The Metamorphosis

変身

II

II

Gregor first woke up from his heavy swoon-like sleep in the evening twilight. He would certainly have woken up soon afterwards without any disturbance, for he felt himself sufficiently rested and wide awake, although it appeared to him as if a hurried step and a cautious closing of the door to the hall had aroused him. The shine of the electric streetlights lay pale here and there on the ceiling and on the higher parts of the furniture, but underneath around Gregor it was dark. He pushed himself slowly toward the door, still groping awkwardly with his feelers, which he now learned to value for the first time, to check what was happening there. His left side seemed one single long unpleasantly stretched scar, and he really had to hobble on his two rows of legs. In addition, one small leg had been seriously wounded in the course of the morning incident (it was almost a miracle that only one had been hurt) and dragged lifelessly behind.

夕ぐれの薄明りのなかでグレゴールはやっと重苦しい失心したような眠りから目ざめた。きっと、別に妨げがなくともそれほど遅く目ざめるというようなことはなかったろう。というのは、十分に休んだし、眠りたりた感じであった。しかし、すばやい足音と玄関の間に通じるドアを用心深く閉める物音とで目をさまされたように思えるのだった。電気の街燈の光が蒼白く天井と家具の上部とに映っていたが、下にいるグレゴールのまわりは暗かった。今やっとありがたみがわかった。触角でまだ不器用げに探りながら、身体をのろのろとドアのほうへずらしていって、そこで起ったことを見ようとした。身体の左側はただ一本の長い不愉快に引きつる傷口のように思えたが、両側に並んでいる小さな脚で本格的なびっこを引かなければならなかった。それに一本の脚は午前の事件のあいだに重傷を負っていた――ただ一本しか負傷していないことは、ほとんど奇蹟だった――。そして、その脚は死んでうしろへひきずられていた。

By the door he first noticed what had really lured him there: it was the smell of something to eat. For there stood a bowl filled with sweetened milk, in which swam tiny pieces of white bread. He almost laughed with joy, for he now had a much greater hunger than in the morning, and he immediately dipped his head almost up to and over his eyes down into the milk. But he soon drew it back again in disappointment, not just because it was difficult for him to eat on account of his delicate left side (he could eat only if his entire panting body worked in a coordinated way), but also because the milk, which otherwise was his favorite drink and which his sister had certainly placed there for that reason, did not appeal to him at all. He turned away from the bowl almost with aversion and crept back into the middle of the room.

ドアのところでやっと、なんでそこまでおびきよせられていったのか、わかった。それは何か食べものの匂いだった。というのは、そこには甘いミルクを容れた鉢はちがあり、ミルクのなかには白パンの小さな一切れが浮かんでいた。彼はよろこびのあまりほとんど笑い出すところだった。朝よりも空腹はひどく、すぐ眼の上まで頭をミルクのなかに突っこんだ。だが、間もなく失望して頭を引っこめた。扱いにくい身体の左側のために食べることがむずかしいばかりでなく――そして、身体全体がふうふういいながら協力してやっと食べることができたのだ――、その上、ふだんは彼の好物の飲みものであり、きっと妹がそのために置いてくれたのだろうが、ミルクが全然うまくない。それどころか、ほとんど厭気をおぼえて鉢から身体をそむけ、部屋の中央へはってもどっていった。

In the living room, as Gregor saw through the crack in the door, the gas was lit, but where on other occasions at this time of day the father was accustomed to read the afternoon newspaper in a loud voice to his mother and sometimes also to his sister, at the moment not a sound was audible. Now, perhaps this reading aloud, about which his sister always spoken and written to him, had recently fallen out of their general routine. But it was so still all around, in spite of the fact that the apartment was certainly not empty. "What a quiet life the family leads", said Gregor to himself and, as he stared fixedly out in front of him into the darkness, he felt a great pride that he had been able to provide such a life in a beautiful apartment like this for his parents and his sister. But how would things go if now all tranquility, all prosperity, all contentment should come to a horrible end? In order not to lose himself in such thoughts, Gregor preferred to set himself moving and crawled up and down in his room.

グレゴールがドアのすきまから見ると、居間にはガス燈がともっていた。ふだんはこの時刻には父親が午後に出た新聞を母親に、そしてときどきは妹にも声を張り上げて読んで聞かせるのをつねにしていたのだが、今はまったく物音が聞こえなかった。妹がいつも彼に語ったり、手紙に書いたりしていたこの朗読は、おそらく最近ではおよそすたれてしまっていたようだった。だが、たしかに家は空ではないはずなのに、あたりもすっかり静まり返っていた。「家族はなんと静かな生活を送っているんだろう」と、グレゴールは自分に言い聞かせ、暗闇のなかをじっと見つめながら、自分が両親と妹とにこんなりっぱな住居でこんな生活をさせることができることに大きな誇りをおぼえた。だが、もし今、あらゆる安静や幸福や満足が恐怖で終りを告げることになったらどうだろうか。こんな考えに迷いこんでしまわないように、グレゴールはむしろ動き出し、部屋のなかをあちこちはい廻った。

Once during the long evening one side door and then the other door was opened just a tiny crack and quickly closed again. Someone presumably needed to come in but had then thought better of it. Gregor immediately took up a position by the living room door, determined to bring in the hesitant visitor somehow or other or at least to find out who it might be. But now the door was not opened any more, and Gregor waited in vain. Earlier, when the door had been barred, they had all wanted to come in to him; now, when he had opened one door and when the others had obviously been opened during the day, no one came any more, and the keys were stuck in the locks on the outside.

長い夜のあいだに、一度は一方の側のドアが、一度はもう一方のが、ちょっとだけ開き、すぐにまた閉められた。だれかがきっと部屋のなかへ入る用事があったにちがいないのだが、それにしろためらいもあまりに大きかったのだ。そこでグレゴールは居間へ通じるドアのすぐそばにとまっていて、ためらっている訪問者を部屋のなかへ入れるか、あるいは少なくともその訪問者がだれかを知ろうと決心していた。ところが、ドアはもう二度と開かれず、グレゴールが待っていたこともむなしかった。ドアがみな閉ざされていた朝には、みんなが彼の部屋へ入ろうとしたのだったが、彼が一つのドアを開け、ほかのドアも昼のあいだに開けられたようなのに、今となってはだれもやってはこず、鍵も外側からさしこまれていた。

The light in the living room was turned off only late at night, and now it was easy to establish that his parents and his sister had stayed awake all this time, for one could hear clearly as all three moved away on tiptoe. Now it was certain that no one would come into Gregor any more until the morning. Thus, he had a long time to think undisturbed about how he should reorganize his life from scratch. But the high, open room, in which he was compelled to lie flat on the floor, made him anxious, without his being able to figure out the reason, for he had lived in the room for five years. With a half unconscious turn and not without a slight shame he scurried under the couch, where, in spite of the fact that his back was a little cramped and he could no longer lift up his head, he felt very comfortable and was sorry only that his body was too wide to fit completely under it.

夜遅くなってからやっと、居間の明りが消された。それで、両親と妹とがそんなに長いあいだ起きていたことが、たやすくわかった。というのは、はっきり聞き取ることができたのだが、そのとき三人全部が爪先で歩いて遠ざかっていったのだった。それでは朝までもうだれもグレゴールの部屋へは入ってこないというわけだ。だから、自分の生活をここでどういうふうに設計すべきか、じゃまされずにとっくり考える時間がたっぷりとあるわけだ。だが、彼が今べったり床にへばりつくようにしいられている天井の高いひろびろとした部屋は、なぜか理由を見出すことはできなかったけれども、彼の心を不安にした。なにしろ五年来彼が住んでいた部屋なので、どうしてそんな気になるのかわからなかった。――そして、半ば無意識に身体の向きを変え、ちょっと恥かしい気持がないわけではなかったが、急いでソファの下にもぐりこんだ。そこでは、背中が少し抑えつけられるし、頭をもうもたげることができないにもかかわらず、すぐひどく居心地がよいように思われた。ただ、身体の幅が広すぎて、ソファの下にすっぽり入ることができないのが残念だった。

There he remained the entire night, which he spent partly in a state of semi-sleep, out of which his hunger constantly woke him with a start, but partly in a state of worry and murky hopes, which all led to the conclusion that for the time being he would have to keep calm and with patience and the greatest consideration for his family tolerate the troubles which in his present condition he was now forced to cause them.

そこに彼は一晩じゅういた。その夜は、あるいは空腹のためにたえず目をさまさせられながらもうとうとしたり、あるいは心配やはっきりしない希望に思いふけったりしなから、過ごしたのだった。そんな心配や希望を思っても結論は同じで、さしあたりは平静な態度を守り、忍耐と細心な遠慮とによって家族の者たちにさまざまな不快を耐えられるようにしてやらねばならぬという結論だった。そうした不快なことを彼の現在の状態においてはいつかは家族の者たちに与えないわけにはいかないのだ。

Already early in the morning (it was still almost night) Gregor had an opportunity to test the power of the decisions he had just made, for his sister, almost fully dressed, opened the door from the hall into his room and looked eagerly inside. She did not find him immediately, but when she noticed him under the couch (God, he had to be somewhere or other; for he could hardly fly away) she got such a shock that, without being able to control herself, she slammed the door shut once again from the outside. However, as if she was sorry for her behaviour, she immediately opened the door again and walked in on her tiptoes, as if she was in the presence of a serious invalid or a total stranger. Gregor had pushed his head forward just to the edge of the couch and was observing her. Would she really notice that he had left the milk standing, not indeed from any lack of hunger, and would she bring in something else to eat more suitable for him? If she did not do it on her own, he would sooner starve to death than call her attention to the fact, although he had a really powerful urge to move beyond the couch, throw himself at his sister's feet, and beg her for something or other good to eat. But his sister noticed right away with astonishment that the bowl was still full, with only a little milk spilled around it. She picked it up immediately (although not with her bare hands but with a rag), and took it out of the room. Gregor was extremely curious what she would bring as a substitute, and he pictured to himself different ideas about that. But he never could have guessed what his sister out of the goodness of her heart in fact did. She brought him, to test his taste, an entire selection, all spread out on an old newspaper. There were old half-rotten vegetables, bones from the evening meal, covered with a white sauce which had almost solidified, some raisins and almonds, cheese, which Gregor had declared inedible two days earlier, a slice of dry bread, a slice of salted bread smeared with butter. In addition to all this, she put down a bowl (probably designated once and for all as Gregor's) into which she had poured some water. And out of her delicacy of feeling, since she knew that Gregor would not eat in front of her, she went away very quickly and even turned the key in the lock, so that Gregor could now observe that he could make himself as comfortable as he wished. Gregor's small limbs buzzed as the time for eating had come. His wounds must, in any case, have already healed completely. He felt no handicap on that score. He was astonished at that and thought about it, how more than a month ago he had cut his finger slightly with a knife and how this wound had hurt enough even the day before yesterday.

つぎの朝早く、まだほとんど夜のうちだったが、グレゴールは早くも固めたばかりの決心をためしてみる機会をもった。というのは、玄関の間のほうからほとんど完全に身づくろいした妹がドアを開け、緊張した様子でなかをのぞいたのだった。妹はすぐには彼の姿を見つけなかったが、彼がソファの下にいるのをみとめると――どこかにいるにきまっているではないか。飛んで逃げることなんかできなかったのだ――ひどく驚いたので、度を失ってしまって外側からふたたびドアをぴしゃりと閉めてしまった。だが、自分の態度を後悔してでもいるかのように、すぐまたドアを開け、重病人か見知らぬ人間かのところにいるような恰好で爪先で歩いて部屋のなかへ入ってきた。グレゴールは頭をソファのへりのすぐ近くまでのばして、妹をながめた。ミルクをほったらかしにしたのに気づくだろうか。しかもけっして食欲がないからではなかったのだ。また、彼の口にもっと合うような別な食べものをもってくるのだろうか。妹が自分でそうしてくれないだろうか。妹にそのことを注意するくらいなら、飢え死したほうがましだ。それにもかかわらず、ほんとうはソファの下から跳び出して、妹の足もとに身を投げ、何かうまいものをくれといいたくてたまらないのだった。ところが、妹はまだいっぱい入っているミルクの鉢にすぐ気づいて、不思議そうな顔をした。鉢からは少しばかりのミルクがまわりにこぼれているだけだった。妹はすぐ鉢を取り上げたが、それも素手ではなくて、ぼろ切れでやるのだった。そして、鉢をもって出ていった。グレゴールは、妹がかわりに何をもってくるだろうかとひどく好奇心に駆られ、それについてじつにさまざまなことを考えてみた。しかし、妹が親切心から実際にもってきたものを、考えただけではあてることはできなかったにちがいない。彼の嗜好しこうをためすため、いろいろなものを選んできて、それを全部、古い新聞紙の上に拡げたのだった。半分腐った古い野菜、固まってしまった白ソースにくるまった夕食の食べ残りの骨、一粒二粒の乾ぶどうとアーモンド、グレゴールが二日前にまずくて食えないといったチーズ、何もぬってはないパン、バターをぬったパン、バターをぬり、塩味をつけたパン。なおそのほかに、おそらく永久にグレゴール専用ときめたらしい鉢を置いた。それには水がつがれてあった。そして、グレゴールが自分の前では食べないだろうということを妹は知っているので、思いやりから急いで部屋を出ていき、さらに鍵さえかけてしまった。それというのも、好きなように気楽にして食べてもいいのだ、とグレゴールにわからせるためなのだ。そこで食事に取りかかると、グレゴールのたくさんの小さな脚はがさがさいった。どうも傷はみなすでに完全に癒ったにちがいなかった。もう支障は感じなかった。彼はそのことに驚き、一月以上も前にナイフでほんの少しばかり指を切ったが、その傷がおとといもまだかなり痛んだ、ということを考えた。

"Am I now going to be less sensitive," he thought, already sucking greedily on the cheese, which had strongly attracted him right away, more than all the other foods. Quickly and with his eyes watering with satisfaction, he ate one after the other the cheese, the vegetables, and the sauce; the fresh food, by contrast, didn't taste good to him. He couldn't bear the smell and even carried the things he wanted to eat a little distance away. By the time his sister slowly turned the key as a sign that he should withdraw, he was long finished and now lay lazily in the same spot. The noise immediately startled him, in spite of the fact that he was already almost asleep, and he scurried back again under the couch. But it cost him great self-control to remain under the couch, even for the short time his sister was in the room, because his body had filled out somewhat on account of the rich meal and in the narrow space there he could scarcely breathe. In the midst of minor attacks of asphyxiation, he looked at her with somewhat protruding eyes, as his unsuspecting sister swept up with a broom, not just the remnants, but even the foods which Gregor had not touched at all, as if these were also now useless, and as she dumped everything quickly into a bucket, which she closed with a wooden lid, and then carried all of it out of the room. She had hardly turned around before Gregor had already dragged himself out from the couch, stretched out, and let his body expand.

「今では敏感さが減ったのかな」と、彼は思い、早くもチーズをがつがつ食べ始めた。ほかのどの食べものよりも、このチーズが、たちまち、彼を強くひきつけたのだった。つぎつぎと勢いきって、また満足のあまり眼に涙を浮かべながら、彼はチーズ、野菜、ソースと食べていった。ところが新鮮な食べものはうまくなかった。その匂いがまったく我慢できず、そのために食べようと思う品を少しばかりわきへ引きずっていったほどだった。もうとっくにすべてを平らげてしまい、その場でのうのうと横になっていたとき、妹は彼に引き下がるようにと合図するため、ゆっくりと鍵を廻した。彼はもうほとんどうとうとしていたのにもかかわらず、その音でたちまち驚かされてしまった。彼はまたソファの下へ急いでもぐった。だが、妹が部屋にいるほんの短い時間であっても、ソファの下にとどまっているのには、ひどい自制が必要だった。というのは、たっぷり食事をしたため、身体が少しふくらんで、ソファの下の狭い場所ではほとんど呼吸することができなかった。何度か微かに息がつまりそうになりながら、いくらか涙が出てくる眼で彼はながめたのだが、何も気づいていない妹は箒ほうきで残りものを掃き集めるばかりでなく、グレゴールが全然手をつけなかった食べものまで、まるでもう使えないのだというように掃き集めた。そして、そうしたものを全部、バケツのなかへ捨て、木の蓋をして、それからいっさいのものを部屋の外へ運び出していった。妹が向きを変えるか変えないかのうちに、グレゴールは早くもソファの下からはい出て、身体をのばし、息を入れた。

In this way Gregor got his food every day, once in the morning, when his parents and the servant girl were still asleep, and a second time after the common noon meal, for his parents were, as before, asleep then for a little while, and the servant girl was sent off by his sister on some errand or other. Certainly they would not have wanted Gregor to starve to death, but perhaps they could not have endured finding out what he ate other than by hearsay. Perhaps his sister wanted to spare them what was possibly only a small grief, for they were really suffering quite enough already.

こういうふうにして毎日グレゴールは食事を与えられた。一回は朝、両親と女中とがまだ眠っているときで、二回目はみんなの昼食が終ったあとだ。というのは、食事後、両親はしばらく昼寝をし、女中は妹から何か用事を言いつけられて使いに出される。たしかにみんなはグレゴールを飢え死させようとはしなかったが、おそらく彼の食事についてはただ妹の口から伝え聞くという以上の我慢はできなかったのだろう。またきっと妹も、なにしろほんとうに両親は十分苦しんでいるのだから、おそらくほんのわずかな悲しみだけであってもはぶいてやろうとしているのだろう。

What sorts of excuses people had used on that first morning to get the doctor and the locksmith out of the house Gregor was completely unable to ascertain. Since he was not comprehensible, no one, not even his sister, thought that he might be able to understand others, and thus, when his sister was in her room, he had to be content with listening now and then to her sighs and invocations to the saints. Only later, when she had grown somewhat accustomed to everything (naturally there could never be any talk of her growing completely accustomed to it) Gregor sometimes caught a comment which was intended to be friendly or could be interpreted as such. "Well, today it tasted good to him," she said, if Gregor had really cleaned up what he had to eat; whereas, in the reverse situation, which gradually repeated itself more and more frequently, she used to say sadly, "Now everything has stopped again."

あの最初の朝、どんな口実によって医者と鍵屋とを家から追い返したのか、グレゴールは全然知ることができなかった。というのは、彼のいうことは相手には聞き取れないので、だれ一人として、そして妹までも、彼のほうでは他人のいうことがわかる、とは思わなかったのだ。そこで、妹が自分の部屋にいるときにも、ただときどき妹が溜息をもらしたり、聖人たちの名前を唱えるのを聞くだけで満足しなければならなかった。のちになって妹が少しはすべてのことに慣れるようになったときにはじめて、――完全に慣れるというようなことはむろんけっして問題とはならなかった――グレゴールは親しさをこめた言葉とか、あるいはそう解釈される言葉とかをときどき小耳にはさむことができた。グレゴールが食事をさかんに片づけたときには、「ああ、きょうはおいしかったのね」と、妹は言い、しだいに数しげくくり返されるようになったそれと反対に手をつけていない場合には、ほとんど悲しげにこういうのがつねだった。 「またみんな手をつけないであるわ」

But while Gregor could get no new information directly, he did hear a good deal from the room next door, and as soon as he heard voices, he scurried right away to the relevant door and pressed his entire body against it. In the early days especially, there was no conversation which was not concerned with him in some way or other, even if only in secret. For two days at all meal times discussions on that subject could be heard on how people should now behave; but they also talked about the same subject in the times between meals, for there were always at least two family members at home, since no one really wanted to remain in the house alone and people could not under any circumstances leave the apartment completely empty. In addition, on the very first day the servant girl (it was not completely clear what and how much she knew about what had happened) on her knees had begged his mother to let her go immediately, and when she said good bye about fifteen minutes later, she thanked them for the dismissal with tears in her eyes, as if she was receiving the greatest favour which people had shown her there, and, without anyone demanding it from her, she swore a fearful oath not to betray anyone, not even the slightest bit.

ところで、グレゴールは直接にはニュースを聞くことができなかったけれども、隣室の話し声をいろいろ聞き取るのだった。人声が聞こえると、彼はすぐそれに近いドアのところへ急いでいき、身体全体をドアに圧しつける。ことにはじめのうちは、たといただこそこそ話にしろ、何か彼についてのことでないような話はなかった。二日のあいだ、三度三度の食事に、どうしたらいいのだろう、という相談をやっているのが聞かれた。ところで、食事と食事とのあいだの時間にも、同じ話題が語られるのだった。というのは、だれ一人としてひとりだけ留守をしようとしなかったし、またどんなことがあっても住居をすっかり空にすることはできなかったので、いつでも家には少なくとも家族のうちの二人が残っているのだ。女中も最初の日に――女中がこのできごとについて何を知っているのか、またどのくらい知っているのかは、あまり明らかではなかったが――すぐにひまをくれるようにと膝をついて母親に頼み、その十五分後に家を出ていくときには、涙ながらにひまを出してもらったことの礼をいった。まるでこの家で示してもらった最大の恩恵だとでもいうような調子だった。そして、だれも彼女に求めたわけでもないのに、ほんの少しでも人にはもらしませんから、などとひどく本気で誓うのだった。

Now his sister had to team up with his mother to do the cooking, although that didn't create much trouble because people were eating almost nothing. Again and again Gregor listened as one of them vainly invited another one to eat and received no answer other than "Thank you. I have enough" or something like that. And perhaps they had stopped having anything to drink, too. His sister often asked his father whether he wanted to have a beer and gladly offered to fetch it herself, and when his father was silent, she said, in order to remove any reservations he might have, that she could send the caretaker's wife to get it. But then his father finally said a resounding "No," and nothing more would be spoken about it.

女中がひまを取ったので、今では妹が母親といっしょに料理もしなければならなかった。とはいっても、それはたいして骨が折れなかった。なにしろほとんど何も食べなかったのだ。グレゴールはくり返し聞いたのだが、だれかがほかの者に向って食べるようにとうながしてもむだで、出てくる返事といえばただ「いや、たくさん」とかいうような言葉だけにきまっていた。酒類もおそらく全然飲まないようだった。しょっちゅう妹は父親に、ビールを飲みたくないかとたずね、自分で取りにいくから、と心から申し出るのだが、それでも父親が黙っていると、父が世間態をはばかって心配している気持を取り除こうとして、門番のおかみさんにビールを取りにいってもらってもいいのだ、というのだった。ところが父親は最後に大きな声で「いらない」と、いう。そして、それでもう二度とビールのことは話されなかった。

Already during the first day his father laid out all the financial circumstances and prospects to his mother and to his sister as well. From time to time he stood up from the table and pulled out of the small lockbox salvaged from his business, which had collapsed five years previously, some document or other or some notebook. The sound was audible as he opened up the complicated lock and, after removing what he was looking for, locked it up again. These explanations by his father were, in part, the first enjoyable thing that Gregor had the chance to listen to since his imprisonment. He had thought that nothing at all was left over for his father from that business; at least his father had told him nothing to the contradict that view, and Gregor in any case hadn't asked him about it. At the time Gregor's only concern had been to devote everything he had in order to allow his family to forget as quickly as possible the business misfortune which had brought them all into a state of complete hopelessness. And so at that point he'd started to work with a special intensity and from an assistant had become, almost overnight, a traveling salesman, who naturally had entirely different possibilities for earning money and whose successes at work at once were converted into the form of cash commissions, which could be set out on the table at home in front of his astonished and delighted family. Those had been beautiful days, and they had never come back afterwards, at least not with the same splendour, in spite of the fact that Gregor later earned so much money that he was in a position to bear the expenses of the entire family, expenses which he, in fact, did bear. They had become quite accustomed to it, both the family and Gregor as well. They took the money with thanks, and he happily surrendered it, but the special warmth was no longer present. Only the sister had remained still close to Gregor, and it was his secret plan to send her (in contrast to Gregor she loved music very much and knew how to play the violin charmingly) next year to the conservatory, regardless of the great expense which that must necessitate and which would be made up in other ways. Now and then during Gregor's short stays in the city the conservatory was mentioned in conversations with his sister, but always only as a beautiful dream, whose realization was unimaginable, and their parents never listened to these innocent expectations with pleasure. But Gregor thought about them with scrupulous consideration and intended to explain the matter ceremoniously on Christmas Eve.

最初の日のうちに、父親は早くも母親と妹とに向って財産状態とこれからの見通しとについてすっかり話して聞かせた。ときどきテーブルから立ち上がって、五年前に自分の店が破産したときに救い出した小さな金庫から何か書きつけや帳簿をもってくるのだった。手のこんだ鍵を開け、つぎに探しているものを取り出したあとで鍵を閉める音が聞こえてきた。父親のそのときの説明は、一面では、グレゴールが監禁生活をするようになって以来はじめてうれしく思ったことだった。グレゴールはそれまで、あの店から父親の手に残されたものは全然ないのだ、と考えていた。少なくとも父親はグレゴールに対してその反対のことは全然いわなかった。もっともグレゴールもそのことについて父親にたずねたことはなかったのではあった。グレゴールがそのころ気を使っていたことは、家族全員を完全な絶望へ追いこんだ商売上の不幸をできるだけ早く家族の者たちに忘れさせるために全力をつくすということだった。そこであの当時彼は特別に熱心に働き始め、はとんど一夜にしてつまらぬ店員から旅廻りのセールスマンとなった。セールスマンにはむろん金もうけのチャンスがいろいろあり、仕事の成果はすぐさま歩合の形で現金に変わり、それを家にもち帰って、驚きよろこぶ家族の眼の前のテーブルの上にならべて見せることができた。あれはすばらしい時期だった。グレゴールはあとになってからも、家族全体の経費をまかなうことができ、また、事実まかなっただけの金をもうけはしたが、あのはじめのころのすばらしい時期は、少なくとも、あのころの輝かしさで二度くり返されることはなかった。家人もグレゴールもそのことに慣れ、家人は感謝して金を受け取り、彼もよろこんで金を出すのだったが、特別な気持の温かさというものはもう起こらなかった。ただ妹だけはグレゴールに対してまだ近い関係をもちつづけていた。グレゴールとはちがって音楽が大好きで、感動的なほどにヴァイオリンを弾くことができる妹を、来年になったら音楽学校へ入れてやろう、というのが彼のひそかな計画だった。そうなるとひどく金がかかるが、そんなことは考慮しないし、またその金もなんとかしてつくることができるだろう。グレゴールが町に帰ってきてちょっと滞在するあいだには、しょっちゅう妹との会話に音楽学校の話が出てくるのだったが、いつでもただ美しい夢物語にすぎず、その実現は考えられなかった。そして、両親もけっしてこんな無邪気な話を聞くのをよろこびはしなかった。だが、グレゴールはきわめてはっきりとそのことを考えていたのであり、クリスマスの前夜にはそのことをおごそかに宣言するつもりだった。

In his present situation, such futile ideas went through his head, while he pushed himself right up against the door and listened. Sometimes in his general exhaustion he couldn't listen any more and let his head bang listlessly against the door, but he immediately pulled himself together, for even the small sound which he made by this motion was heard near by and silenced everyone. " There he goes on again," said his father after a while, clearly turning towards the door, and only then would the interrupted conversation gradually be resumed again.

ドアにへばりついて身体をまっすぐに起こし、聞き耳を立てているあいだにも、今の自分の状態にはまったく無益なこうした考えが、彼の頭を通り過ぎるのだった。ときどき、全身の疲れのためにもう全然聞いていることができなくなり、うっかりして頭をドアにぶつけ、すぐにまたきちんと立てるのだった。というのは、そんなふうにして彼が立てるどんな小さな物音でも、隣室に聞こえ、みんなの口をつぐませてしまうのだ。「また何をやっているんだろう」などと、しばらくして父親がいう。どうもドアのほうに向きなおっているらしい。それからやっと、中断された会話がふたたびだんだんと始められていく。

Gregor found out clearly enough (for his father tended to repeat himself often in his explanations, partly because he had not personally concerned himself with these matters for a long time now, and partly also because his mother did not understand everything right away the first time) that, in spite all bad luck, a fortune, although a very small one, was available from the old times, which the interest (which had not been touched) had in the intervening time gradually allowed to increase a little. Furthermore, in addition to this, the money which Gregor had brought home every month (he had kept only a few florins for himself) had not been completely spent and had grown into a small capital amount. Gregor, behind his door, nodded eagerly, rejoicing over this unanticipated foresight and frugality. True, with this excess money, he could have paid off more of his father's debt to his employer and the day on which he could be rid of this position would have been a lot closer, but now things were doubtless better the way his father had arranged them.

グレゴールは十分に聞き取ったのだが――というのは、父親は説明をする場合に何度もくり返すのがつねだった。その理由は一つには彼自身がすでに長いあいだこうしたことに気を使わなくなっていたからであり、もう一つには母親が一回聞いただけでは万事をすぐのみこめなかったからだ――、すべての不幸にもかかわらず、なるほどまったくわずかばかりのものではあるけれども昔の財産がまだ残っていて、手をつけないでおいた利子もそのあいだに少しばかり増えた、ということであった。その上、グレゴールが毎月家に入れていた金も――彼は自分ではほんの一グルデンか二グルデンしか取らなかった――すっかり費われてしまったわけではなく、貯えられてちょっとした金額になっていた。グレゴールはドアの背後で熱心にうなずき、この思いがけなかった用心と倹約とをよろこんだ。ほんとうはこの余分な金で社長に対する父親の負債をもっと減らすことができ、この地位から離れることができる日もずっと近くなったことだろうが、今では父親の計らいは疑いもなくいっそうよかったわけだ。

At the moment, however, this money was nowhere near sufficient to permit the family to live on the interest payments. Perhaps it would be enough to maintain the family for one or at most two years, that's all. Thus it came only to an amount which one should not really take out and which must be set aside for an emergency. But the money to live on must be earned. Now, his father was a healthy man, although he was old, who had not worked at all for five years now and thus could not be counted on for very much. He had in these five years, the first holidays of his trouble-filled but unsuccessful life, put on a good deal of fat and thus had become really heavy. And should his old mother now maybe work for money, a woman who suffered from asthma, for whom wandering through the apartment even now was a great strain and who spent every second day on the sofa by the open window labouring for breath? Should his sister earn money, a girl who was still a seventeen-year-old child, whose earlier life style had been so very delightful that it had consisted of dressing herself nicely, sleeping in late, helping around the house, taking part in a few modest enjoyments and, above all, playing the violin? When it came to talking about this need to earn money, at first Gregor went away from the door and threw himself on the cool leather sofa beside the door, for he was quite hot from shame and sorrow.

ところで、こんな金では家族の者が利息で生活していけるなどというのにはまったくたりない。おそらく家族を一年か、せいぜいのところ二年ぐらい支えていくのに十分なだけだろう。それ以上のものではなかった。つまり、ほんとうは手をつけてはならない、そしてまさかのときの用意に取っておかなければならない程度の金額にすぎなかった。生活費はかせがなければならない。ところで、父親は健康だがなにしろ老人で、もう五年間も全然仕事をせず、いずれにしてもあまり働けるという自信はない。骨は折れたが成果のあがらなかった生涯の最初の休暇であったこの五年のあいだに、すっかりふとってしまって、そのために身体も自由に動かなくなっていた。そこで母親が働かなければならないのだろうが、これが喘息ぜんそくもちで、家のなかを歩くのにさえ骨が折れる始末であって、一日おきに呼吸困難に陥り、開いた窓の前のソファの上で過ごさなければならない。すると妹がかせがなければならないというわけだが、これはまだ十七歳の子供であり、これまでの生活ではひどく恵まれて育ってきたのだった。きれいな服を着て、たっぷりと眠り、家事の手伝いをし、ささやかな気ばらしにときどき加わり、何よりもヴァイオリンを弾く、という生活のしかただった。どうしてこんな妹がかせぐことができるだろうか。家族の話が金をかせがなければならないというこのことになると、はじめのうちはグレゴールはいつもドアを離れて、ドアのそばにある冷たい革のソファに身を投げるのだった。というのは、恥辱と悲しみのあまり身体がかっと熱くなるのだった。

Often he lay there all night long. He didn't sleep a moment and just scratched on the leather for hours at a time. He undertook the very difficult task of shoving a chair over to the window. Then he crept up on the window sill and, braced in the chair, leaned against the window to look out, obviously with some memory or other of the satisfaction which that used to bring him in earlier times. Actually from day to day he perceived things with less and less clarity, even those a short distance away: the hospital across the street, the all too frequent sight of which he had previously cursed, was not visible at all any more, and if he had not been precisely aware that he lived in the quiet but completely urban Charlotte Street, he could have believed that from his window he was peering out at a featureless wasteland, in which the gray heaven and the gray earth had merged and were indistinguishable. His attentive sister must have observed a couple of times that the chair stood by the window; then, after cleaning up the room, each time she pushed the chair back right against the window and from now on she even left the inner casement open.

しばしば彼はそのソファの上で長い夜をあかし、一瞬も眠らず、ただ何時間でも革をむしっているのだった。あるいは、大変な労苦もいとわず、椅子を一つ窓ぎわへ押していき、それから窓の手すりにはい上がって、椅子で身体を支えたまま窓によりかかっていた。以前窓からながめているときに感じた解放されるような気持でも思い出しているらしかった。というのは、実際、少し離れた事物も一日一日とだんだんぼんやり見えるようになっていっていた。以前はしょっちゅう見えていまいましくてたまらなかった向う側の病院も、もう全然見えなくなっていた。静かな、しかしまったく都会的であるシャルロッテ街に自分が住んでいるのだということをよく知っていなかったならば、彼の窓から見えるのは、灰色の空と灰色の大地とが見わけられないくらいにつながっている荒野なのだ、と思いかねない有様だった。注意深い妹は二度だけ椅子が窓ぎわにあるのに気づいたにちがいなかったが、それからは部屋の掃除をしたあとでいつでも椅子をきちんと窓べに押してやり、おまけにそのときからは内側の窓も開け放しておいた。

If Gregor had only been able to speak to his sister and thank her for everything that she had to do for him, he would have tolerated her service more easily. As it was he suffered under it. The sister admittedly sought to cover up the awkwardness of everything as much as possible, and, as time went by, she naturally got more successful at it. But with the passing of time Gregor also came to understand everything more precisely. Even her entrance was terrible for him. As soon as she entered, she ran straight to the window, without taking the time to shut the door (in spite of the fact that she was otherwise very considerate in sparing anyone the sight of Gregor's room), and yanked the window open with eager hands, as if she was almost suffocating, and remained for a while by the window breathing deeply, even when it was still so cold. With this running and noise she frightened Gregor twice every day. The entire time he trembled under the couch, and yet he knew very well that she would certainly have spared him gladly if it had only been possible to remain with the window closed in a room where Gregor lived.

もしグレゴールが妹と話すことができ、彼女が自分のためにしなければならないこうしたすべてのことに対して礼をいうことができるのであったら、彼女の奉仕をもっと気軽に受けることができただろう。ところが、彼はそれが苦しくてたまらなかった。妹はむろん、いっさいのことのつらい思いをぬぐい去ろうと努めていたし、時がたつにつれてむろんだんだんそれがうまくいくようになったのだが、グレゴールも時間がたつとともにいっさいをはじめのころよりもずっと正確に見て取るようになった。妹が部屋へ足を踏み入れるだけで、彼には恐ろしくてならなかった。ふだんはグレゴールの部屋をだれにも見せまいと気をくばっているのだが、部屋に入ってくるやいなや、ドアを閉める手間さえかけようとせず、まっすぐに窓へと走りよって、まるで息がつまりそうだといわんばかりの恰好であわただしく両手で窓を開き、まだいくら寒くてもしばらく窓ぎわに立ったままでいて、深呼吸する。こうやって走ってさわがしい音を立てることで、グレゴールを日に二度びっくりさせるのだ。そのあいだじゅう、彼はソファの下でふるえていた。だが彼にはよくわかるのだが、もしグレゴールがいる部屋で窓を閉め切っていることができるものならば、きっとこんなことはやりたくはないのだ。

On one occasion (about one month had already gone by since Gregor's transformation, and there was now no particular reason any more for his sister to be startled at Gregor's appearance) she came a little earlier than usual and came upon Gregor as he was still looking out the window, immobile and well positioned to frighten someone. It would not have come as a surprise to Gregor if she had not come in, since his position was preventing her from opening the window immediately. But she not only did not step inside; she even retreated and shut the door. A stranger really could have concluded from this that Gregor had been lying in wait for her and wanted to bite her. Of course, Gregor immediately concealed himself under the couch, but he had to wait until the noon meal before his sister returned, and she seemed much less calm than usual. From this he realized that his appearance was still constantly intolerable to her and must remain intolerable in future, and that she really had to exert a lot of self-control not to run away from a glimpse of only the small part of his body which stuck out from under the couch. In order to spare her even this sight, one day he dragged the sheet on his back onto the couch (this task took him four hours) and arranged it in such a way that he was now completely concealed and his sister, even if she bent down, could not see him. If this sheet was not necessary as far as she was concerned, then she could remove it, for it was clear enough that Gregor could not derive any pleasure from isolating himself away so completely. But she left the sheet just as it was, and Gregor believed he even caught a look of gratitude when on one occasion he carefully lifted up the sheet a little with his head to check as his sister took stock of the new arrangement.

あるとき、グレゴールの変身が起ってから早くも一月がたっていたし、妹ももうグレゴールの姿を見てびっくりしてしまうかくべつの理由などはなくなっていたのだが、妹はいつもよりも少し早くやってきて、グレゴールが身動きもしないで、ほんとうにおどかすような恰好で身体を立てたまま、窓から外をながめている場面にぶつかった。妹が部屋に入ってこなかったとしても、グレゴールにとっては意外ではなかったろう。なにしろそういう姿勢を取っていることで、すぐに窓を開けるじゃまをしていたわけだからだ。ところが、妹はなかへ入ってこないばかりか、うしろへ飛びのいて、ドアを閉めてしまった。見知らぬ者ならば、グレゴールが妹のくるのを待ちうかがっていて、妹にかみつこうとしているのだ、と思ったことだろう。グレゴールはむろんすぐソファの下に身を隠したが、妹がまたやってくるまでには正午まで待たねばならなかった。そのことから、自分の姿を見ることは妹にはまだ我慢がならないのだし、これからも妹にはずっと我慢できないにちがいない、ソファの下から出ているほんのわずかな身体の部分を見ただけでも逃げ出したいくらいで、逃げ出していかないのはよほど自分を抑えているにちがいないのだ、と彼ははっきり知った。妹に自分の姿を見せないために、彼はある日、背中に麻布をのせてソファの上まで運んでいった。――この仕事には四時間もかかった――そして、自分の身体がすっかり隠れてしまうように、また妹がかがみこんでも見えないようにした。もしこの麻布は不必要だと妹が思うならば、妹はそれを取り払ってしまうこともできるだろう。というのは、身体をこんなふうにすっかり閉じこめてしまうことは、グレゴールにとってなぐさみごとなんかではないからだ。ところが、妹は麻布をそのままにしておいた。おまけにグレゴールが一度頭で麻布を用心深く少しばかり上げて、妹がこの新しいしかけをどう思っているのか見ようとしたとき、妹の眼に感謝の色さえ見て取ったように思ったのだった。

In the first two weeks his parents could not bring themselves to visit him, and he often heard how they fully acknowledged his sister's present work; whereas, earlier they had often got annoyed at his sister because she had seemed to them a somewhat useless young woman. However, now both his father and his mother often waited in front of Gregor's door while his sister cleaned up inside, and as soon as she came out she had to explain in detail how things looked in the room, what Gregor had eaten, how he had behaved this time, and whether perhaps a slight improvement was perceptible. In any event, his mother comparatively soon wanted to visit Gregor, but his father and his sister restrained her, at first with reasons which Gregor listened to very attentively and which he completely endorsed. Later, however, they had to hold her back forcefully, and when she then cried "Let me go to Gregor. He's my unlucky son! Don't you understand that I have to go to him?" Gregor then thought that perhaps it would be a good thing if his mother came in, not every day, of course, but maybe once a week. She understood everything much better than his sister, who in spite of all her courage was still a child and, in the last analysis, had perhaps undertaken such a difficult task only out of childish recklessness.

最初の二週間には、両親はどうしても彼の部屋に入ってくることができなかった。これまで両親は妹を役立たずの娘と思っていたのでしばしば腹を立てていたが、今の妹の仕事ぶりを完全にみとめていることを、グレゴールはしばしば聞いた。ところが両親はしばしば、妹がグレゴールの部屋で掃除しているあいだ、二人で彼の部屋の前に待ちかまえていて、妹が出てくるやいなや、部屋のなかがどんな様子であるか、グレゴールが何を食べたか、そのとき彼がどんな態度を取ったか、きっとちょっと快方へ向いているのが見られたのでないか、などと語って聞かせなければならなかった。ところで母親のほうは比較的早くグレゴールを訪ねてみようと思ったのだったが、父親と妹とがまずいろいろ理にかなった理由を挙げて母親を押しとどめた。それらの理由をグレゴールはきわめて注意深く聞いていたが、いずれもまったく正しいと思った。ところが、あとになると母親を力ずくでとどめなければならなかった。そして、とめられた母親が「グレゴールのところへいかせて! あの子はわたしのかわいそうな息子なんだから! わたしがあの子のところへいかないではいられないということが、あんたたちにはわからないの?」と叫ぶときには、むろん毎日ではないがおそらく週に一度は母親が入ってきたほうがいいのではないか、とグレゴールは思った。なんといっても母親のほうが妹よりは万事をよく心得ているのだ。妹はいくらけなげとはいってもまだ子供で、結局は子供らしい軽率さからこんなにむずかしい任務を引き受けているのだ。

Gregor's wish to see his mother was soon realized. While during the day Gregor, out of consideration for his parents, did not want to show himself by the window, he couldn't crawl around very much on the few square metres of the floor. He found it difficult to bear lying quietly during the night, and soon eating no longer gave him the slightest pleasure. So for diversion he acquired the habit of crawling back and forth across the walls and ceiling. He was especially fond of hanging from the ceiling. The experience was quite different from lying on the floor. It was easier to breathe, a slight vibration went through his body, and in the midst of the almost happy amusement which Gregor found up there, it could happen that, to his own surprise, he let go and hit the floor. However, now he naturally controlled his body quite differently, and he did not injure himself in such a great fall. His sister noticed immediately the new amusement which Gregor had found for himself (for as he crept around he left behind here and there traces of his sticky stuff), and so she got the idea of making Gregor's creeping around as easy as possible and thus of removing the furniture which got in the way, especially the chest of drawers and the writing desk.

母親に会いたいというグレゴールの願いは、まもなくかなえられた。昼のあいだは両親のことを考えて窓ぎわにはいくまい、とグレゴールは考えていたが、一、二メートル四方の床の上ではたいしてはい廻るわけにいかなかったし、床の上にじっとしていることは夜なかであっても我慢することがむずかしく、食べものもやがてもう少しも楽しみではなくなっていたので、気ばらしのために壁の上や天井を縦横十文字にはい廻る習慣を身につけていた。とくに上の天井にぶら下がっているのが好きだった。床の上にじっとしているのとはまったくちがう。息がいっそう自由につけるし、軽い振動が身体のなかを伝わっていく。そして、グレゴールが天井にぶら下がってほとんど幸福な放心状態にあるとき、脚を放して床の上へどすんと落ちて自分でも驚くことがあった。だが、今ではむろん以前とはちがって自分の身体を自由にすることができ、こんな大きな墜落のときでさえけがをすることはなかった。妹は、グレゴールが自分で考え出したこの新しいなぐさみにすぐ気づき――実際、彼ははい廻るときに身体から出る粘液ねんえきの跡をところどころに残すのだった、――グレゴールがはい廻るのを最大の規模で可能にさせてやろうということを考え、そのじゃまになる家具、ことに何よりもたんすと机とを取り払おうとした。

But she was in no position to do this by herself. She did not dare to ask her father to help, and the servant girl would certainly not have assisted her, for although this girl, about sixteen years old, had courageously remained since the dismissal of the previous cook, she had begged for the privilege of being allowed to stay permanently confined to the kitchen and of having to open the door only in answer to a special summons. Thus, his sister had no other choice but to involve his mother while his father was absent. His mother approached Gregor's room with cries of excited joy, but she fell silent at the door. Of course, his sister first checked whether everything in the room was in order. Only then did she let his mother walk in. In great haste Gregor had drawn the sheet down even further and wrinkled it more. The whole thing really looked just like a coverlet thrown carelessly over the couch. On this occasion, Gregor held back from spying out from under the sheet. Thus, he refrained from looking at his mother this time and was just happy that she had come. "Come on; he is not visible," said his sister, and evidently led his mother by the hand. Now Gregor listened as these two weak women shifted the still heavy old chest of drawers from its position, and as his sister constantly took on herself the greatest part of the work, without listening to the warnings of his mother who was afraid that she would strain herself. The work lasted a long time. After about a quarter of an hour had already gone by his mother said that it would be better if they left the chest of drawers where it was, because, in the first place, it was too heavy: they would not be finished before his father's arrival, and with the chest of drawers in the middle of the room it would block all Gregor's pathways, but, in the second place, it might not be certain that Gregor would be pleased with the removal of the furniture. To her the reverse seemed to be true; the sight of the empty walls pierced her right to the heart, and why should Gregor not feel the same, since he had been accustomed to the room furnishings for a long time and in an empty room would thus feel himself abandoned.

ところが、その仕事はひとりではやれなかった。父親の助けを借りようとは思わなかったし、女中もきっとそれほど役には立たないだろう。というのは、この十六歳ばかりの少女は、前の料理女がひまを取ってからけなげに我慢していたが、台所の鍵はたえずかけておいて、ただ特別に呼ばれたときだけ開けるだけでよいということにしてくれ、と願い出て、許されていたのだった。そこで妹としては、父親がいないときを見計らって母親をつれていくよりほかに方法がなかった。興奮したよろこびの声を挙げて母親はやってきたが、グレゴールの部屋のドアの前で黙りこんでしまった。はじめはむろん妹が部屋のなかが万事ちゃんとしているかどうかを検分したが、つぎにやっと母親を入らせた。グレゴールは大急ぎで麻布をいっそう深く、またいつもよりしわをたくさんつくってひっかぶった。全体は実際にただ偶然ソファの上に投げられた麻布のように見えるだけだった。グレゴールは今度も、麻布の下でこっそり様子をうかがうことをやめなかった。今回すぐ母親を見ることは断念した。ただ、母親がやってきたことだけをよろこんだ。「いらっしゃいな、見えないわよ」と、妹がいった。母親の手を引っ張っているらしかった。二人のかよわい女が相当重い古たんすを置き場所から動かし、無理をするのでないかと恐れる母親のいましめの言葉を聞こうとしないで妹がたえず仕事の大部分を自分の身に引き受けている様子を、グレゴールは聞いていた。ひどく時間がかかった。十五分もかかった仕事のあとで、母親はたんすはやっぱりこの部屋に置いておくほうがいいのでないか、と言い出した。第一に、重すぎて、二人で父親の帰ってくるまでに片づけることはできないだろう。それで部屋のまんなかにたんすが残ることになったら、グレゴールの動き廻るのにじゃまになるだろう。第二に、家具を取り片づけたらグレゴールがどう思うことかわかったものではない。自分は今のままにしておくほうがいいように思う。何もない裸の壁をながめると、胸がしめつけられるような気がする。そして、どうしてグレゴールだってそんな気持がしないはずがあろうか。あの子はずっと部屋の家具に慣れ親しんできたのだから、がらんとした部屋では見捨てられてしまったような気がするだろう。

"And is it not the case," his mother concluded very quietly, almost whispering as if she wished to prevent Gregor, whose exact location she really didn't know, from hearing even the sound of her voice (for she was convinced that he did not understand her words), "and isn't it a fact that by removing the furniture we're showing that we're giving up all hope of an improvement and are leaving him to his own resources without any consideration? I think it would be best if we tried to keep the room exactly in the condition in which it was before, so that, when Gregor returns to us, he finds everything unchanged and can forget the intervening time all the more easily."

「それに、こんなことをしたら」と、最後に母親は声を低めた。それまでも、ほとんどささやくようにものをいって、グレゴールがどこにいるのかはっきり知らないままに、声の響きさえもグレゴールに聞かれることを避けたいと思っているようであった。グレゴールが人の言葉を聞きわけることはできない、と母親は確信しているのだ。「それに、こんなことをしたら、まるで家具を片づけることによって、わたしたちがあの子のよくなることをまったくあきらめてしまい、あの子のことをかまわずにほったらかしにしているということを見せつけるようなものじゃないかい? わたしたちが部屋をすっかり以前のままにしておくように努め、グレゴールがまたわたしたちのところへもどってきたときに、なんにも変っていないことを見て、それだけたやすくそれまでのことが忘れられるようにしておくことがいちばんいい、とわたしは思うよ」

As he heard his mother's words Gregor realized that the lack of all immediate human contact, together with the monotonous life surrounded by the family over the course of these two months must have confused his understanding, because otherwise he couldn't explain to himself that he in all seriousness could've been so keen to have his room emptied. Was he really eager to let the warm room, comfortably furnished with pieces he had inherited, be turned into a cavern in which he would, of course, then be able to crawl about in all directions without disturbance, but at the same time with a quick and complete forgetting of his human past as well? Was he then at this point already on the verge of forgetting and was it only the voice of his mother, which he had not heard for along time, that had aroused him? Nothing was to be removed; everything must remain. In his condition he couldn't function without the beneficial influences of his furniture. And if the furniture prevented him from carrying out his senseless crawling about all over the place, then there was no harm in that, but rather a great benefit.

母親のこうした言葉を聞いて、直接の人間的な話しかけが自分に欠けていることが、家族のあいだの単調な生活と結びついて、この二カ月のあいだにすっかり自分の頭を混乱させてしまったにちがいない、とグレゴールは知った。というのは、自分の部屋がすっかり空っぽにされたほうがいいなどとまじめに思うようでは、そうとでも考えなければほかに説明のしようがなかった。彼はほんとうに、先祖伝来の家具をいかにも気持よく置いているこの暖かい部屋を洞窟どうくつに変えるつもりなのだろうか。がらんどうになればむろんあらゆる方向に障害なくはい廻ることができるだろうが、しかし自分の人間的な過去を同時にたちまちすっかり忘れてしまうのではなかろうか。今はすでにすっかり忘れようとしているのではないだろうか。そして、長いあいだ聞かなかった母親の声だけがやっと彼の心を正気にもどしたのではあるまいか。何一つ取りのけてはならない。みんなもとのままに残されていなければならない。家具が自分の状態の上に及ぼすいい影響というものがなくてはならない。そして、たとい家具が意味もなくはい廻るじゃまになっても、それは損害ではなくて、大きな利益なのだ。

But his sister unfortunately thought otherwise. She had grown accustomed, certainly not without justification, so far as the discussion of matters concerning Gregor was concerned, to act as an special expert with respect to their parents, and so now the mother's advice was for his sister sufficient reason to insist on the removal, not only of the chest of drawers and the writing desk, which were the only items she had thought about at first, but also of all the furniture, with the exception of the indispensable couch. Of course, it was not only childish defiance and her recent very unexpected and hard won self-confidence which led her to this demand. She had also actually observed that Gregor needed a great deal of room to creep about; the furniture, on the other hand, as far as one could see, was not of the slightest use.

ところが、妹の考えは残念なことにちがっていた。妹はグレゴールに関する件の話合いでは両親に対して特別事情に明るい人間としての態度を取ることに慣れていたし、それもまんざら不当とはいえなかった。そこで今の場合にも、母親の忠告は妹にとって、彼女がひとりではじめ動かそうと考えていたたんすと机とを片づけるだけではなく、どうしてもなくてはならないソファは例外として、家具全体を片づけようと固執する十分な理由であった。妹がこうした要求をもち出すようになったのは、むろんただ子供らしい反抗心と、最近思いがけなくも、そして苦労してやっと手に入れた自信とのためばかりではなかった。実際、妹はグレゴールがはい廻るのには広い場所が必要で、それに反して家具はだれも見て取ることができるようにほんの少しでも役に立つわけではない、ということを見て取っていたのだった。

But perhaps the enthusiastic sensibility of young women of her age also played a role. This feeling sought release at every opportunity, and with it Grete now felt tempted to want to make Gregor's situation even more terrifying, so that then she would be able to do even more for him than now. For surely no one except Grete would ever trust themselves to enter a room in which Gregor ruled the empty walls all by himself. And so she did not let herself be dissuaded from her decision by her mother, who in this room seemed uncertain of herself in her sheer agitation and soon kept quiet, helping his sister with all her energy to get the chest of drawers out of the room. Now, Gregor could still do without the chest of drawers if need be, but the writing desk really had to stay. And scarcely had the women left the room with the chest of drawers, groaning as they pushed it, when Gregor stuck his head out from under the sofa to take a look how he could intervene cautiously and with as much consideration as possible. But unfortunately it was his mother who came back into the room first, while Grete had her arms wrapped around the chest of drawers in the next room and was rocking it back and forth by herself, without moving it from its position. His mother was not used to the sight of Gregor; he could have made her ill, and so, frightened, Gregor scurried backwards right to the other end of the sofa, but he could no longer prevent the sheet from moving forward a little. That was enough to catch his mother's attention. She came to a halt, stood still for a moment, and then went back to Grete.

だが、おそらくは彼女の年ごろの少女らしい熱中もそれに加わったのだろう。そういう熱中しやすい心は、どんな機会にも満足を見出そうと努めているのであって、今はこのグレーテという少女を通じて、グレゴールの状態をもっと恐ろしいものにして、つぎに今まで以上にグレゴールのために働きたいという誘惑にかられているのだ。というのは、がらんとした四方の壁をグレゴールがまったくひとりで支配しているような部屋には、グレーテ以外のどんな人間でもけっしてあえて入ってこようとはしないだろう。

そこで妹は母親の忠告によって自分の決心をひるがえさせられたりしてはいなかった。母親はこの部屋でももっぱら不安のためにおろおろしているように見えたが、まもなく黙ってしまい、たんすを運び出すことで力の限り妹を手伝っていた。ところで、たんすはやむをえないとあればグレゴールとしてもなしですませることができたが、机のほうはどうしても残さなければならない。二人の女がはあはあ言いながらたんすを押して部屋を出ていくやいなや、グレゴールはソファの下から頭を突き出し、どうやったら用心深く、できるだけおだやかにこの取り片づけに干渉できるかを見ようとした。だが、あいにく、はじめにもどってきたのは母親だった。グレーテのほうは隣室でたんすにしがみつき、それをひとりであちこちとゆすっていたが、むろんたんすの位置を動かすことはできなかった。だが、母親はグレゴールの姿を見ることに慣れていない。姿を見せたら、母親を病気にしてしまうかもしれない。そこでグレゴールは驚いてあとしざりしてソファの別なはしまで急いでいった。だが、麻布の前が少しばかり動くことを妨げることはもうできなかった。それだけで母親の注意をひくのには十分だった。母親はぴたりと足をとめ、一瞬じっと立っていたが、つぎにグレーテのところへもどっていった。

Although Gregor kept repeating to himself over and over that really nothing unusual was going on, that only a few pieces of furniture were being rearranged, he soon had to admit to himself that the movements of the women to and fro, their quiet conversations, the scratching of the furniture on the floor affected him like a great swollen commotion on all sides, and, so firmly was he pulling in his head and legs and pressing his body into the floor, he had to tell himself unequivocally that he wouldn't be able to endure all this much longer. They were cleaning out his room, taking away from him everything he cherished; they had already dragged out the chest of drawers in which the fret saw and other tools were kept, and they were now loosening the writing desk which was fixed tight to the floor, the desk on which he, as a business student, a school student, indeed even as an elementary school student, had written out his assignments. At that moment he really didn't have any more time to check the good intentions of the two women, whose existence he had in any case almost forgotten, because in their exhaustion they were working really silently, and the heavy stumbling of their feet was the only sound to be heard.

実のところ何も異常なことが起っているわけではない、ただ一つ二つの家具が置き変えられるだけだ、とグレゴールは何度か自分に言い聞かせたにもかかわらず、彼はまもなくみとめないわけにはいかなくなったのだが、この女たちの出たり入ったり、彼女らの小さなかけ声、床の上で家具のきしむ音、それらはまるで四方から数を増していく大群集のように彼に働きかけ、頭と脚とをしっかとちぢめて身体を床にぴったりとつけていたけれども、おれはもうこうしたことのすべてを我慢できなくなるだろう、とどうしても自分に言い聞かせないではいられなくなった。女たちは彼の部屋を片づけているのだ。彼にとって親しかったいっさいのものを取り上げるのだ。糸のこやそのほかの道具類が入っているたんすは、二人の手でもう運び出されてしまった。今度は、床にしっかとめりこんでいる机をぐらぐら動かしている。彼は商科大学の学生として、中学校の生徒として、いやそればかりでなく小学校の生徒として、あの机の上で宿題をやったものだった。――もう実際、二人の女たちの善意の意図をためしているひまなんかないのだ。それに彼は二人がいることなどはほとんど忘れていた。というのは、二人は疲れてしまったためにもう無言で立ち働いていて、彼女たちのどたばたいう重い足音だけしか聞こえなかった。

And so he scuttled out (the women were just propping themselves up on the writing desk in the next room in order to take a breather) changing the direction of his path four times. He really didn't know what he should rescue first. Then he saw hanging conspicuously on the wall, which was otherwise already empty, the picture of the woman dressed in nothing but fur. He quickly scurried up over it and pressed himself against the glass that held it in place and which made his hot abdomen feel good. At least this picture, which Gregor at the moment completely concealed, surely no one would now take away. He twisted his head towards the door of the living room to observe the women as they came back in.

そこで彼ははい出ていき――女たちはちょうど隣室で少しばかり息を入れようとして机によりかかっているところだった――進む方向を四度変えたが、まず何を救うべきか、ほんとうにわからなかった。そのとき、ほかはすっかりがらんとしてしまった壁に、すぐ目立つように例の毛皮ずくめの貴婦人の写真がかかっているのを見た。そこで、急いではい上がっていき、額のガラスにぴたりと身体を押しつけた。ガラスはしっかりと彼の身体をささえ、彼の熱い腹に快感を与えた。少なくとも、グレゴールが今こうやってすっかり被い隠しているこの写真だけはきっとだれももち去りはすまい。彼は女たちがもどってくるのを見ようとして、居間のドアのほうへ頭を向けた。

They had not allowed themselves very much rest and were coming back right away. Grete had placed her arm around her mother and held her tightly. "So what shall we take now?" said Grete and looked around her. Then her glance crossed with Gregor's from the wall. She kept her composure only because her mother was there. She bent her face towards her mother in order to prevent her from looking around, and said, although in a trembling voice and too quickly, "Come, wouldn't it be better to go back to the living room for just another moment?" Grete's purpose was clear to Gregor: she wanted to bring his mother to a safe place and then chase him down from the wall. Well, let her just attempt that! He squatted on his picture and did not hand it over. He would sooner spring into Grete's face.

母と妹とはそれほど休息を取ってはいないで、早くももどってきた。グレーテは母親の身体に片腕を廻し、ほとんど抱き運ぶような恰好だった。 「それじゃ、今度は何をもっていきましょう」と、グレーテはいって、あたりを見廻した。そのとき、彼女のまなざしと壁の上にいるグレゴールのまなざしとが交叉した。きっとただ母親がこの場にいるというだけの理由で度を失わないように気を取りなおしたのだろう。母親があたりを見廻さないように、妹は顔を母親のほうに曲げて、つぎのようにいった。とはいっても、ふるえながら、よく考えてもみないでいった言葉だった。 「いらっしゃい、ちょっと居間にもどらない?」グレーテの意図はグレゴールには明らかであった。母親を安全なところへつれ出し、それから彼を壁から追い払おうというのだ。だが、そんなことをやってみるがいい! 彼は写真の上に坐りこんで、渡しはしない。それどころか、グレーテの顔めがけて飛びつこうという身構えだ。

But Grete's words had immediately made the mother very uneasy. She walked to the side, caught sight of the enormous brown splotch on the flowered wallpaper, and, before she became truly aware that what she was looking at was Gregor, screamed out in a high pitched raw voice "Oh God, oh God" and fell with outstretched arms, as if she was surrendering everything, down onto the couch and lay there motionless. "Gregor, you. . .," cried out his sister with a raised fist and an urgent glare. Since his transformation those were the first words which she had directed right at him. She ran into the room next door to bring some spirits or other with which she could revive her mother from her fainting spell. Gregor wanted to help as well (there was time enough to save the picture), but he was stuck fast on the glass and had to tear himself loose forcefully. Then he also scurried into the next room, as if he could give his sister some advice, as in earlier times, but then he had to stand there idly behind her, while she rummaged about among various small bottles. Still, she was frightened when she turned around. A bottle fell onto the floor and shattered. A splinter of glass wounded Gregor in the face, some corrosive medicine or other dripped over him. Now, without lingering any longer, Grete took as many small bottles as she could hold and ran with them into her mother. She slammed the door shut with her foot. Gregor was now shut off from his mother, who was perhaps near death, thanks to him. He could not open the door, and he did not want to chase away his sister who had to remain with her mother. At this point he had nothing to do but wait, and overwhelmed with self-reproach and worry, he began to creep and crawl over everything: walls, furniture, and ceiling,. Finally, in his despair, as the entire room started to spin around him, he fell onto the middle of the large table.

ところが、グレーテがそんなことをいったことが母親をますます不安にしてしまった。母親はわきへよって、花模様の壁紙の上に大きな褐色の一つの斑点をみとめた。そして、自分の見たものがグレゴールだとほんとうに意識するより前に、あらあらしい叫び声で「ああ、ああ!」というなり、まるでいっさいを放棄するかのように両腕を拡げてソファの上に倒れてしまい、身動きもしなくなった。 「グレゴールったら!」と、妹は拳を振り上げ、はげしい眼つきで叫んだ。これは変身以来、妹が彼に向って直接いった最初の言葉だった。妹は母親を気絶から目ざめさせるための気つけ薬を何か取りに隣室へかけていった。グレゴールも手伝いたかった。――写真を救うにはまだ余裕があった――だが、彼はガラスにしっかとへばりついていて、身体を引き離すためには無理しなければならなかった。それから自分も隣室へ入っていった。まるで以前のように妹に何か忠告を与えてやれると、いわんばかりであった。だが、何もやれないでむなしく妹のうしろに立っていなければならなかった。いろいろ小壜をひっかき廻していた妹は、振り返ってみて、またびっくりした。壜が床の上に落ちて、くだけた。一つの破片がグレゴールの顔を傷つけた。何か腐蝕性の薬品が彼の身体のまわりに流れた。グレーテは長いことそこにとどまってはいないで、手にもてるだけ多くの小壜をもって、母親のところへかけていった。ドアは足でぴしゃりと閉めた。グレゴールは今は母親から遮断しゃだんされてしまった。その母親は彼の罪によっておそらくほとんど死にそうになっているのだ。ドアを開けてはならなかった。自分が入っていくことによって、母親のそばにいなければならない妹を追い立てたくはなかった。今は待っているよりほかになんの手だてもなかった。そして、自責と心配とに駆り立てられて、はい廻り始め、すべてのものの上をはっていった。壁の上も家具や天井の上もはって歩き、とうとう絶望のうちに、彼のまわりの部屋全体がぐるぐる廻り始めたときに、大きなテーブルの上にどたりと落ちた。

A short time elapsed. Gregor lay there limply. All around was still. Perhaps that was a good sign. Then there was ring at the door. The servant girl was naturally shut up in her kitchen, and Grete must therefore go to open the door. The father had arrived. "What's happened," were his first words. Grete's appearance had told him everything. Grete replied with a dull voice; evidently she was pressing her face into her father's chest: "Mother fainted, but she's getting better now. Gregor has broken loose." "Yes, I have expected that," said his father, "I always told you that, but you women don't want to listen."

ちょっとばかり時が流れた。グレゴールは疲れ果ててそこに横たわっていた。あたりは静まり返っている。きっといいしるしなのだろう。そのとき、玄関のベルが鳴った。女中はむろん台所に閉じこめられているので、グレーテが開けなければならなかった。父親が帰ってきたのだった。「何が起ったんだ?」というのが彼の最初の言葉だった。グレーテの様子がきっとすべてを物語っているにちがいなかった。グレーテは息苦しそうな声で答えていたが、きっと顔を父親の胸にあてているらしい。 「お母さんが気絶したの。でももうよくなったわ。グレゴールがはい出したの」 「そうなるだろうと思っていた」と、父親がいった。「わしはいつもお前たちにいったのに、お前たち女はいうことを聞こうとしないからだ」

It was clear to Gregor that his father had badly misunderstood Grete's short message and was assuming that Gregor had committed some violent crime or other. Thus, Gregor now had to find his father to calm him down, for he had neither the time nor the opportunity to clarify things for him. And so he rushed away to the door of his room and pushed himself against it, so that his father could see right away as he entered from the hall that Gregor fully intended to return at once to his room, that it was not necessary to drive him back, but that one only needed to open the door and he would disappear immediately.

父親がグレーテのあまりに手短かな報告を悪く解釈して、グレゴールが何か手荒なことをやったものと受け取ったことは、グレゴールには明らかであった。そのために、グレゴールは今度は父親をなだめようとしなければならなかった。というのは、彼には父親に説明して聞かせるひまもなければ、またそんなことができるはずもないのだ。そこで自分の部屋のドアのところへのがれていき、それにぴったりへばりついた。これで、父親は玄関の間からこちらへ入ってくるときに、グレゴールは自分の部屋へすぐもどろうというきわめて善良な意図をもっているということ、だから彼を追いもどす必要はなく、ただドアを開けてやりさえすればすぐに消えていなくなるだろうということを、ただちに見て取ることができるはずだ。

But his father was not in the mood to observe such niceties. "Ah," he yelled as soon as he entered, with a tone as if he were all at once angry and pleased. Gregor pulled his head back from the door and raised it in the direction of his father. He had not really pictured his father as he now stood there. Of course, what with his new style of creeping all around, he had in the past while neglected to pay attention to what was going on in the rest of the apartment, as he had done before, and really should have grasped the fact that he would encounter different conditions. Nevertheless, nevertheless, was that still his father? Was that the same man who had lain exhausted and buried in bed in earlier days when Gregor was setting out on a business trip, who had received him on the evenings of his return in a sleeping gown and arm chair, totally incapable of standing up, who had only lifted his arm as a sign of happiness, and who in their rare strolls together a few Sundays a year and on the important holidays made his way slowly forwards between Gregor and his mother (who themselves moved slowly), always a bit more slowly than them, bundled up in his old coat, all the time setting down his walking stick carefully, and who, when he had wanted to say something, almost always stood still and gathered his entourage around him?

しかし、父親はこうした微妙なことに気づくような気分にはなっていなかった。入ってくるなり、まるで怒ってもいればよろこんでもいるというような調子で「ああ!」と叫んだ。グレゴールは頭をドアから引っこめて、父親のほうに頭をもたげた。父親が今突っ立っているような姿をこれまでに想像してみたことはほんとうになかった。とはいっても、最近では彼は新しいやりかたのはい廻る動作にばかり気を取られて、以前のように家のなかのほかのできごとに気を使うことをおこたっていたのであり、ほんとうは前とはちがってしまった家の事情にぶつかっても驚かないだけの覚悟ができていなければならないところだった。それはそうとしても、これがまだ彼の父親なのだろうか。以前グレゴールが商売の旅に出かけていくとき、疲れたようにベッドに埋まって寝ていた父、彼が帰ってきた晩には寝巻のままの姿で安楽椅子にもたれて彼を迎えた父、起き上がることはまったくできずに、よろこびを示すのにただ両腕を上げるだけだった父、年に一、二度の日曜日や大きな祭日にまれにいっしょに散歩に出かけるときには、もともとゆっくりと歩く母親とグレゴールとのあいだに立って、この二人よりももっとのろのろと歩き、古い外套にくるまり、いつでも用心深く身体に当てた撞木杖しゅもくづえをたよりに難儀しながら歩いていき、何かいおうとするときには、ほとんどいつでも立ちどまって、つれの者たちを自分の身のまわりに集めた父、あの老いこんだ父親とこの眼の前の人物とは同じ人間なのだろうか。

But now he was standing up really straight, dressed in a tight fitting blue uniform with gold buttons, like the ones servants wear in a banking company. Above the high stiff collar of his jacket his firm double chin stuck out prominently, beneath his bushy eyebrows the glance of his black eyes was freshly penetrating and alert, his otherwise disheveled white hair was combed down into a carefully exact shining part. He threw his cap, on which a gold monogram (apparently the symbol of the bank) was affixed, in an arc across the entire room onto the sofa and moved, throwing back the edge of the long coat of his uniform, with his hands in his trouser pockets and a grim face, right up to Gregor.

以前とちがって、今ではきちんと身体を起こして立っている。銀行の小使たちが着るような、金ボタンのついたぴったり身体に合った紺色の制服を着ている。上衣の高くてぴんと張った襟の上には、力強い二重顎が拡がっている。毛深い眉まゆの下では黒い両眼の視線が元気そうに注意深く射し出ている。ふだんはぼさぼさだった白髪はひどくきちんとてかてかな髪形になでつけている。この父親はおそらく銀行のものだと思われる金モールの文字をつけた制帽を部屋いっぱいに弧を描かせてソファの上に投げ、長い制服の上衣のすそをはねのけ、両手をズボンのポケットに突っこんで、にがにがしい顔でグレゴールのほうへ歩んできた。

He really didn't know what he had in mind, but he raised his foot uncommonly high anyway, and Gregor was astonished at the gigantic size of his sole of his boot. However, he did not linger on that point. For he knew from the first day of his new life that as far as he was concerned his father considered the greatest force the only appropriate response. And so he scurried away from his father, stopped when his father remained standing, and scampered forward again when his father merely stirred. In this way they made their way around the room repeatedly, without anything decisive taking place; indeed because of the slow pace it didn't look like a chase. Gregor remained on the floor for the time being, especially as he was afraid that his father could take a flight up onto the wall or the ceiling as an act of real malice. At any event Gregor had to tell himself that he couldn't keep up this running around for a long time, because whenever his father took a single step, he had to go through an enormous number of movements. Already he was starting to suffer from a shortage of breath, just as in his earlier days his lungs had been quite unreliable. As he now staggered around in this way in order to gather all his energies for running, hardly keeping his eyes open, in his listlessness he had no notion at all of any escape other than by running and had almost already forgotten that the walls were available to him, although they were obstructed by carefully carved furniture full of sharp points and spikes--at that moment something or other thrown casually flew down close by and rolled in front of him. It was an apple; immediately a second one flew after it. Gregor stood still in fright. Further flight was useless, for his father had decided to bombard him.

何をしようというのか、きっと自分でもわからないのだ。ともかく、両足をふだんとはちがうくらい高く上げた。グレゴールは彼の靴のかかとがひどく大きいことにびっくりしてしまった。だが、びっくりしたままではいられなかった。父親が自分に対してはただ最大のきびしさこそふさわしいのだと見なしているということを、彼は新しい生活が始った最初の日からよく知っていた。そこで父親から逃げ出して、父親が立ちどまると自分もとまり、父親が動くとまた急いで前へ逃がれていった。こうして二人は何度か部屋をぐるぐる廻ったが、何も決定的なことは起こらないし、その上、そうした動作の全体がゆっくりしたテンポで行われるので追跡しているような様子は少しもなかった。そこでグレゴールも今のところは床の上にいた。とくに彼は、壁や天井へ逃げたら父親がかくべつの悪意を受け取るだろう、と恐れたのだった。とはいえ、こうやって走り廻ることも長くはつづかないだろう、と自分にいって聞かせないではいられなかった。というのは、父親が一歩で進むところを、彼は数限りない動作で進んでいかなければならないのだ。息切れが早くもはっきりと表われ始めた。以前にもそれほど信頼の置ける肺をもっていたわけではなかった。こうして全力をふるって走ろうとしてよろよろはい廻って、両眼もほとんど開けていなかった。愚かにも走る以外に逃げられる方法は全然考えなかった。四方の壁が自分には自由に歩けるのだということも、もうほとんど忘れてしまっていた。とはいっても、壁はぎざぎざやとがったところがたくさんある念入りに彫刻された家具でさえぎられていた。――そのとき、彼のすぐそばに、何かがやんわりと投げられて落ちてきて、ごろごろところがった。それはリンゴだった。すぐ第二のが彼のほうに飛んできた。グレゴールは驚きのあまり立ちどまってしまった。これ以上走ることは無益だった。というのは、父親は彼を爆撃する決心をしたのだった。

From the fruit bowl on the sideboard his father had filled his pockets, and now, without for the moment taking accurate aim, was throwing apple after apple. These small red apples rolled as if electrified around on the floor and collided with each other. A weakly thrown apple grazed Gregor's back but skidded off harmlessly. However another thrown immediately after that one drove into Gregor's back really hard. Gregor wanted to drag himself off, as if the unexpected and incredible pain would go away if he changed his position. But he felt as if he was nailed in place and lay stretched out completely confused in all his senses. Only with his final glance did he notice how the door of his room was pulled open and how, right in front of his sister (who was yelling), his mother ran out in her undergarments, for his sister had undressed her in order to give her some freedom to breathe in her fainting spell, and how his mother then ran up to his father, on the way her tied up skirts one after the other slipped toward the floor, and how, tripping over her skirts, she hurled herself onto his father and, throwing her arms around him, in complete union with him--but at this moment Gregor's powers of sight gave way--as her hands reached to the back of his father's head and she begged him to spare Gregor's life.

食器台の上の果物皿からリンゴを取ってポケットにいっぱいつめ、今のところはそうきちんと狙ねらいをつけずにリンゴをつぎつぎに投げてくる。これらの小さな赤いリンゴは、まるで電気にかけられたように床の上をころげ廻り、ぶつかり合った。やわらかに投げられた一つのリンゴがグレゴールの背中をかすめたが、別に彼の身体を傷つけもしないで滑り落ちた。ところが、すぐそのあとから飛んできたのがまさにグレゴールの背中にめりこんだ。突然の信じられない痛みは場所を変えることで消えるだろうとでもいうように、グレゴールは身体を前へひきずっていこうとしたが、まるで釘づけにされたように感じられ、五感が完全に混乱してのびてしまった。だんだんかすんでいく最後の視線で、自分の部屋が開き、叫んでいる妹の前に母親が走り出てきた。下着姿だった。妹が、気絶している母親に呼吸を楽にしてやろうとして、服を脱がせたのだった。母親は父親をめがけて走りよった。その途中、とめ金をはずしたスカートなどがつぎつぎに床にすべり落ちた。そのスカートなどにつまずきながら父親のところへかけよって、父親に抱きつき、父親とぴったり一つになって――そこでグレゴールの視力はもう失われてしまった――両手を父の後頭部に置き、グレゴールの命を助けてくれるようにと頼むのだった。

Text from wikisource.org
Audio from LibreVox.org
Text from aozora.gr.jp