Gregor's serious wound, from which he suffered for over a month (since no one ventured to remove the apple, it remained in his flesh as a visible reminder), seemed by itself to have reminded the father that, in spite of his present unhappy and hateful appearance, Gregor was a member of the family, something one should not treat as an enemy, and that it was, on the contrary, a requirement of family duty to suppress one's aversion and to endure--nothing else, just endure. And if through his wound Gregor had now apparently lost for good his ability to move and for the time being needed many many minutes to crawl across this room, like an aged invalid (so far as creeping up high was concerned, that was unimaginable), nevertheless for this worsening of his condition, in his opinion, he did get completely satisfactory compensation, because every day towards evening the door to the living room, which he was in the habit of keeping a sharp eye on even one or two hours beforehand, was opened, so that he, lying down in the darkness of his room, invisible from the living room, could see the entire family at the illuminated table and listen to their conversation, to a certain extent with their common permission, a situation quite different from what happened before.
La mela, che nessuno osò estrarre, rimase conficcata nella carnedi Gregorio, come un visibile ricordo dell'avvenimento. La graveferita, di cui soffrì per un mese, parve ricordare anche al padreche Gregorio, nonostante il suo aspetto misero e ripugnante, eraun membro della famiglia e non poteva essere trattato come unnemico: il dovere familiare imponeva, al contrario, di reprimerela ripugnanza e di avere pazienza, solo pazienza. La ferita gli aveva compromesso, probabilmente per sempre, lascioltezza dei movimenti. Per attraversare la stanza impiegava,come un vecchio invalido, lunghi minuti, ad arrampicarsi sui murinon pensava nemmeno più. Ma questo peggioramento del suo statotrovò un compenso nel fatto che tutte le sere, ormai, aprivano leporte della sala. Lui cominciava ad aspettare due ore prima; nelbuio della camera, invisibile dalla sala, poteva vedere lafamiglia intorno al tavolo illuminato e ascoltare i discorsi, colconsenso generale. Era molto meglio di prima.
Of course, it was no longer the animated social interaction of former times, about which Gregor in small hotel rooms had always thought about with a certain longing, when, tired out, he had to throw himself in the damp bedclothes. For the most part what went on now was very quiet. After the evening meal the father fell asleep quickly in his arm chair; the mother and sister talked guardedly to each other in the stillness. Bent far over, the mother sewed fine undergarments for a fashion shop. The sister, who had taken on a job as a salesgirl, in the evening studied stenography and French, so as perhaps later to obtain a better position. Sometimes the father woke up and, as if he was quite ignorant that he had been asleep, said to the mother "How long you have been sewing today!" and went right back to sleep, while the mother and the sister smiled tiredly to each other.
Certo, non erano più le animate conversazioni di un tempo, allequali Gregorio pensava sempre con una certa nostalgia, quandostanco si infilava tra umide lenzuola, in una cameretta d'albergo. Quasi sempre i commensali rimanevano in silenzio. Il padre, subitodopo cena, si addormentava in poltrona. La madre e la sorella siesortavano al silenzio; la madre, sporgendosi sotto la lampada,cuciva biancheria fine per un negozio di mode; la sorella,impiegata come commessa, studiava stenografia e francese, nellasperanza di ottenere, un giorno, un posto migliore. A volte ilpadre si svegliava e, come se non sapesse di aver dormito, dicevaalla madre: "Ma quanto continui a cucire oggi?" e subito siriaddormentava, mentre la madre e la sorella si sorridevanostanche.
With a sort of stubbornness the father refused to take off his servant's uniform even at home, and while his sleeping gown hung unused on the coat hook, the father dozed completely dressed in his place, as if he was always ready for his responsibility and even here was waiting for the voice of his superior. As result, in spite of all the care of the mother and sister, his uniform, which even at the start was not new, grew dirty, and Gregor looked, often for the entire evening, at this clothing, with stains all over it and with its gold buttons always polished, in which the old man, although very uncomfortable, slept peacefully nonetheless.
Per una curiosa caparbietà, il padre non voleva togliersil'uniforme nemmeno in casa; la vestaglia rimaneva appesanell'armadio e lui dormiva, vestito di tutto punto, in poltrona,come se fosse sempre in servizio e aspettasse anche lì la voce diun superiore. L'uniforme, che non gli era stata consegnata nuova,perdeva freschezza di giorno in giorno, nonostante le cure dellamadre e della sorella. Spesso Gregorio rimaneva a fissare, perserate intere, quell'abito coperto di macchie, dai bottoni d'orosempre lucidi, e nel quale il vecchio dormiva, placido e scomodo.
As soon as the clock struck ten, the mother tried encouraging the father gently to wake up and then persuading him to go to bed, on the ground that he couldn't get a proper sleep here and the father, who had to report for service at six o'clock, really needed a good sleep. But in his stubbornness, which had gripped him since he had become a servant, he insisted always on staying even longer by the table, although he regularly fell asleep and then could only be prevailed upon with the greatest difficulty to trade his chair for the bed. No matter how much the mother and sister might at that point work on him with small admonitions, for a quarter of an hour he would remain shaking his head slowly, his eyes closed, without standing up. The mother would pull him by the sleeve and speak flattering words into his ear; the sister would leave her work to help her mother, but that would not have the desired effect on the father. He would settle himself even more deeply in his arm chair. Only when the two women grabbed him under the armpits would he throw his eyes open, look back and forth at the mother and sister, and habitually say "This is a life. This is the peace and quiet of my old age." And propped up by both women, he would heave himself up, elaborately, as if for him it was the greatest travail, allow himself to be led to the door by the women, wave them away there, and proceed on his own from there, while the mother quickly threw down her sewing implements and the sister her pen in order to run after the father and help him some more.
Quando l'orologio aveva suonato le dieci, la madre, a bassa voce,cercava di svegliarlo e di convincerlo ad andare a letto: inpoltrona non poteva dormire, e il riposo gli era necessario,dovendo entrare in servizio alle sei. Ma con quella testardagginedi cui dava prova da quando era diventato commesso, lui insistevaper rimanere ancora a tavola, benché si riaddormentasseregolarmente e fosse poi un'impresa fargli cambiare la poltronacon il letto. La madre e la sorella potevano insistere, con breviesortazioni, quanto volevano, lui scrollava la testa per un quartod'ora, con gli occhi semichiusi, senza alzarsi. La madre lo tiravaper la manica, gli sussurrava paroline all'orecchio, la sorellalasciava i suoi compiti per aiutare la mamma, ma tutto erainutile, quello sprofondava ancora di più nella poltrona. Soloquando le due donne lo afferravano sotto le ascelle, apriva gliocchi, guardava prima una, poi l'altra, diceva: "Davvero una bellavita! Ecco il riposo della mia vecchiaia!" quindi, appoggiandosialle due donne, si alzava a fatica, quasi fosse di peso anche a sestesso, si lasciava portare fino alla porta, faceva un gesto disaluto e continuava da solo; mentre Grete e la mamma, messi daparte penna e cucito, correvano ad aiutarlo ancora.
In this overworked and exhausted family who had time to worry any longer about Gregor more than was absolutely necessary? The household was constantly getting smaller. The servant girl was now let go. A huge bony cleaning woman with white hair flapping all over her head came in the morning and the evening to do the heaviest work. The mother took care of everything else in addition to her considerable sewing work. It even happened that various pieces of family jewelry, which previously the mother and sister had been overjoyed to wear on social and festive occasions, were sold, as Gregor found out in the evening from the general discussion of the prices they had fetched. But the greatest complaint was always that they could not leave this apartment, which was too big for their present means, since it was impossible to imagine how Gregor might be moved. But Gregor fully recognized that it was not just consideration for him which was preventing a move (for he could have been transported easily in a suitable box with a few air holes); the main thing holding the family back from a change in living quarters was far more their complete hopelessness and the idea that they had been struck by a misfortune like no one else in their entire circle of relatives and acquaintances.
Chi aveva tempo, in quella famiglia oppressa dal lavoro e dallafatica, di badare a Gregorio più dello stretto necessario? Lespese di casa vennero sempre più ridotte; la domestica fulicenziata; mattina e sera, per fare i lavori più pesanti, venneun donnone ossuto, coi capelli candidi; a tutto il resto pensavala madre, pur continuando nel suo pesante lavoro di cucito. Sidovettero vendere diversi gioielli di famiglia, portati, un tempo,con orgoglio dalla madre e dalla sorella, in feste e circostanzesolenni; Gregorio lo seppe una sera, sentendo discutere i prezzi. Ma la preoccupazione maggiore della famiglia era che lecircostanze non consentissero di lasciare quella casa, diventatatroppo grande. Come portare via Gregorio? Questi capì, però, che,se il trasloco non si faceva, non era solo per riguardo verso dilui, che avrebbe potuto facilmente essere trasportato in una cassaprovvista di qualche buco; quello che, soprattutto, tratteneva lafamiglia dal cambiare casa, era l'assoluta disperazione, ilpensiero di essere stata colpita da una disgrazia unica nellacerchia dei parenti e degli amici.
What the world demands of poor people they now carried out to an extreme degree. The father brought breakfast to the petty officials at the bank, the mother sacrificed herself for the undergarments of strangers, the sister behind her desk was at the beck and call of customers, but the family's energies did not extend any further. And the wound in his back began to pain Gregor all over again, when now mother and sister, after they had escorted the father to bed, came back, let their work lie, moved close together, and sat cheek to cheek and when his mother would now say, pointing to Gregor's room, "Close the door, Grete," and when Gregor was again in the darkness, while close by the women mingled their tears or, quite dry eyed, stared at the table.
Compivano con scrupolo estremotutto quanto il mondo impone ai poveri: il padre portava lacolazione ai piccoli impiegati, la madre si sacrificava a cucirela biancheria di estranei, la sorella correva su e giù dietro ilbanco, secondo le richieste dei clienti: eppure, sembrava che nonbastasse. La ferita faceva male a Gregorio come se fosse fresca,quando la madre e la sorella, dopo aver portato a letto il padre,mettevano da parte il lavoro e restavano abbracciate, guancia aguancia. Accennando alla stanza di Gregorio, la madre diceva:
"Chiudi la porta, Grete", e Gregorio si trovava di nuovo al buio,mentre le donne mescolavano le loro lacrime o fissavano la tavolacon gli occhi asciutti.
Gregor spent his nights and days with hardly any sleep. Sometimes he thought that the next time the door opened he would take over the family arrangements just as he had earlier. In his imagination appeared again, after a long time, his employer and supervisor and the apprentices, the excessively gormless custodian, two or three friends from other businesses, a chambermaid from a hotel in the provinces, a loving fleeting memory, a female cashier from a hat shop, whom he had seriously, but too slowly courted--they all appeared mixed in with strangers or people he had already forgotten, but instead of helping him and his family, they were all unapproachable, and he was happy to see them disappear.
Gregorio non dormiva quasi più né di giorno né di notte. A voltepensava che, appena aperta la porta, avrebbe ripreso in mano gliaffari di famiglia; dopo un lungo oblio, un giorno gli tornaronoin mente il principale e il procuratore, i commessi e gliapprendisti, il fattorino tonto, due, tre amici di altre ditte, lacameriera di un albergo di provincia, caro, fuggevole ricordo, lacassiera di un negozio di cappelli, che aveva corteggiatoseriamente, ma prendendo le cose troppo alla larga: tutta questagente gli riapparve insieme ad estranei o con altra gentedimenticata, ma nessuno poteva aiutare lui e i suoi, erano cosìlontani, e fu contento quando scomparvero.
But then he was in no mood to worry about his family. He was filled with sheer anger over the wretched care he was getting, even though he couldn't imagine anything for which he might have an appetite. Still, he made plans about how he could take from the larder what he at all account deserved, even if he wasn't hungry. Without thinking any more about how one might be able to give Gregor special pleasure, the sister now kicked some food or other very quickly into his room in the morning and at noon, before she ran off to her shop, and in the evening, quite indifferent about whether the food had perhaps only been tasted or, what happened most frequently, remained entirely undisturbed, she whisked it out with one sweep of her broom. The task of cleaning his room, which she now always carried out in the evening, could not be done any more quickly. Streaks of dirt ran along the walls; here and there lay tangles of dust and garbage. At first, when his sister arrived, Gregor positioned himself in a particularly filthy corner in order with this posture to make something of a protest. But he could have well stayed there for weeks without his sister's changing her ways. Indeed, she perceived the dirt as much as he did, but she had decided just to let it stay.
Quei fantasmi,tuttavia, gli fecero passare la voglia di occuparsi dellafamiglia; ormai sentiva solo rabbia per la cattiva assistenza e,benché non sapesse immaginare nulla che gli facesse gola,fantasticava sul come raggiungere la dispensa per prendere quantogli spettava, anche se non aveva fame. Ora la sorella non cercavapiù di prevenire i suoi desideri. Prima di correre in negozio,mattina e pomeriggio, spingeva col piede un cibo qualsiasi nellacamera di Gregorio, per tirarlo fuori, la sera, con un colpo discopa, indifferente se il cibo era stato assaggiato o, comeaccadeva la maggior parte delle volte, era rimasto intatto. Lapulizia della stanza, che avveniva sempre di sera, non avrebbepotuto essere più sbrigativa. Le pareti erano percorse da striscedi sudiciume, qua e là si vedevano batuffoli di polvere. I primitempi, Gregorio si metteva, all'arrivo della sorella, in un angolopiù sporco degli altri, per farle così, in un certo modo, unrimprovero. Ma la sorella non si sarebbe mossa neppure se luifosse rimasto al suo posto per settimane; vedeva il sudicio quantolui, ma aveva deciso, una volta per sempre, di lasciarlo dove era.
In this business, with a touchiness which was quite new to her and which had generally taken over the entire family, she kept watch to see that the cleaning of Gregor's room remained reserved for her. Once his mother had undertaken a major cleaning of Gregor's room, which she had only completed successfully after using a few buckets of water. But the extensive dampness made Gregor sick and he lay supine, embittered and immobile on the couch. However, the mother's punishment was not delayed for long. For in the evening the sister had hardly observed the change in Gregor's room before she ran into the living room mightily offended and, in spite of her mother's hand lifted high in entreaty, broke out in a fit of crying. Her parents (the father had, of course, woken up with a start in his arm chair) at first looked at her astonished and helpless; until they started to get agitated. Turning to his right, the father heaped reproaches on the mother that she was not to take over the cleaning of Gregor's room from the sister and, turning to his left, he shouted at the sister that she would no longer be allowed to clean Gregor's room ever again, while the mother tried to pull the father, beside himself in his excitement, into the bed room; the sister, shaken by her crying fit, pounded on the table with her tiny fists, and Gregor hissed at all this, angry that no one thought about shutting the door and sparing him the sight of this commotion.
Ciò non toglieva che fosse gelosa della prerogativa di pulire lacamera di Gregorio: un atteggiamento nuovo, che non era la sola amanifestare. Una volta la madre, per pulire la camera a fondo,adoperò parecchi secchi d'acqua, col risultato di contristare, tratanti scrosci, il povero Gregorio immobile sul divano; ma ebbe poiil fatto suo. Quando la sorella, la sera, entrò in camera e siaccorse della novità, si precipitò in sala, offesa a morte, escoppiò in un pianto dirotto, nonostante le mani supplichevolmentelevate della mamma. Il padre, svegliato di soprassalto nella suapoltrona, non seppe, sulle prime, raccapezzarsi, come, del resto,sua moglie; poi l'agitazione divenne generale. Il signor Samsarimproverava a destra la mamma perché non aveva lasciato allasorella la pulizia della camera di Gregorio, a sinistra gridavaalla sorella di non occuparsene più. La madre cercava ditrascinare in camera il marito fuori di sé per l'agitazione,mentre la sorella, scossa da singhiozzi, martellava il tavolo coisuoi piccoli pugni e Gregorio sibilava di rabbia, vedendo che anessuno veniva in mente di chiudere la porta per risparmiargliquella scena e quel chiasso.
But even when the sister, exhausted from her daily work, had grown tired of caring for Gregor as she had before, even then the mother did not have to come at all on her behalf. And Gregor did not have to be neglected. For now the cleaning woman was there. This old widow, who in her long life must have managed to survive the worst with the help of her bony frame, had no real horror of Gregor. Without being in the least curious, she had once by chance opened Gregor's door. At the sight of Gregor, who, totally surprised, began to scamper here and there, although no one was chasing him, she remained standing with her hands folded across her stomach staring at him. Since then she did not fail to open the door furtively a little every morning and evening to look in on Gregor. At first, she also called him to her with words which she presumably thought were friendly, like "Come here for a bit, old dung beetle!" or "Hey, look at the old dung beetle!" Addressed in such a manner, Gregor answered nothing, but remained motionless in his place, as if the door had not been opened at all. If only, instead of allowing this cleaning woman to disturb him uselessly whenever she felt like it, they had instead given her orders to clean up his room every day! One day in the early morning (a hard downpour, perhaps already a sign of the coming spring, struck the window panes) when the cleaning woman started up once again with her usual conversation, Gregor was so bitter that he turned towards her, as if for an attack, although slowly and weakly. But instead of being afraid of him, the cleaning woman merely lifted up a chair standing close by the door and, as she stood there with her mouth wide open, her intention was clear: she would close her mouth only when the chair in her hand had been thrown down on Gregor's back. "This goes no further, all right?" she asked, as Gregor turned himself around again, and she placed the chair calmly back in the corner.
Ma anche se la sorella, sfinita dal lavoro, non poteva piùaccudire Gregorio come prima, si poteva trovare una soluzione,senza bisogno di ricorrere alla madre: c'era, infatti, la donna amezzo servizio. La vecchia vedova, che in una lunga vita, graziealle sue solide ossa, ne aveva superate di tutti i colori, nonprovava per Gregorio una vera ripugnanza. Una volta aveva apertoper caso la porta della camera e, con le mani sul grembo, erarimasta, stupita, a guardare Gregorio che, colto di sorpresa,correva di qua e di là, sebbene nessuno lo inseguisse. Da quelgiorno non mancò mai, mattina e sera, di socchiudere la porta e didare un'occhiata a Gregorio. Le prime volte cercava di attirarlocon richiami che dovevano sembrarle affettuosi, come: "Fattiavanti, vecchio scarafaggio!" oppure: "Guardalo un po' il vecchioscarafaggio!" A questi inviti, Gregorio non rispondeva, marestava, immobile, come se nessuno fosse entrato. Invece dipermettere che quella donna lo stuzzicasse secondo i suoicapricci, senza costrutto, avrebbero fatto meglio a ordinarle dipulire la sua camera ogni giorno! Una volta, di mattina presto,mentre una pioggia violenta, forse già un segno della vicinaprimavera, batteva sui vetri, Gregorio fu talmente irritato daidiscorsi della donna, che con la sua andatura goffa e pesante feceper assalirla. La vecchia, per nulla impressionata, si limitò adafferrare una sedia accanto alla porta; immobile, teneva la boccaaperta, lasciando intendere che l'avrebbe richiusa solo quando lasedia si fosse abbattuta sulla schiena di Gregorio. "Allora, nonti fai più avanti?" chiese nel vedere Gregorio battere inritirata. E posò di nuovo la sedia nel suo angolo.
Gregor ate hardly anything any more. Only when he chanced to move past the food which had been prepared did he, as a game, take a bit into his mouth, hold it there for hours, and generally spit it out again. At first he thought it might be his sadness over the condition of his room which kept him from eating, but he very soon became reconciled to the alterations in his room. People had grown accustomed to put into storage in his room things which they couldn't put anywhere else, and at this point there were many such things, now that they had rented one room of the apartment to three lodgers. These solemn gentlemen (all three had full beards, as Gregor once found out through a crack in the door) were meticulously intent on tidiness, not only in their own room but (since they had now rented a room here) in the entire household, and particularly in the kitchen. They simply did not tolerate any useless or shoddy stuff. Moreover, for the most part they had brought with them their own pieces of furniture. Thus, many items had become superfluous, and these were not really things one could sell or things people wanted to throw out. All these items ended up in Gregor's room, even the box of ashes and the garbage pail from the kitchen. The cleaning woman, always in a hurry, simply flung anything that was momentarily useless into Gregor's room. Fortunately Gregor generally saw only the relevant object and the hand which held it. The cleaning woman perhaps was intending, when time and opportunity allowed, to take the stuff out again or to throw everything out all at once, but in fact the things remained lying there, wherever they had ended up at the first throw, unless Gregor squirmed his way through the accumulation of junk and moved it. At first he was forced to do this because otherwise there was no room for him to creep around, but later he did it with a with a growing pleasure, although after such movements, tired to death and feeling wretched, he didn't budge for hours.
Gregorio non mangiava quasi più nulla. Solo quando si trovava apassare davanti al cibo, tanto per fare qualcosa, afferrava unboccone, che teneva in bocca per ore, sputandolo poi via quasisempre. All'inizio pensò che l'inappetenza gli venisse dallamalinconia in cui lo metteva la sua camera, ma presto si adattò aicambiamenti sopravvenuti. Avevano preso ormai l'abitudine dimettere in quella stanza tutto quello che non trovava postoaltrove, e cioè molta roba, da quando una camera dell'appartamentoera stata affittata a tre pensionanti. Questi serissimi signori -tutti con una gran barba, come Gregorio poté vedere, una volta,dalla fessura della porta -erano esigentissimi in fatto d'ordine,non solo nella loro stanza, ma, poiché erano ormai di casa, intutto l'appartamento e specialmente in cucina. Non sopportavano divedere in giro cianfrusaglie inutili; inoltre, avevano portato conloro quasi tutti i mobili che servivano. Molta roba, che non sipoteva vendere né buttare via, diventata inservibile, era finitanella camera di Gregorio, persino la cassetta della cenere e ilsecchio della spazzatura. La vecchia che aveva sempre fretta,gettava là dentro tutto quello che sul momento non le serviva.
Gregorio, per fortuna, vedeva solo l'oggetto e la mano che loreggeva. Forse la donna aveva intenzione, una volta o l'altra, diriprendere oppure di buttar via in blocco quella roba, ma intantotutto restava dov'era caduto, a meno che Gregorio non fossecostretto a passare tra quel ciarpame; prima fu costretto a farlo,perché gli mancava spazio per strisciare, poi ci prese gusto,sebbene dopo ogni scorribanda rimanesse immobile per ore, stanco etriste da morire.
Because the lodgers sometimes also took their evening meal at home in the common living room, the door to the living room stayed shut on many evenings. But Gregor had no trouble at all going without the open door. Already on many evenings when it was open he had not availed himself of it, but, without the family noticing, was stretched out in the darkest corner of his room. However, once the cleaning woman had left the door to the living room slightly ajar, and it remained open even when the lodgers came in in the evening and the lights were put on. They sat down at the head of the table, where in earlier days the mother, the father, and Gregor had eaten, unfolded their serviettes, and picked up their knives and forks. The mother immediately appeared in the door with a dish of meat and right behind her the sister with a dish piled high with potatoes. The food gave off a lot of steam. The gentlemen lodgers bent over the plate set before them, as if they wanted to check it before eating, and in fact the one who sat in the middle (for the other two he seemed to serve as the authority) cut off a piece of meat still on the plate obviously to establish whether it was sufficiently tender and whether or not something should be shipped back to the kitchen. He was satisfied, and mother and sister, who had looked on in suspense, began to breathe easily and to smile.
I pensionanti, a volte, cenavano in casa, nella sala comune. Laporta, in questi casi, restava chiusa, ma Gregorio non ci facevapiù gran caso: già in precedenza, negli ultimi tempi, la porta erarimasta aperta e lui era rimasto, senza che la famiglia se neaccorgesse, nell'angolo più buio della sua stanza. Ma un giorno lavecchia non chiuse bene la porta, che rimase socchiusa anchequando i pensionanti entrarono nella sala. Quelli, dopo avereacceso il gas, sedettero al tavolo dove una volta sedevano ilpadre, la madre e Gregorio, spiegarono i tovaglioli e presero leposate. Subito sulla porta comparve la madre, con un piatto dicarne, seguita dalla sorella, con un piatto pieno di patate. Icibi esalavano un denso sapore. I pensionanti si piegarono suipiatti posti loro davanti, come per esaminarli prima di mangiare: quello in mezzo, che sembrava il più autorevole, tagliò infatti unpezzetto di carne sul vassoio, con l'evidente proposito diaccertarsi se era ben cotta o se non era il caso di rimandarla incucina. Sembrò soddisfatto e la madre e la sorella, rimaste aguardarlo trepidanti, respirarono e ripresero a sorridere.
The family itself ate in the kitchen. In spite of that, before the father went into the kitchen, he came into the room and with a single bow, cap in hand, made a tour of the table. The lodgers rose up collectively and murmured something in their beards. Then, when they were alone, they ate almost in complete silence. It seemed odd to Gregor that out of all the many different sorts of sounds of eating, what was always audible was their chewing teeth, as if by that Gregor should be shown that people needed their teeth to eat and that nothing could be done even with the most handsome toothless jawbone. "I really do have an appetite," Gregor said to himself sorrowfully, "but not for these things. How these lodgers stuff themselves, and I am dying."
La famiglia mangiava in cucina. Tuttavia il padre, prima dipassare in cucina, entrò in sala, si inchinò tenendo il berrettoin mano, e girò intorno al tavolo. I pensionanti si alzarono tuttiinsieme, mormorando qualcosa nelle loro barbe. Rimasti soli,mangiarono in un silenzio quasi completo. A Gregorio sembrò stranoche, in mezzo ai vari rumori, emergesse quello dei denti chemasticavano, quasi a provargli che, per mangiare, servivano identi e che le più belle mascelle del mondo non sarebbero servitea nulla. "Anch'io ho fame!" si disse Gregorio preoccupato. "Ma nondi quella roba. Come si riempiono quei pensionanti, mentre io stocrepando!"
On this very evening (Gregor didn't remember hearing the violin all through this period) it sounded from the kitchen. The lodgers had already ended their night meal, the middle one had pulled out a newspaper and had given each of the other two a page, and they were now leaning back, reading and smoking. When the violin started playing, they became attentive, got up, and went on tiptoe to the hall door, at which they remained standing pressed up against one another. They must have been audible from the kitchen, because the father called out "Perhaps the gentlemen don't like the playing? It can be stopped at once." "On the contrary," stated the lodger in the middle, "might the young woman not come into us and play in the room here where it is really much more comfortable and cheerful?" "Oh, thank you," cried out the father, as if he were the one playing the violin. The men stepped back into the room and waited. Soon the father came with the music stand, the mother with the sheet music, and the sister with the violin. The sister calmly prepared everything for the recital. The parents, who had never previously rented a room and therefore exaggerated their politeness to the lodgers, dared not sit on their own chairs. The father leaned against the door, his right hand stuck between two buttons of his buttoned up uniform. The mother, however, accepted a chair offered by one lodger. Since she left the chair sit where the gentleman had chanced to put it, she sat to one side in a corner.
Quella stessa sera -Gregorio non ricordava di averlo mai sentitoarrivò dalla cucina il suono del violino. I pensionanti avevanofinito la cena, quello in mezzo aveva tirato fuori un giornale,dando agli altri un foglio per ciascuno; leggevano e fumavano,appoggiati agli schienali. Nel sentire il violino si scossero, sialzarono e, in punta di piedi, si avvicinarono alla portadell'anticamera, stringendosi gli uni agli altri. Dalla cucinadovettero averli sentiti, perché il padre gridò: "Vi disturba lamusica? Possiamo smettere subito". "Al contrario", disse ilsignore di mezzo. "Non potrebbe la signorina venire a suonare qui,dove può stare più comoda e sentirsi maggiormente a suo agio?" "Prego, prego!" esclamò il padre, come se fosse lui a suonare. Isignori ripresero i loro posti e aspettarono. Arrivò il padre conun leggìo, seguito dalla madre con la musica e dalla sorella conil violino. La sorella cominciò, tranquilla, a preparare ognicosa; i genitori, che non avevano mai affittato stanze, e perciòesageravano in gentilezza verso gli ospiti, non osarono neppuresedersi sulle loro poltrone. Il padre si appoggiò alla porta, lamano destra infilata tra due bottoni della giacca; la madre, allaquale uno dei signori aveva offerto una sedia, rimase in unangolo, perché le mancò il coraggio di spostarla.
The sister began to play. The father and mother, followed attentively, one on each side, the movements of her hands. Attracted by the playing, Gregor had ventured to advance a little further forward and his head was already in the living room. He scarcely wondered about the fact that recently he had had so little consideration for the others; earlier this consideration had been something he was proud of. And for that very reason he would've had at this moment more reason to hide away, because as a result of the dust which lay all over his room and flew around with the slightest movement, he was totally covered in dirt. On his back and his sides he carted around with him dust, threads, hair, and remnants of food. His indifference to everything was much too great for him to lie on his back and scour himself on the carpet, as he often had done earlier during the day. In spite of his condition he had no timidity about inching forward a bit on the spotless floor of the living room.
La sorella cominciò a suonare. Il padre e la madre, ognuno dallasua parte, seguivano attenti le mani della ragazza. Gregorio, attirato dalla musica, si era azzardato un po' piùavanti e sporgeva la testa nella sala. Non si stupiva per loscarso riguardo che ormai aveva verso gli altri, mentre prima sifaceva un vanto della sua delicatezza. Eppure, mai come oraavrebbe avuto ragione di nascondersi. A causa della polvere chenella stanza copriva ogni cosa, alzandosi al minimo movimento, eradiventato tutto polveroso, con la schiena e i fianchi pieni difili, peli, avanzi di cibo. Nella sua apatia, ora, non pensava piùa pulirsi diverse volte al giorno, strofinandosi contro iltappetto, come faceva prima. Nonostante il suo aspetto fossequello descritto, ebbe il coraggio di avanzare sull'immacolatopavimento della sala.
In any case, no one paid him any attention. The family was all caught up in the violin playing. The lodgers, by contrast, who for the moment had placed themselves, their hands in their trouser pockets, behind the music stand much too close to the sister, so that they could all see the sheet music, something that must certainly bother the sister, soon drew back to the window conversing in low voices with bowed heads, where they then remained, worriedly observed by the father. It now seemed really clear that, having assumed they were to hear a beautiful or entertaining violin recital, they were disappointed, and were allowing their peace and quiet to be disturbed only out of politeness. The way in which they all blew the smoke from their cigars out of their noses and mouths in particular led one to conclude that they were very irritated. And yet his sister was playing so beautifully. Her face was turned to the side, her gaze followed the score intently and sadly. Gregor crept forward still a little further and kept his head close against the floor in order to be able to catch her gaze if possible. Was he an animal that music so seized him? For him it was as if the way to the unknown nourishment he craved was revealing itself to him. He was determined to press forward right to his sister, to tug at her dress and to indicate to her in this way that she might still come with her violin into his room, because here no one valued the recital as he wanted to value it. He did not wish to let her go from his room any more, at least not as long as he lived. His frightening appearance would for the first time become useful for him. He wanted to be at all the doors of his room simultaneously and snarl back at the attackers. However, his sister should not be compelled but would remain with him voluntarily; she would sit next to him on the sofa, bend down her ear to him, and he would then confide in her that he firmly intended to send her to the conservatory and that, if his misfortune had not arrived in the interim, he would have declared all this last Christmas (had Christmas really already come and gone?), and would have brooked no argument. After this explanation his sister would break out in tears of emotion, and Gregor would lift himself up to her armpit and kiss her throat, which she, from the time she started going to work, had left exposed without a band or a collar.
Nessuno, per la verità, badava a lui. Lafamiglia era tutta assorta nella musica del violino; ipensionanti, che in un primo momento, con le mani in tasca, sierano tropo accostati al leggìo per leggere le note, disturbandola ragazza, si erano poi ritirati, a capo chino e parlandosottovoce, contro la finestra dove rimasero, sotto lo sguardopreoccupato del padre. Era ormai evidente che erano rimasti delusinella loro speranza di ascoltare una musica bella o almenodivertente, si mostravano annoiati e sopportavano solo percortesia quella seccatura. Il modo in cui soffiavano dal naso odalla bocca il fumo dei sigari, facendolo salire al soffitto,dimostrava un grande nervosismo. Eppure la sorella suonava cosìbene! Con il viso reclinato, seguiva le note con uno sguardoattento e malinconico. Gregorio strisciò ancora in avanti, tenendoil capo contro il pavimento, per poter cogliere un suo sguardo.
Era dunque un animale, se la musica lo prendeva in quel modo? Glisembrava di intravedere una strada verso un desiderato esconosciuto nutrimento. Era deciso ad arrivare fino alla sorella,a tirarla per la gonna, per farle capire che doveva andare colviolino in camera sua, perché nessuno lì sapeva apprezzare la suamusica come lui l'avrebbe apprezzata. Non l'avrebbe più fattauscire dalla sua camera, almeno finché fosse vissuto; il suoaspetto orribile, una volta tanto, gli sarebbe stato utile,sarebbe stato davanti a tutte le porte in una volta sola, perrespingere, soffiando, gli aggressori. Però la sorella non dovevarestare con lui per forza, doveva rimanere spontaneamente,sedergli accanto sul divano, prestargli orecchio: e lui le avrebbeconfidato che aveva avuto la ferma intenzione di mandarla alconservatorio e che per Natale -era già passato Natale? -avrebbeannunciato la cosa a tutti, senza preoccuparsi di nessunaobiezione. A queste parole Grete, commossa, sarebbe scoppiata inlacrime, Gregorio si sarebbe sollevato fino alle sue spalle e leavrebbe baciato il collo, che lei, da quando andava in negozio,portava libero, senza nastro né colletti.
"Mr. Samsa," called out the middle lodger to the father, and pointed his index finger, without uttering a further word, at Gregor as he was moving slowly forward. The violin fell silent. The middle lodger smiled, first shaking his head once at his friends, and then looked down at Gregor once more. Rather than driving Gregor back again, the father seemed to consider it of prime importance to calm down the lodgers, although they were not at all upset and Gregor seemed to entertain them more than the violin recital. The father hurried over to them and with outstretched arms tried to push them into their own room and simultaneously to block their view of Gregor with his own body. At this point they became really somewhat irritated, although one no longer knew whether that was because of the father's behaviour or because of knowledge they had just acquired that they had had, without knowing it, a neighbour like Gregor. They demanded explanations from his father, raised their arms to make their points, tugged agitatedly at their beards, and moved back towards their room quite slowly. In the meantime, the isolation which had suddenly fallen upon his sister after the sudden breaking off of the recital had overwhelmed her. She had held onto the violin and bow in her limp hands for a little while and had continued to look at the sheet music as if she was still playing. All at once she pulled herself together, placed the instrument in her mother's lap (the mother was still sitting in her chair having trouble breathing and with her lungs labouring) and had run into the next room, which the lodgers, pressured by the father, were already approaching more rapidly. One could observe how under the sister's practiced hands the sheets and pillows on the beds were thrown on high and arranged. Even before the lodgers had reached the room, she was finished fixing the beds and was slipping out. The father seemed so gripped once again with his stubbornness that he forgot about the respect which he always owed to his renters. He pressed on and on, until at the door of the room the middle gentleman stamped loudly with his foot and thus brought the father to a standstill. "I hereby declare," the middle lodger said, raising his hand and casting his glance both on the mother and the sister, "that considering the disgraceful conditions prevailing in this apartment and family," with this he spat decisively on the floor, "I immediately cancel my room. I will, of course, pay nothing at all for the days which I have lived here; on the contrary I shall think about whether or not I will initiate some sort of action against you, something which--believe me-- will be very easy to establish." He fell silent and looked directly in front of him, as if he was waiting for something. In fact, his two friends immediately joined in with their opinions, "We also give immediate notice." At that he seized the door handle, banged the door shut, and locked it.
"Signor Samsa!" gridò al padre il signore di mezzo; e, senzaaggiungere parola, indicò Gregorio, che lentamente avanzava. Ilviolino tacque, il signore di mezzo sorrise agli amici scuotendoil capo, e guardò di nuovo verso Gregorio. Il padre credettenecessario di rassicurare i pensionanti, invece di cacciare viaGregorio, sebbene quelli non fossero agitati e sembrasserodivertirsi più per quella apparizione che per la musica delviolino. Il padre corse verso di loro con le braccia spalancate,cercando di spingerli nella loro stanza e di coprire col suo corpola vista di Gregorio. Allora quelli incominciarono ad arrabbiarsi,non si capiva bene se per il comportamento del padre o perché sirendevano d'un tratto conto di aver avuto, a loro insaputa, unsimile vicino. Chiesero spiegazioni al signor Samsa, a loro voltaspalancarono le braccia, tirandosi nervosamente la barba eretrocedendo verso la loro camera. Nel frattempo, la sorella avevasuperato lo smarrimento in cui era caduta dopo l'improvvisainterruzione della musica; dopo essere rimasta un po' con ilviolino e con l'archetto nelle mani che pendevano inerti,continuando a guardare lo spartito come se ancora suonasse, siscosse, depose lo strumento in grembo alla madre, che sedevaancora al suo posto respirando a fatica, e corse nella stanzaaccanto, verso la quale si avvicinavano i pensionanti, sospintidal padre. Sotto le sue mani esperte, coperte e cuscini volaronoin aria, per ridisporsi in bell'ordine sui letti. Prima ancora chei signori avessero raggiunto la stanza, aveva preparato ogni cosaed era scivolata fuori. Il padre sembrava preso così tanto dal suospirito di ostinazione, da dimenticare il rispetto che doveva aisuoi ospiti. Continuava a spingere e spingere, finché il signoredi mezzo, già sulla soglia della camera, non batté, imprecando, unpiede a terra, costringendolo a fermarsi. Il signore alzò la mano,cercò con lo sguardo la madre e la sorella, e disse: "Dichiaroche, considerate le sconcezze esistenti in questa casa e in questafamiglia", a questo punto, con decisione improvvisa, sputò sulpavimento, "do disdetta immediata della camera. Naturalmente nonpagherò un soldo per i giorni che ho abitato qui, vedrò se nonsarà addirittura il caso di chiedervi un indennizzo che,credetemi, sarebbe molto facile da motivare". Tacque e rimase conlo sguardo fisso davanti a sé, come in attesa. Infatti,intervennero gli amici: "Anche noi diamo disdetta immediata". Allora il signore di mezzo afferrò la maniglia della porta e sichiuse dentro, con fracasso, la porta.
The father groped his way tottering to his chair and let himself fall in it. It looked as if he was stretching out for his usual evening snooze, but the heavy nodding of his head (which looked as if it was without support) showed that he was not sleeping at all. Gregor had lain motionless the entire time in the spot where the lodgers had caught him. Disappointment with the collapse of his plan and perhaps also his weakness brought on his severe hunger made it impossible for him to move. He was certainly afraid that a general disaster would break over him at any moment, and he waited. He was not even startled when the violin fell from the mother's lap, out from under her trembling fingers, and gave off a reverberating tone.
Il padre barcollò, annaspando, fino alla sua poltrona e ci silasciò cadere pesantemente; sembrava quasi che ci si fosse distesoper il pisolino serale, ma le scosse che imprimeva alla testaabbandonata mostravano che non dormiva affatto. Gregorio erarimasto, per tutto il tempo, fermo nel posto in cui i pensionantilo avevano sorpreso. La delusione per il fallimento del suo piano,forse anche la debolezza provocata dalla gran fame, non glipermettevano di muoversi. Sapeva che da un momento all'altro sisarebbe abbattuto su di lui un attacco di tutta la famiglia easpettava. Non si spaventò neppure quando il violino cadde, con unsuono profondo, dalle dita tremanti della mamma, che fino a quelmomento lo aveva tenuto in grembo.
"My dear parents," said the sister banging her hand on the table by way of an introduction, "things cannot go on any longer in this way. Maybe if you don't understand that, well, I do. I will not utter my brother's name in front of this monster, and thus I say only that we must try to get rid of it. We have tried what is humanly possible to take care of it and to be patient. I believe that no one can criticize us in the slightest." "She is right in a thousand ways," said the father to himself. The mother, who was still incapable of breathing properly, began to cough numbly with her hand held up over her mouth and a manic expression in her eyes.
"Cari genitori", disse la sorella, picchiando la mano sulla tavolaa guisa d'introduzione, "così non si va avanti. Se non ve neaccorgete voi, me ne accorgo io. Davanti a questa bestiaccia, nonvoglio pronunciare il nome di mio fratello, vi dico solo: dobbiamocercare di liberarcene. Abbiamo fatto quanto era umanamentepossibile per curarlo e sopportarlo, credo; nessuno potrà farci alriguardo il minimo rimprovero". "Ha mille ragioni", disse il padre tra sé. La madre, che ancoranon aveva ripreso fiato, tossiva sordamente nella mano tenutacontro il viso, con un'espressione da folle negli occhi.
The sister hurried over to her mother and held her forehead. The sister's words seemed to have led the father to certain reflections. He sat upright, played with his uniform hat among the plates, which still lay on the table from the lodgers' evening meal, and looked now and then at the motionless Gregor.
La sorella le corse vicino e le sostenne la fronte. Le paroledella sorella sembravano aver chiarito le idee al padre. Drittosulla poltrona, giocherellava col berretto finito tra i piatti cheerano rimasti sul tavolo, e di tanto in tanto alzava lo sguardo suGregorio, sempre immobile al suo posto.
"We must try to get rid of it," the sister now said decisively to the father, for the mother, in her coughing fit, wasn't listening to anything, "it is killing you both. I see it coming. When people have to work as hard as we all do, they cannot also tolerate this endless torment at home. I just can't go on any more." And she broke out into such a crying fit that her tears flowed out down onto her mother's face. She wiped them off her mother with mechanical motions of her hands.
"Bisogna cercare di liberarcene", disse la sorella rivolgendosi,ora, solo al padre, perché la mamma, con la sua tosse, non sentivanulla. "Altrimenti finirà con l'ammazzarvi, ne sono certa. Quandosi lavora duro come noi, non è possibile sopportare, per giunta,questo perpetuo martirio in casa. Anch'io non lo sopporto più". Escoppiò in un pianto così violento, che le lacrime presero acolare sul viso della madre, mentre lei, con gesti meccanici, leasciugava.
"Child," said the father sympathetically and with obvious appreciation, "then what should we do?"
"Figlia mia", disse il padre impietosito, con un insolito spiritodi comprensione, "che dobbiamo fare?"
The sister only shrugged her shoulders as a sign of the perplexity which, in contrast to her previous confidence, had come over her while she was crying.
La sorella si strinse nelle spalle, esprimendo così la perplessitàche l'aveva colta durante il pianto, in contrasto con la sicurezzadi prima.
"If only he understood us," said the father in a semi-questioning tone. The sister, in the midst of her sobbing, shook her hand energetically as a sign that there was no point thinking of that.
"Se lui, almeno, ci capisse!" disse il padre, come ponendo unadomanda; ma la sorella, tra le lacrime, scosse con veemenza lamano, per significare che non c'era da pensarci.
"If he only understood us," repeated the father and by shutting his eyes he absorbed the sister's conviction of the impossibility of this point, "then perhaps some compromise would be possible with him. But as it is. . ."
"Se lui ci capisse", ripeté il padre chiudendo gli occhi, quasiper dimostrare che, d'accordo con la figlia, escludeva quellapossibilità, "forse potremmo intenderci. Ma così..."
"It must be gotten rid of," cried the sister; "That is the only way, father. You must try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor. The fact that we have believed for so long, that is truly our real misfortune. But how can it be Gregor? If it were Gregor, he would have long ago realized that a communal life among human beings is not possible with such an animal and would have gone away voluntarily. Then we would not have a brother, but we could go on living and honour his memory. But this animal plagues us. It drives away the lodgers, will obviously take over the entire apartment, and leave us to spend the night in the alley. Just look, father," she suddenly cried out, "he's already starting up again." With a fright which was totally incomprehensible to Gregor, the sister even left the mother, pushed herself away from her chair, as if she would sooner sacrifice her mother than remain in Gregor's vicinity, and rushed behind her father who, excited merely by her behaviour, also stood up and half raised his arms in front of the sister as though to protect her.
"Deve andare via!" gridò la sorella. "E' l'unico mezzo, babbo. Devi solo liberarti del pensiero che quel coso è Gregorio. Lanostra vera disgrazia è stata che lo abbiamo creduto per tantotempo. Come potrebbe essere Gregorio? Se fosse Gregorio, sisarebbe accorto da un pezzo che degli uomini non possono conviverecon una bestia simile e se ne sarebbe andato da solo. Avremmoperduto un fratello, è vero, ma avremmo potuto continuare a viveree a onorare la sua memoria. Invece questa bestia ci perseguita,mette in fuga i pensionanti, vuole, è evidente, occupare tutta lacasa e metterci in mezzo a una strada. Guarda, babbo!" gridòd'improvviso. "Ora ricomincia!".
E in un moto di terrore che Gregorio non riuscì a capire, lasorella abbandonò così bruscamente la madre da far vacillare lapoltrona, quasi preferisse sacrificare la madre piuttosto cherimanere vicino a Gregorio. Quindi corse verso il padre, che,persa a sua volta la testa, si alzò levando le braccia, come perproteggerla.
But Gregor did not have any notion of wishing to create problems for anyone and certainly not for his sister. He had just started to turn himself around in order to creep back into his room, quite a startling sight, since, as a result of his suffering condition, he had to guide himself through the difficulty of turning around with his head, in this process lifting and banging it against the floor several times. He paused and looked around. His good intentions seem to have been recognized. The fright had only lasted for a moment. Now they looked at him in silence and sorrow. His mother lay in her chair, with her legs stretched out and pressed together; her eyes were almost shut from weariness. The father and sister sat next to one another. The sister had set her hands around the father's neck.
Ma Gregorio non ci pensava a spaventare qualcuno, tanto meno lasorella. Aveva solo cominciato a girarsi per tornare nella suastanza; i suoi movimenti potevano sembrare sospetti perché,sofferente com'era, nelle fasi più difficili doveva aiutarsi conla testa, che alzava a diverse riprese, e poi batteva sulpavimento. Si fermò e si guardò intorno. Si erano accorti,sembrava, delle sue buone intenzioni: era stato solo un momento dipanico. Ora lo guardavano tristi e in silenzio. La madre eraallungata sulla sua poltrona, le gambe distese e strette unaall'altra, gli occhi quasi chiusi dalla stanchezza; il padre e lasorella sedevano vicini, la sorella aveva appoggiato il bracciointorno al collo del padre.
" Now perhaps I can actually turn myself around," thought Gregor and began the task again. He couldn't stop puffing at the effort and had to rest now and then.
"Ora, forse, posso girarmi", pensò Gregorio, e si rimise allavoro. Lo sforzo gli dava l'affanno e ogni tanto doveva riposare.
Besides no one was urging him on. It was all left to him on his own. When he had completed turning around, he immediately began to wander straight back. He was astonished at the great distance which separated him from his room and did not understand in the least how in his weakness he had covered the same distance a short time before, almost without noticing it. Constantly intent only on creeping along quickly, he hardly paid any attention to the fact that no word or cry from his family interrupted him.
Ma nessuno lo spingeva, poteva regolarsi come credeva. Quando ebbefinito di girarsi, cominciò a dirigersi dritto verso la camera. Sistupì per la distanza e non capì come prima avesse potuto coprire,debole com'era, tutto quel tratto, quasi senza accorgersene. Sempre preoccupato di strisciare via più in fretta che poteva, nonsi accorse che non una parola, non un grido della famiglia loturbarono.
Only when he was already in the door did he turn his head, not completely, because he felt his neck growing stiff. At any rate he still saw that behind him nothing had changed. Only the sister was standing up. His last glimpse brushed over the mother who was now completely asleep.
Solo quando ebbe raggiunta la soglia girò la testa, nondel tutto, perché il collo gli si irrigidiva, solo quanto fusufficiente per vedere che alle sue spalle niente era cambiato,soltanto la sorella si era alzata. Il suo ultimo sguardo sfiorò lamadre, ormai assopita.
Hardly was he inside his room when the door was pushed shut very quickly, bolted fast, and barred. Gregor was startled by the sudden commotion behind him, so much so that his little limbs bent double under him. It was his sister who had been in such a hurry. She had stood up right away, had waited, and had then sprung forward nimbly. Gregor had not heard anything of her approach. She cried out "Finally!" to her parents, as she turned the key in the lock.
Appena entrato nella stanza, la porta venne chiusa in fretta,sbarrata e fu girata la chiave. Con tutto quel baccano, Gregoriosi spaventò tanto che le zampine gli si piegarono sotto. Era statala sorella ad avere tanta fretta. Aveva aspettato, dritta inpiedi, quel momento, e poi era balzata avanti senza rumore. Gregorio non l'aveva neppure sentita arrivare. "Finalmente!" gridòrivolta ai genitori, dopo aver dato una mandata alla chiave.
"What now?" Gregor asked himself and looked around him in the darkness. He soon made the discovery that he could no longer move at all. He was not surprised at that. On the contrary, it struck him as unnatural that he had really been able up to this point to move around with these thin little legs. Besides he felt relatively content. True, he had pains throughout his entire body, but it seemed to him that they were gradually becoming weaker and weaker and would finally go away completely. The rotten apple in his back and the inflamed surrounding area, entirely covered with white dust, he hardly noticed. He remembered his family with deep feeling and love. In this business, his own thought that he had to disappear was, if possible, even more decisive than his sister's. He remained in this state of empty and peaceful reflection until the tower clock struck three o'clock in the morning. From the window he witnessed the beginning of the general dawning outside. Then without willing it, his head sank all the way down, and from his nostrils flowed out weakly out his last breath.
"E ora?" si chiese Gregorio, guardandosi intorno, nel buio. Siaccorse che non poteva più muoversi. La cosa non lo stupì,piuttosto gli sembrò straordinario di essersi potuto muovere finoa quel momento, sulle sue esili zampe. Del resto, si sentivaabbastanza bene. Aveva, è vero, dolori in tutto il corpo, ma glisembrava che a poco a poco si facessero meno forti e che alla finesarebbero scomparsi del tutto. Non sentiva nemmeno più la melamarcia incastrata nella schiena né la zona infiammata intorno, oracoperta di una polvere sottile. Pensava alla famiglia con teneroaffetto. La sua decisione di sparire era, se possibile, ancora piùferma di quella della sorella. Rimuginando tra sé questi vuoti etranquilli pensieri, sentì l'orologio della torre battere le tredel mattino. Vide ancora una volta, fuori dalla finestra il cielorischiararsi. Poi la testa gli ricadde esanime, e dalle naricisfuggì l'ultimo, tenue respiro.
Early in the morning the cleaning woman came. In her sheer energy and haste she banged all the doors (in precisely the way people had already asked her to avoid), so much so that once she arrived a quiet sleep was no longer possible anywhere in the entire apartment. In her customarily brief visit to Gregor she at first found nothing special. She thought he lay so immobile there intending to play the offended party. She gave him credit for as complete an understanding as possible. Because she happened to hold the long broom in her hand, she tried to tickle Gregor with it from the door. When that was quite unsuccessful, she became irritated and poked Gregor a little, and only when she had shoved him from his place without any resistance did she become attentive. When she quickly realized the true state of affairs, her eyes grew large, she whistled to herself, but didn't restrain herself for long. She pulled open the door of the bedroom and yelled in a loud voice into the darkness, "Come and look. It's kicked the bucket. It's lying there, totally snuffed!"
Quando, la mattina presto, arrivò la donna -sia per la fretta,sia per esuberanza, sbatteva le porte in modo tale che, sebbenel'avessero spesso pregata di avere riguardo, al suo arrivo non erapiù possibile dormire tranquilli -nel fare, come sempre, la suabreve visita a Gregorio, non notò, all'inizio, niente distraordinario. Pensò che quello rimaneva di proposito cosìimmobile, per fare l'offeso; perché lo credeva capace di ragionarecome un essere umano. Con la lunga scopa che per caso stringeva,cercò di solleticarlo, rimanendo sulla porta. Visto che neanchecosì otteneva nulla, si arrabbiò e colpì più forte. Il corpo sispostò, senza resistenza; allora si incuriosì. Appena si fu resaconto di quello che era successo, spalancò gli occhi, si mise afischiettare, ma poi non si trattenne, spalancò la porta dellacamera da letto e gridò nel buio: "Vengano a vedere, è crepato; sene sta lì disteso, proprio crepato!"
The Samsa married couple sat upright in their marriage bed and had to get over their fright at the cleaning woman before they managed to grasp her message. But then Mr. and Mrs. Samsa climbed very quickly out of bed, one on either side. Mr. Samsa threw the bedspread over his shoulders, Mrs. Samsa came out only in her night-shirt, and like this they stepped into Gregor's room. Meanwhile the door of the living room (in which Grete had slept since the lodgers had arrived on the scene) had also opened. She was fully clothed, as if she had not slept at all; her white face also seem to indicate that. "Dead?" said Mrs. Samsa and looked questioningly at the cleaning woman, although she could check everything on her own and even understand without a check. "I should say so," said the cleaning woman and, by way of proof, poked Gregor's body with the broom a considerable distance more to the side. Mrs. Samsa made a movement as if she wished to restrain the broom, but didn't do it. "Well," said Mr. Samsa, "now we can give thanks to God." He crossed himself, and the three women followed his example.
I due vecchi sedettero sul letto e dovettero rimettersi dallospavento, prima di capire quello che la donna aveva detto. Poi,ognuno dalla sua parte, saltarono in piedi; il marito si buttò unacoperta sulle spalle, la moglie rimase in camicia e così entrarononella camera di Gregorio. Intanto, si era aperta anche la portadella sala, dove Grete dormiva da quando erano arrivati ipensionanti; era completamente vestita, non sembrava che avessedormito, come dimostrava anche il pallore del volto. "E' morto?"chiese la signora Samsa guardando la vecchia con ariainterrogativa, sebbene potesse vedere la cosa da sola e persinoconvincersene senza verifiche. "Direi", disse la donna spingendo,con la scopa, a riprova, il cadavere di Gregorio e facendoloscivolare per un bel tratto. La signora Samsa abbozzò un gesto pertrattenere la scopa, ma si fermò a metà. "Beh", disse il signorSamsa, "ora possiamo ringraziare Iddio". Si fece il segno dellacroce e le tre donne ne seguirono l'esempio.
Grete, who did not take her eyes off the corpse, said, "Look how thin he was. He had eaten nothing for such a long time. The meals which came in here came out again exactly the same." In fact, Gregor's body was completely flat and dry. That was apparent really for the first time, now that he was no longer raised on his small limbs and, moreover, now that nothing else distracted one's gaze.
Grete, che non avevadistolto gli occhi dal cadavere, disse: "Guardate com'eradiventato magro. E' tanto che non mangiava più niente. I cibiuscivano dalla camera tali e quali com erano entrati". In realtà,il corpo di Gregorio era secco e appiattito: si vedeva bene, orache non era più sollevato dalle zampine e che nulla distraeva losguardo.
"Grete, come into us for a moment," said Mrs. Samsa with a melancholy smile, and Grete went, not without looking back at the corpse, behind her parents into the bed room. The cleaning woman shut the door and opened the window wide. In spite of the early morning, the fresh air was partly tinged with warmth. It was already the end of March.
"Vieni da noi un momentino, Grete", disse la signora Samsa con unsorriso malinconico; e Grete, gettata un'ultima occhiata alcadavere, seguì i genitori in camera da letto. La donna chiuse laporta e spalancò la finestra. Sebbene fosse molto presto, l'ariafresca non sembrava più tanto cruda. Era già la fine di marzo.
The three lodgers stepped out of their room and looked around for their breakfast, astonished that they had been forgotten. "Where is the breakfast?" asked the middle one of the gentlemen grumpily to the cleaning woman. However, she laid her finger to her lips and then quickly and silently indicated to the lodgers that they could come into Gregor's room. So they came and stood around Gregor's corpse, their hands in the pockets of their somewhat worn jackets, in the room, which was already quite bright.
I tre pensionanti, usciti dalla loro stanza, si guardarono intornostupiti, cercando la loro colazione; erano stati dimenticati. "Dov'è la colazione?" chiese quello di mezzo, accigliato, allavecchia. Questa posò l'indice sulle labbra e in silenzio liinvitò, con un rapido gesto, a entrare nella camera di Gregorio. Quelli si fecero avanti e, con le mani nelle tasche dellegiacchette lise, si fermarono intorno al cadavere, nella luceormai chiara.
Then the door of the bed room opened, and Mr. Samsa appeared in his uniform, with his wife on one arm and his daughter on the other. All were a little tear stained. Now and then Grete pressed her face onto her father's arm.
In quel momento, la porta della camera da letto si aprì e apparveil signor Samsa in uniforme, tenendo a braccetto la moglie e lafiglia. Mostravano tutti tracce di pianto; Grete premeva il visocontro il braccio del padre.
"Get out of my apartment immediately," said Mr. Samsa and pulled open the door, without letting go of the women. "What do you mean?" said the middle lodger, somewhat dismayed and with a sugary smile. The two others kept their hands behind them and constantly rubbed them against each other, as if in joyful anticipation of a great squabble which must end up in their favour. "I mean exactly what I say," replied Mr. Samsa and went directly with his two female companions up to the lodger. The latter at first stood there motionless and looked at the floor, as if matters were arranging themselves in a new way in his head. "All right, then we'll go," he said and looked up at Mr. Samsa as if, suddenly overcome by humility, he was asking fresh permission for this decision. Mr. Samsa merely nodded to him repeatedly with his eyes open wide.
Following that, the lodger actually went immediately with long strides into the hall. His two friends had already been listening for a while with their hands quite still, and now they hopped smartly after him, as if afraid that Mr. Samsa could step into the hall ahead of them and disturb their reunion with their leader. In the hall all three of them took their hats from the coat rack, pulled their canes from the cane holder, bowed silently, and left the apartment. In what turned out to be an entirely groundless mistrust, Mr. Samsa stepped with the two women out onto the landing, leaned against the railing, and looked down as the three lodgers slowly but steadily made their way down the long staircase, disappeared on each floor in a certain turn of the stairwell and in a few seconds came out again. The deeper they proceeded, the more the Samsa family lost interest in them, and when a butcher with a tray on his head come to meet them and then with a proud bearing ascended the stairs high above them, Mr. Samsa., together with the women, left the banister, and they all returned, as if relieved, back into their apartment.
"Se ne vadano subito dalla mia casa!" disse il signor Samsamostrando la porta, senza lasciare le due donne. "Che intende dire?" chiese, perplesso, il signore di mezzo, con unsorriso dolciastro. Gli altri due continuavano a stropicciarsi lemani dietro la schiena, quasi aspettassero, tutti soddisfatti, unagran discussione, destinata a concludersi a loro vantaggio. "Intendo esattamente dire quello che ho detto", rispose il signorSamsa; e insieme con le due donne avanzò contro il pensionante. Quello rimase, dapprima, immobile a fissare in silenzio ilpavimento, come se le cose gli si presentassero ora da un nuovopunto di vista. "Bene, in questo caso ce ne andiamo", feceguardando il signor Samsa come se, in un accesso improvviso diumiltà, dovesse chiedergli un permesso per questa decisione. Ilsignor Samsa si limitò ad accennare più volte, brevemente, con ilcapo, fissandolo con gli occhi spalancati. Il signore uscì agrandi passi nell'anticamera; i due amici, che erano rimasti inascolto con le mani tranquille, gli saltarono immediatamentedietro, quasi temessero che il signor Samsa potesse precederli,impedendo che si riunissero al loro capo. In anticamera presero icappelli dall'attaccapanni, tolsero i bastoni dal portaombrelli,si inchinarono in silenzio e lasciarono la casa. Per un senso didiffidenza, rivelatosi poi ingiustificato, il signor Samsa e ledue donne uscirono sul pianerottolo. Appoggiati alla ringhiera,rimasero a guardare i tre signori che, a passo lento ma continuo,scendevano la lunga scala, scomparendo a ogni piano sotto unacerta curva e riapparendo dopo qualche istante. Quanto più quelliscendevano in basso, altrettanto calava l'interesse della famigliaSamsa; quando un garzone di macellaio li ebbe raggiunti e poisuperati, salendo fiero la scala con un paniere sulla testa, ilsignor Samsa con le donne abbandonò la ringhiera e tuttirientrarono, come sollevati, in casa.
They decided to pass that day resting and going for a stroll. Not only had they earned this break from work, but there was no question that they really needed it. And so they sat down at the table and wrote three letters of apology: Mr. Samsa to his supervisor, Mrs. Samsa to her client, and Grete to her proprietor. During the writing the cleaning woman came in to say that she was going off, for her morning work was finished. The three people writing at first merely nodded, without glancing up. Only when the cleaning woman was still unwilling to depart, did they look up angrily. "Well?" asked Mr. Samsa. The cleaning woman stood smiling in the doorway, as if she had a great stroke of luck to report to the family but would only do it if she was asked directly. The almost upright small ostrich feather in her hat, which had irritated Mr. Samsa during her entire service, swayed lightly in all directions. "All right then, what do you really want?" asked Mrs. Samsa, whom the cleaning lady still usually respected. "Well," answered the cleaning woman (smiling so happily she couldn't go on speaking right away), "about how that rubbish from the next room should be thrown out, you mustn't worry about it. It's all taken care of." Mrs. Samsa and Grete bent down to their letters, as though they wanted to go on writing; Mr. Samsa, who noticed that the cleaning woman wanted to start describing everything in detail, decisively prevented her with an outstretched hand. But since she was not allowed to explain, she remembered the great hurry she was in, and called out, clearly insulted, "Ta ta, everyone," turned around furiously and left the apartment with a fearful slamming of the door.
Decisero di dedicare quel giorno al riposo e al passeggio; nonsolo avevano meritato quella tregua, ma ne avevano assolutamentebisogno. Sedettero al tavolo e scrissero tre lettere di scusa, ilsignor Samsa al suo direttore, la signora al suo commissionario eGrete al suo principale. Mentre stavano scrivendo, entrò lavecchia a dire che aveva finito e che se ne andava. I treannuirono, senza alzare lo sguardo; poi guardarono risentiti,perché la donna non accennava a muoversi.
"Allora?" chiese il signor Samsa. La donna si era fermatasorridente sulla soglia, come se avesse da annunciare allafamiglia una grande fortuna, ma volesse prima farsi pregare. Lapiccola penna di struzzo dritta sul cappello, che il signor Samsa,da quando la donna era al suo servizio, non aveva mai potutosoffrire, oscillava in tutte le direzioni. "Ma cosa vuole,insomma?" chiese la signora Samsa. Per lei la donna mostravamaggiore rispetto che per gli altri. "Eh sì", fece quella, e nonpoté continuare a parlare, tanto rideva contenta. "Insomma, volevodire dire che non si devono preoccupare sul come portare viaquella roba là. Ho pensato a tutto io".
La signora Samsa e Grete si chinarono sulle loro lettere, come perriprendere a scrivere. Il signor Samsa, accortosi che la donnaaveva intenzione di riferire ogni cosa nei particolari, la fermòcon un gesto risoluto. Visto che non le lasciavano raccontarenulla, quella si ricordò di avere una gran fretta, gridò,visibilmente offesa, "Arrivederci a tutti!" si girò di furia eabbandonò, dopo una tremenda sbattuta di porta, la casa.
"This evening she'll be let go," said Mr. Samsa, but he got no answer from either his wife or from his daughter, because the cleaning woman seemed to have upset once again the tranquility they had just attained. They got up, went to the window and remained there, with their arms about each other. Mr. Samsa turned around in his chair in their direction and observed them quietly for a while. Then he called out, "All right, come here then. Let's finally get rid of old things. And have a little consideration for me." The women attended to him at once. They rushed to him, caressed him, and quickly ended their letters.
"Stasera, la licenziamo", disse il signor Samsa, ma né la mogliené la figlia gli risposero, perché la domestica sembrava avere dinuovo turbato la pace appena riconquistata. Si alzarono, andaronoalla finestra e rimasero lì abbracciate. Il signor Samsa si rigiròsulla poltrona e rimase a guardarle per qualche momento. Poigridò: "Basta ora, venite qua. Smettetela di pensare alle vecchiestorie e abbiate un po' di riguardo anche per me". Le donne ubbidirono subito, corsero verso di lui, lovezzeggiarono, e finirono in fretta le loro lettere.
Then all three left the apartment together, something they had not done for months now, and took the electric tram into the open air outside the city. The car in which they were sitting by themselves was totally engulfed by the warm sun. They talked to each other, leaning back comfortably in their seats, about future prospects, and they discovered that on closer observation these were not at all bad, for all three had employment, about which they had not really questioned each other at all, which was extremely favorable and with especially promising prospects. The greatest improvement in their situation at this moment, of course, had to come from a change of dwelling. Now they wanted to rent an apartment smaller and cheaper but better situated and generally more practical than the present one, which Gregor had found. While they amused themselves in this way, it struck Mr. and Mrs. Samsa almost at the same moment how their daughter, who was getting more animated all the time, had blossomed recently, in spite of all the troubles which had made her cheeks pale, into a beautiful and voluptuous young woman. Growing more silent and almost unconsciously understanding each other in their glances, they thought that the time was now at hand to seek out a good honest man for her. And it was something of a confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions when at the end of their journey the daughter first lifted herself up and stretched her young body.
Uscirono di casa tutti insieme, cosa che non facevano da mesi, eandarono a prendere un tram per uscire dalla città. La vettura, incui sedevano soli, era piena della luce di un sole tiepido. Appoggiati comodamente agli schienali, discussero le possibilitàdel loro avvenire; e, tutto considerato, non le consideravanotroppo brutte: non avevano mai parlato accuratamente delle lorofaccende, ma i loro impieghi erano buoni e soprattuttopromettevano bene. Intanto, si sarebbero procurati un grandevantaggio, cambiando subito casa. Avrebbero preso un appartamentopiù piccolo e più modesto, ma meglio esposto e, in particolare,più pratico di quello attuale, che era stato scelto da Gregorio. Mentre discorrevano di queste cose, quasi nello stesso momento, ilsignore e la signora Samsa si accorsero, guardando la lorofigliola diventare sempre più vivace, come Grete, nonostante lepene che negli ultimi tempi avevano fatto impallidire le sueguance, era diventata una bella, florida ragazza. La loroconversazione languì e gettandosi, senza volere, occhiated'intesa, pensarono che sarebbe stato tempo di cercarle un bravomarito. E fu per loro una conferma dei loro freschi sogni e delleloro buone intenzioni quando, alla fine della corsa, la figliolasi alzò per prima, stirando il suo giovane corpo.