onwhichanun-packedcollectionofsampleclo thgoodswasspreadout Samsawasatravellingsalesman ,lift-ingupinthedirectionoftheviewerasol idfurmuffintowhichheren-tire forearm had ' theraindropswerefallingaudiblydownonthem etalwindowledge madehimquitemelancholy.

3 "Whydon'tIkeepsleepingforalittlewhilelon gerandforgetallthisfoolishness," ,forhewasusedtosleepingonhisrightside,an dinhispresentstatehecouldn' , ,closinghiseyessothathewouldnothavetosee thewrigglinglegs,andgaveuponlywhenhebega ntofeelalight,dullpaininhissidewhichheha dnever felt before."OGod,"hethought,"whatademandingj obI'vechosen!Dayin,dayout, ,and,inadditiontothat,Ihavetocopewiththe problemsoftravelling,theworriesabouttrai nconnections,irregularbadfood, !" ,foundtheitchypart,whichwasentirelycover edwithsmallwhitespots , "Thisgettingupearly,"hethought," ,whenIcomebacktotheinnduringthecourseoft hemorningtowriteuptheneces-saryorders, ,I' ,whoknowswhetherthatmightn'tbereallygood forme?

4 IfIdidn'tholdbackformyparents'sake,I' ' 'vefallenrightoffhisdesk! , ,Ihaven' 'vegottogetherthemoneytopayoffmyparents' debttohim thatshouldtakeanotherfiveorsixyears I' ' ,rightnow I have to get up. My train leaves at five o'clock."Helookedoveratthealarmclocktick ingawaybythechestofdraw-ers."GoodGod!" , , ' ,butwasitpossibletosleepthroughthatnoise whichmadethefurnitureshake?Now,it'strueh e'dnotsleptquietly,butevidentlyhe' ,whatshouldhedonow?Thenexttrainleftatsev eno' , 'tpackedupyet,andhereallydidn' ,therewasnoavoidingablow-upwiththeboss,b ecausethefirm'serrandboywould'vewaitedfo rthefiveo' 'sminion, ,whatifhere-portedinsick?

5 Butthatwouldbeextremelyembarrassingandsu spi-cious,becauseduringhisfiveyears'serv iceGregorhadn' 'scomments; ,wouldthedoctorinthiscasebetotallywrong? Apartfromareallyexcessivedrowsinessafter thelongsleep,Gregorinfactfeltquitewell and even had a really strong ,withoutbeingabletomakethedecisiontogeto utofbed thealarmclockwasindicat-ingexactlyquarte rtoseven therewasacautiousknockonthedoorbythe head of the bed."Gregor,"avoicecalled itwashismother! "it' 'tyouwanttobeonyourway?"Thesoftvoice! ,butinitwasintermingled,asiffrombelow,an irrepress-iblypainfulsqueaking,whichleft thewordspositivelydistinctonlyinthefirst momentanddistortedtheminthereverberation ,sothatonedidn' ,butinthesecircumstancesheconfinedhim-se lftosaying,"Yes,yes, 'mgettinguprightaway.

6 "BecauseofthewoodendoorthechangeinGregor 'svoicewasnotreallynoticeableoutside, ,asaresultoftheshortconversation,theothe rfamilymembersbecameawarethatGregorwasun expectedlystillathome,andalreadyhisfathe rwasknockingononesidedoor,weaklybutwithh isfist."Gregor,Gregor,"hecalledout,"what 'sgoingon?"And,afterashortwhile,heurgedh imonagaininadeepervoice:"Gregor!"Gregor! "Attheothersidedoor,however,hissisterkno ckedlightly."Gregor?Areyouallright?Doyou needanything?"Gregordirectedan-swersinbo thdirections,"I'llbereadyrightaway." ,thesisterwhispered,"Gregor,openthedoor Ibegyou.

7 "Gregorhadnointentionofopeningthedoor,bu tcongratulatedhimselfonhisprecaution,acq uiredfromtravelling, of locking all doors during the night, even at ,getdressed,aboveallhavebreakfast,andonl ythenconsiderfurtheraction,for henoticedthisclearly ,perhapstheresultofanawkwardlying5positi on,whichlaterturnedouttobepurelyimaginar ywhenhestoodup, ,anoccupationalillnessofcommercialtravel lers,ofthathehad not the slightest , , ,however,hehadonlymanysmalllimbswhichwer eincessantlymovingwithverydifferentmotio nsandwhich,inaddition, ,thenitwasthefirsttoextenditself,andifhe finallysuc-ceededdoingwhathewantedwithth islimb,inthemeantimealltheothers,asiflef tfree,movedaroundinanexcessivelypainfula gitation.

8 "But I must not stay in bed uselessly," said Gregor to ,butthislowerpart which,bytheway,hehadnotyetlookedatandwhi chhealsocouldn'tpictureclearly ,havingbecomealmostfrantic,hefinallyhurl edhimselfforwardwithallhisforceandwithou tthinking,hechosehisdirectionincorrectly , moment probably the most , , ,hebecameanxiousaboutmovingforwardanyfur therinthismanner,forifheallowedhimselfev entuallytofallbythisprocess, remain in ,afterasimilareffort,whilehelaythereagai n,sighingasbe-fore,andonceagainsawhissma lllimbsfightingoneanother,ifany-thingwor sethanearlier,anddidn'tseeanychanceofimp osingquietandorderonthisarbitrarymovemen t,hetoldhimselfagainthathecouldn' ,however,hedidn'tforgettoremindhimselffr omtimetotimeofthefactthat6calm indeedthecalmest ,hedirectedhisgazeaspreciselyashecouldto wardthewindow,butunfortunatelytherewasli ttleconfidentcheertobehadfromaglanceatth emorningmist,whichconcealedeventheothers ideofthenarrowstreet.

9 "It'salreadyseveno'clock,"hetoldhimselfa tthelateststrikingofthealarmclock,"alrea dyseveno'clockandstillsuchafog."Andforal ittlewhilelongerhelayquietlywithweakbrea thing,asifperhapswaitingfornormalandnatu ralconditionsto re-emerge out of the complete ,"Beforeitstrikesaquarterpastseven, ,bythensomeonefromtheofficewillarrivetoi nquireaboutme,becausetheof-ficewillopenb eforeseveno'clock." ,hishead,whichinthecourseofthefallheinte ndedtoliftupsharply, ; ,ifnotfright, , it had to be thenewmethodwasmoreofagamethananeffort;h eneededonlytorockwithaconstantrhythm hethoughtofhisfatherandtheservantgirl ,tobenddownwiththeirload,andthenmerelyto ex-ercisepatienceandcarethathecompletedt heflipontothefloor,wherehisdiminutiveleg swouldthen,hehoped, ,quiteapartfromthefactthatthedoorswerelo cked,shouldhereallycalloutforhelp?

10 Inspiteofallhisdistress,hewasunabletosup pressasmileatthis ,byrockingmorestrongly,hemaintainedhiseq uilibriumwithdifficulty,andverysoonhewou ldfi-nallyhavetodecide, "That'ssomeonefromtheoffice,"hetoldhimse lf, "Theyaren'topening,"Gregorsaidtohimself, ,asusual, 'sgreetingtorecognizeimmediatelywhoitwas , ,attheslightestlapse,someoneimmediatelya ttractedthegreatestsuspicion?Wereallthee mployeesthencollectively,oneandall,scoun drels?Amongthemwastherethennotrulydevote dpersonwho,ifhefailedtousejustacoupleofh oursinthemorningforofficework,wouldbecom eabnormalfrompangsofconscienceandreallyb einnostatetogetoutofbed?