Chapter 2 Metamorphosis (2)

When he got to the door, he noticed that there was something that lured him towards the door. It was the smell of food.For there was a bowl of sweetened milk and slices of white bread floating there, and he was almost laughing with joy, for he was hungrier than in the morning.So he stuck his head into the bowl at once, and all but his eyes touched the milk.However, he withdrew quickly, because his awkward left side made it very inconvenient for him to eat unless his whole body cooperated -- milk was his favorite drink, it tasted so delicious, it must be his sister It was brought in, and then he thought it was not brought by his sister.Leaving the bowl almost against his will, he crawled back into the middle of the room.

In the living room, as he could see through the crack of the door, the gas lamps had been lit.Normally at this time, my father always raised his voice to his mother, and occasionally read the afternoon newspaper to his sister, but now he did not read the newspaper.Perhaps such readings have become rarer lately.Usually, my sister would always narrate or record the contents of the newspaper reading to him.Not only are there no newspapers to be read, but the surroundings have become so silent, even so, the room is not empty. "What a peaceful life this family leads!" thought he.As he gazed into the darkness, he felt a great sense of pride that his parents and sister lived this life in such a beautiful home that he had created for them.Was all this peace, happiness, and ease now coming to an astonishing end?In order to continue this train of thought, Gregor preferred to move himself, crawling around the room.

During the long night, now this side door opened, now that side door opened a small crack, now it was closed again.Maybe someone wants to come in to solve the problem, but he has concerns, so Gregor simply waits at the door, determined to drag this person who wants to come in but has concerns no matter what, or at least to know who he is, but the door is closed again. is opened.Gregor's waiting was in vain. Before, when the doors were about to be locked, all the people had to come in to see him, but now he had opened one door, and the others had obviously been opened during the day.But no one came in.The key is inserted into the lock from the outside.

The lights in the living room didn't go out until late at night.It's easy to judge: the parents and sister haven't slept for a long time, because if you listen carefully, you can tell that all three of them left the living room on tiptoe.Surely no one would come here again until tomorrow morning, so that he would have ample time to contemplate uninterruptedly how he might rearrange his life now.He was forced to lie on the floor of the room, which was so high and empty that it frightened him a little, and he couldn't figure out why, because it was the room he had lived in for five years—his own This deformation, which was subconscious, caused him to scurry shyly under the divan, and although he felt a slight pressure on his back which prevented him from raising his head, he felt quite comfortable.Unfortunately, his body is too wide to fully stretch.He stayed there all night, half asleep part of the time, and a hunger always kept him from sleeping well.Part of the time he was in apprehension and vague hope, and whether it was apprehension or hope, the conclusion was the same: he should be quiet for now.Be patient and fully understand the family, so that everyone can tolerate the unpleasant things that are happening now. In his current situation, this unpleasantness is caused by him, although it is forced, it is ultimately caused by him.

When Gregor came to his conclusion, that is, when he made his decision, it was already dawn, and it was almost night, when the opportunity came.He could take advantage of this opportunity to test the strength of his decision, for the sister was opening Gregor's door from the front room, almost fully dressed, and looking in nervously.She didn't find him right away, until she found him under the couch—God!He really can settle down anywhere, but he can't fly away—my sister was taken aback, couldn't help herself, and immediately closed the door again from the outside, but she seemed to regret her loss, and immediately opened the door again and walked in, like entering a serious patient Entering the room on tiptoe, like coming to a stranger, Gregor moved his head just to the edge of the sofa to observe her.See if she notices that the milk is basically untouched and he is not hungry, see if she brings in new food that suits his taste, if she doesn't bring it herself, don't remind her, she would rather be hungry.Although he now had a great urge to get out from under the couch, to jump at his sister's feet, and beg him to be kind enough to get something to eat.After all, he didn't move, but the younger sister immediately noticed in surprise that the bowl of milk was still full, with only a little overflowing around, she picked it up immediately, but not directly, but used a piece of torn paper to hold the bowl Side, take it out.Gregor was anxious to know what she would bring in, and he had all sorts of ideas about it, but it never occurred to him that his sister's kindness would really do anything.In fact she had brought him a selection of food, laid out on an old newspaper.There were sauerkraut, spare ribs left over from dinner, surrounded by white aspic, some raisins, almonds, a portion of cheese, which Gregor had said two days ago was not good; In addition to the above food, she also provided a bowl of boiling water, which may be the mandatory drink for Gregor.The younger sister was very careful, and she knew that Gregor would not eat in her presence, so she left the room quickly and locked the door, so that he might be aware of it, and he could eat as he pleased.At this time, the calf shook wildly, as if it was time to eat.Also, the wound seemed to be all healed, and he was amazed, and thought of how he had cut his hand a little while using a knife more than a month ago, and how painful he had been from the day before yesterday. "Am I not too considerate of others now?" he thought.The first thing he eagerly eats is cheese, he licks it greedily, tears come to his eyes from a sense of satisfaction, he nibbles on cheese, sauerkraut, chews aspic, on the contrary fresh food does not taste good to him , even the taste of them was unbearable to him, and he even moved away the food he was supposed to eat.It took him a long time to finish the meal, when his sister slowly turned the key, which signaled to Gregor that it was time to withdraw.He hurried back under the sofa and lay lazily on the original place.But he was also greatly wronged lying under the sofa, albeit for a short time.At this time, my sister was already in the room, because he ate a lot of food, his body was a little swollen, and he was lying in the low space under the sofa, almost out of breath.In this case, he watched with puffy eyes how his unwitting sister used a broom to sweep up the scraps and even the untouched food of Gregor, as if these untouched foods were also inedible. Now, he saw how his sister shook all these hastily into the bucket, covered it with a wooden lid, and brought it out.Almost never turned around.At this moment Gregor crawled out from under the sofa, stretching himself, triumphantly.

This is how his younger sister delivered meals to Gregor every day. Once in the morning, when the parents and the maid hadn’t woken up, and the second time after lunch, when the parents had to sleep for a while, the younger sister deliberately sent the maid away. , Of course, parents and maids are not willing to let him starve.But they just listened to his sister's report on his diet, and they didn't want to find out for themselves. Maybe they couldn't bear to see it.It was also possible that the sister had purposely withheld some uncomfortable details in her account of the situation.Because parents have suffered enough mentally.

On the first morning they called in the doctor and the fitter, and then sent them away with some words.Gregor didn't know; everyone couldn't understand him, but it didn't occur to them, including his sister, that he could understand other people's speech, so whenever his sister came into the room, Gregor could hear clearly. She sighed and prayed to the gods from time to time, and the younger sister gradually got used to the food delivery. It is impossible to get used to it all. It was not until the younger sister got used to it that Gregor sometimes caught it. To fragments of words, these words sometimes show a kind of brotherhood, or have a definite meaning.If Gregor ate all his food, she would say: "He tasted really good today," and if it was the other way around, she would say sadly: "It's the same again."

But when Gregor could hear no new information from his sister's mouth, he would overhear some conversations in the next room. Run to the door leading to that room.He pressed himself against the door, and at first there was no conversation involving Gregor.Even if it was a private conversation, but then they discussed it over dinner and discussed how to deal with it.The same topic was discussed before and after the meal, and each discussion involved at least two or more family members. This kind of consultation lasted for two days.No one wanted to be left alone at home, and indeed it was impossible for them all to be at home, and on the first day of the maid—Gregor had no idea what and how much she knew about the emergency—she Tian knelt down in front of his mother and begged to resign.When she took leave of her hosts a quarter of an hour later, no one asked her anything, but she herself made an astonishing assurance that she would tell no one a thing of this kind.

The mother and sister cook together, but it is not too much trouble, because they hardly eat much.Gregor always heard that this called that to eat, and the answer was nothing but: "Thank you, I'm not hungry" or something like that.The younger sister often asked my father if he had a beer, and rose sincerely to get it, and when the father was silent she persuaded him to have a drink, which she might send to the housekeeper; On the day of the incident, the father told the mother and daughter about the family property situation and their future. He got up from the table from time to time and took out the receipts and notepads from his cash box. In the past five years, the father's company was on the verge of collapse. This cash box saved the crisis at that time. Gregor heard how complicated the opening procedure was for his father, and locked it again after taking out the things.The part Gregor heard in the room was the happiest part of his father's account of the family's finances. He believed that his father had not received much from that company. At least his father did not say the opposite. Gregor Of course, he didn't ask him. What he thought about before was just trying to make the whole family forget that business failure, which shattered the hope of the whole family; so he began to work with great enthusiasm, and he was promoted from a boy to the company. Of course, there are other ways to make money in the field. In addition, his hard work turned the kickbacks into cash. The cash was placed on the table to make the whole family feel surprised and happy. It was a glorious era in the family.Although Gregor later earned a lot of money to support his family, he never saw such glory again.It has become a habit for both the family and Gregor to withdraw money with a sense of gratitude. He is happy to help the family spend money, but he no longer has a warm feeling; only his sister has a close relationship with him. , his sister is different from him, she likes music very much, and she plays the violin very movingly.Gregor has a secret plan. From next year, no matter how much he pays, the money can be earned back in other ways from this year onwards. From next year onwards, he will send his sister to music. Gregor often mentioned the conservatory to his sister during his short stay in the city, but he always thought it was just a beautiful dream whose realization was unthinkable; the parents were not interested, I don't even want to hear such nonsense.But Gregor had already thought about it and was going to announce it solemnly on Christmas Day.

These thoughts, useless in the present situation, flooded into his mind as he eavesdropped, glued to the door.Sometimes, because he was too tired, his head accidentally hit the door, and he immediately re-glued the door.Because any slight noise he caused could be heard by the people outside the door, making everyone silent. "What's he doing again?" said his father shortly after the sound, and turning to the door, resumed their interrupted conversation. Gregor already knew enough about the situation—because his father was used to repeating what he said in his narration, firstly, his father had not personally handled the family’s financial income and expenditure for a long time, and secondly, his mother always couldn’t understand at first, To ask questions -- the father says it again, it repeats.But Gregor finally knew that despite all the misfortunes that had happened to the family, the small amount of property he had earned was still preserved.This property can generate a lot of interest according to the regulations during this period. In addition, except for a small amount of money left for himself every month, Gregor gave all other income to the family, and the family did not use up all of this part of the money.Gregor stuck behind the door and nodded hurriedly. He was very happy that his family could live within their means and save money. Originally, he could use the extra money to pay off his father’s debts to his boss. His dismissal was not far away, but now Come, as my father had arranged, no doubt it will be better.

Relying on money to earn interest to support the family, the current amount of money in the family is definitely not enough. The money may be able to maintain the family for a year, at most two years, and no more.This money cannot be used. It must be saved for emergencies. If it is to meet daily expenses, it must be made.Although my father is in good health, he is already old, not to mention he has not worked for five years; his confidence is not very great, he has worked hard all his life, but he has not achieved much. These five years are the first long-term vacation in his life .In the past five years, he was fat, and he also became quite sluggish.Maybe the old mother can make money?She suffers from asthma and feels tired after walking around the house. Every other day, she also feels breathless when she sits on the sofa with the windows open. Can my sister make money?She is only a seventeen-year-old child, and she is really given her life now. She wants to dress nicely, sleep late, be a financial helper, and participate in some simple entertainment activities, especially pulling. Playing the violin constitutes her way of life. Can a person like her make money?At the thought of the necessity of making money, Gregor left the door and flung himself on the leather sofa by the door, for he was burning with shame and grief. He lay there all night, unable to sleep for a moment.Scrambling on the leather sofa for hours.Or he did not hesitate to spend hard work pushing the single sofa to the window, he climbed up the window wall, supported by the sofa, and leaned against the window to immerse himself in memories.He thought of the relief, which he had gained some time ago.He looked out the window, and in fact he could not always see the nearby things clearly. The opposite hospital, which he used to hate to see before, could not be seen clearly now either.Had it not been for his unmistakable knowledge that he lived on quiet, urban Charlotte Street, he would have thought it was the wilderness, where the sky was gray and the earth was gray One piece, gray, there is no difference between heaven and earth.Twice, his sister had already noticed that the sofa had moved to the window, and when she cleaned the room for the second time, she found that the sofa had not only moved to the window, but the window had even been opened. How nice it would be if Gregor talked to his sister!He will thank his sister for everything he has done for him, and he will be more accommodating to her sister's inadequacy in her service.Now he is struggling with it.Of course, my sister wanted to erase the pain caused by the whole incident as much as possible. As time went by, this pain really faded away.Her coming in to Gregor's service was astonishingly rare, almost seldom.She hurried to close the door, for fear that others would see Gregor's room.She went straight to the window and opened it quickly, as if afraid of suffocation.Although it was still cold, she stood at the window for a while, taking deep breaths.These movements of hers disturbed the room, and in this way she frightened Gregor twice a day, during which time he lay prostrate and trembling under the sofa.Gregor knew very well that in the room he was in, with the windows closed, if he could keep his sister here, she would forgive him. It has been a month since Gregor turned into a big flea.The younger sister was no longer surprised by his appearance, and once she came earlier than usual, Gregor stood up and was looking out of the window. He looked terrible, and the younger sister saw this terrible appearance when he came in. Besides, his position prevented her from opening the window immediately, which Gregor had not expected, but at this moment she not only did not come in, but also retreated and locked the door.Outsiders may think that Gregor is going to ambush his sister and bite her.Of course Gregor immediately hid under the sofa, but he waited until noon, and his sister hadn't come in yet. She seemed more disturbed than usual. He knew that she still didn't like his appearance, and wouldn't like it in the future. A part of him, even the part that arches over the couch, so as not to escape, has to exercise great restraint.In order not to let her see his body, one day he had to fall asleep on his back—it would take him four hours to turn over like this—he blocked the gap under the sofa with a piece of sackcloth, so that his whole body was covered And his sister couldn't see even if she bent down.If, according to her sister's opinion, the sackcloth was not necessary to hang there, she would take it off, and Gregor's self-isolation was not a recreational activity.However, it was clear that she did not touch the sackcloth, and at this moment Gregor gave him a thankful look.He carefully pushed his head away from the sackcloth to observe his sister's attitude towards Gregor's new facility. When Gregor's appearance changed for two weeks, the parents still couldn't bear to go to him.He often eavesdropped carefully on whether they gave enough recognition to his sister's work, and they often lost their temper on her, saying that she was a useless girl, but when the sister was cleaning in Gregor's house and did not come out for a long time. , they, father and mother were waiting outside the door, and the younger sister had to report to them in detail after she came out, what the room looked like, what Gregor ate, how he behaved this time, and whether he was better.Mother wanted to go to see Gregor immediately, but her father and sister persuaded her, Gregor heard it clearly and agreed with them.But the mother wanted to go in, and she said: "Let me go to Gregor, he is my unfortunate child! I want to go to him, why don't you understand me?" Then Gregor thought: If the mother comes in, also good!Of course not every day, but once a week. After all, she knows more than her sister.Although the younger sister has courage, she is still a child, and she can only handle this heavy work with the carelessness of a child. Gregor's wish to see his mother was soon realized.Considering the impact on his parents, he no longer shows up at the window during the day, and he no longer crawls around on the few square meters of floor, but it is difficult to lie down quietly at night.Eating and drinking no longer gave him one iota of pleasure.At night, he had to crawl around, crawling around on the walls and ceilings, taking it as a pastime, a habit.He especially liked hanging from the ceiling, which was completely different from lying on the floor, breathing freely and shaking his head slightly, which was almost a blissful diversion.Gregor was condescending, and when he was feeling happy, he fell to the floor with a "bang". Of course, this kind of gravity phenomenon is quite different from the violence that was imposed on him in the past few days. Although the ceiling is far from the ground, it is also Unhurt, the younger sister soon discovered this new pastime of Gregor's own invention. --He also left traces of slime along the way as he crawled--these, my sister kept in mind.She wants to expand Gregor's crawling area as much as possible, remove the furniture that blocks the way, first of all, remove the box and the writing desk, but she can't do these tasks alone, and she dare not ask her father for help, maid Definitely not going to help.The former cook quit, but this sixteen-year-old girl bravely stayed on, but she requested that the kitchen should always be locked and opened only when called upon.Sometimes the father is not there, and the younger sister has no choice but to call for her mother.This time, the younger sister had no choice but to call her mother.Following the cheerful cry of the younger sister, the mother quietly came to Gregor's door, first of all, of course, to ask the younger sister.Seeing if the room was normal, my sister invited her in. Gregor hurriedly pulled down the linen and pulled out more folds, but it looked like it was thrown on the sofa casually. As before, Gregor stopped his snooping work under the sackcloth this time, and he also gave up taking this opportunity to see his mother.He was very happy that his mother finally came. "Come here, you can't see him now," said the sister.It was obvious that he took his mother's hand to lead her in.Gregor was listening to how the two feeble women moved such a heavy box.How could the younger sister disobey her mother and take on most of the hard work of the job, and the mother was worried that she would not be able to complete it.In fact, it lasted for a long time, about fifteen minutes. My mother said that it is best not to move this cabinet, because first, it is too heavy, and my father can't finish it before he comes back. The box moved to the middle and blocked the grid. Second, it is hard to be sure that Gregor liked to move furniture.They seem to disagree.Gregor was very distressed at the sight of the empty walls.Why did Gregor think not to move the furniture?Because he has been used to the furnishings of the room for a long time, if he removes the furniture, he will feel lonely.The mother said a concluding remark very softly: "Isn't it so?" The mother almost whispered to her sister. Mother didn't know where Gregor was hiding. Although mother believed that he could not understand her, she whispered so that Gregor would not recognize her voice. "When we move the furniture, it seems that we have given up hope that Gregor will get better. We are letting it go, aren't we? As for the furniture, we'd better leave it as it is, so that Gregor can come back to us." When he comes, the room is still the same, and he can forget the experience more easily." Hearing his mother's words, Gregor realized that during these two months, even in such a monotonous life at home, his understanding had become a little confused due to the lack of human conversation, because he could not explain what he was doing. Had ever seriously thought about vacating the room, but his room was warm and comfortably furnished with inherited furniture.If he is really interested in turning this room into a cave, in which he can crawl around freely and without restraint, doesn't that mean that he will quickly and completely forget his past life as a human being?It has been a long time since he heard his mother's voice, his mother's words made him sober, don't move anything, keep everything as it is, he can't lack the good effect that furniture has on him, the presence of furniture doesn't prevent him from crawling unconsciously, and it's beneficial of. It's a pity that the younger sister held the opposite opinion. When it comes to the Gregor incident, the younger sister has become accustomed to opposing her parents' opinions in a special capacity, as an expert.Of course, it's not unreasonable from the perspective of my sister.She originally figured it out on her own, to remove the boxes and the desk, and later developed to remove all the furniture except the indispensable sofa.The sister's disagreement with her mother's reasons for not moving the furniture was, of course, not just a childlike obstinacy of the younger sister's, which was unexpected in recent times.Her objection to her mother's opinion also came from a kind of self-confidence, which is very rare.It confirmed to the sister that the furniture had to be moved out, and in fact she also saw that Gregor needed a large area to crawl on, and that the furniture, on the contrary, was useless as long as people saw it.In addition, girls of her age are often hot-headed, this fever, this impulse to seek gratification at every opportunity, sister Grete was dominated by this impulse to make Gregor's room even more beautiful. To be amazed, in order to do more for him than before, in this room Gregor alone ruled the walls, so that no one but Grete dared to enter at any time. . The younger sister didn't want to change her mind because of her mother's opinion. The mother felt uneasy and hesitated in this room, and soon fell silent, helping the younger sister to move the box out. Gregor had to let them move it as a last resort. Let's go, but the desk is still there. The two women leaned over the box, panting, and then moved the box away with great difficulty.When Gregor poked his head out a little bit from under the sofa to see how he could intervene discreetly.But unfortunately, his mother just came back into the house at this time, and Grete was holding the box in the next room, shaking it from side to side, of course, to no avail.Gregor saw his mother coming in, worried that she might not like his son's appearance, which might make her sick, so Gregor hurried back in panic and retreated to the other end of the sofa.At this time, the sofa naturally moved slightly, which was enough to attract the mother's attention.She froze, stood silent for a moment, then ran back to Gretel. Although Gregor kept thinking that nothing special was going to happen but the removal of the furniture, he had to admit quickly that this furniture move was like a great commotion to him.Two women walking up and down, their whispers yelling, the furniture scraping against the floor, his head and legs huddled, his whole body pressed against the floor, it was undeniable that he wouldn't last long.They vacated the room for him, removed all the things he liked, like the box with the saw and other tools in it, and are now loosening the desk, which was firmly embedded in the floor, on which he, as a business student, , middle school students and even elementary school students have done their homework here - Gregor really no longer has time to verify the good intentions of the mother and daughter, he has forgotten their existence, they are exhausted, working silently, Only the sound of heavy footsteps was heard. The mother and daughter were resting against the desk in the next room, when he popped up and changed direction four times, he really didn't know what to do first, when he saw the conspicuous framed picture hanging on the empty wall, in which The one above is a portrait of a lady in a leather suit.He hastily climbed onto the frame and pressed himself against the glass panel, buttoning it tightly, comforting his warm belly, the frame now fully covering him, sure not to be taken away, and turning his head toward the room. The door was opened so that they could observe when the mother and daughter returned. They did not rest for long, but when they returned, Grete put her arm around her mother's waist, almost supporting her. "What else do we have now?" Gretel said, looking around.At this moment the eyes of mother and daughter met Gregor's.Maybe it was just because the mother was tired now, the younger sister kept her restraint, she lowered her face to her mother, and in order to break the deadlock, she said without hesitation and with a trembling voice: "We'd better go back to the living room?" Gregor was very clear about Grete's intentions. She was afraid that her mother would not be able to bear it, so she sent her mother back to the living room first, and then drove him off the wall.That's what she's going to do after all!He sat on the picture frame and would not let it be taken away, he wanted to jump into Grete's face.My sister's words gave my mother quite a bit of comfort at the beginning, and my mother walked to the side, and saw a brown mass on the wallpaper with flowers and branches. She thought it was Gregor, and she yelled before she recovered. There was a hoarse, piercing cry, "O God! O God!" She stretched out her arms, threw everything on the sofa, and she fell, motionless. "You Gregor!" The younger sister held up her fist with anxious eyes. This was the first sentence the younger sister said directly to Gregor since his transformation.She ran to the next room to get the first aid medicine that would bring her mother out of a coma.Gregor also wanted to help. --It was still too late to save the portrait--he was firmly stuck to the glass, and he broke away from it with all his strength.Then he ran into the next room, as before, as if he wanted to give his sister some advice.He was standing right behind his sister, and Grete, who was looking among the various bottles, was taken aback when she turned; one fell to the floor and shattered, the fragments hurt Gregor's face, and one A corrosive drug splashed all over him.Grete didn't stop, took all the phials she could get, took them to her mother, and kicked the door shut with her foot.Gregor was locked in the room by his mother.Because of him, maybe his mother was dying, he couldn't open the door, and he didn't want to chase his sister who had to stay with his mother.He had nothing to do now but wait.Out of guilt and worry, he started crawling, crawling everywhere, on walls, furniture and ceilings.In doubt he finally dropped to the center of the large table when he felt the whole room swirl around him. After a while, Gregor lay there wearily, surrounded by silence, which may be a good sign.The doorbell rang, and of course the cook was in the kitchen, so my sister had to answer it.Father is back. "What's the matter?" were the first words from the father, who probably knew everything from Grete's face.Grete answered in a low voice, evidently with her face on her father's chest. "Mother passed out, but she's better now. Gregor is very special." "I expected it," said the father, "I've been telling you, but you mother and daughter don't listen." Gregor understood very well. , Gretel's overly brief report caused trouble.Father thought that Gregor had used violence and made a mistake.So Gregor wanted to explain to his father and comfort him, but he had neither the time nor the possibility to explain it now, so he fled to the door and stuck there, so that when his father came in from the front room he would understand that Gregor Li Gao just wanted to go back to his room, there was no malice, and there was no need to drive him out, as long as he opened the door, he would disappear immediately. But my father was not in the mood to pay attention to these details. When he came in, he immediately called out. The voice sounded like he was about to have a seizure, and it was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry.Gregor turned his head back from the door, stood up towards his father, did not explain to his father why he was standing here now, Gregor did not consider how to crawl in other rooms, now he must deal with the changed situation carefully , despite this, is the father still the original father?Usually, when Gregor went out to do errands in the morning, his father was still wrapped up in bed tiredly. When he came back in the evening, his father was already in his pajamas sitting on the sofa with a backrest to greet him. Happy.Gregor, father and mother rarely go out for a walk together on certain Sundays or holidays a year, and the father always walks in the middle, and everyone walks slowly, but the father always goes slower, and always walks Wrapped in an old overcoat, with a walking stick, I moved forward cautiously.If he was going to say anything, he had to stand and muster his entourage.Is the father in front of him still like this?He was standing fairly upright now, and was wearing a flat blue uniform with gold buckles, like a business-school waiter might wear.The collar of the dress was high and stiff, revealing a strong chin clip.A pair of black eyes shone brightly under thick eyebrows, and his disheveled white hair was brushed down in a fine and shiny way.The sofa was far away from him, and he threw his hat on the sofa, and the hat flew in a parabola across the room.His hat was embroidered with monograms of gold thread, also made by a bank.At this moment the father, with his long uniform pulled back, his hands in his trouser pockets, and with a gloomy face, came towards Gregor, who probably didn't even know what he was going to do.At last he raised his feet in an unusual manner, and Gregor was amazed by the large soles of his boots, but he did not stop, knowing that his father had always treated him since the first day of his new life. is the most severe and takes it for granted.父亲一会儿停着，一会儿急步向前，一会儿又不动弹，格里高总是逃着，就这样，父子两个在房间里兜圈子，但没有发生什么严重的事情，也没有因为他的速度很慢而出现追赶的情况，所以格里高暂时就停留在地板上。有时候，他担心由于父亲的狠毒会挡住他逃往墙上、逃往天花板上，格里高心里想，就是这样的情况他也支持不了多久。因为父亲每走一步，他的腿就得运动无数次。像以前一样，格里高对于自己的肺并没有多大的信心，很明显，他的呼吸变得困难起来了。他摇摇晃晃，集中力量准备急步爬行，这时他几乎没有打开眼睛，思绪迟钝，他怎么也没有想到除了急步爬行逃跑外还有什么自救的办法。他几乎忘记了墙壁是广阔的天地，当然，这里的家具都配有许多精细雕刻的尖利的边角--这时飞过来一个什么东西，刚好经过身边，轻轻地滚了几滚，滚到他跟前，那是苹果；紧跟着，第二个苹果向他飞来，格里高由于惊呆了，他站着不动，继续逃跑已经没有用处了。因为父亲已经决定轰击他。父亲从餐具柜上的水果盆子里取满了一袋子苹果，他并不计较准确与否，只是向格里高一个一个地扔苹果，这些红色的小苹果像带了电一样在地上互相滚到一起，又互相撞击开来，一个扔得较轻的苹果擦着了格里高的背，但没有伤着他。紧接着而来的一个则打中了他的背，格里高要继续爬着前进，好像由于地点的更换，这种令人惊奇的、不可置信的痛苦可以消失，然而他脑子完全糊涂了，感到像钉在地板上一样，他躺下了。在躺下以前，他仅仅看了最后一眼，母亲抢在叫喊的妹妹之前出现了。她穿着衬衫，因为她在昏迷中，妹妹给她解开了衣服，以便呼吸畅通一些。母亲朝父亲跪下。母亲的裙子本来是向上卷着的，她跑着的时候一束一束地掉到地上，挡着路，她就这样跌跌撞撞踩着裙子奔向父亲，抱着他，抱得那么紧--但以格里高的视力，看不到这幅情景。她的双手抱着父亲的后脑，求他饶儿子一命。 格里高得这种严重的变形病已经一个多月了--苹果依旧还在地上，因为谁也不敢去取走。苹果搁在那里作为一种虐待的纪念--这似乎使父亲自己想起，尽管格里高目前变成这个可怜讨厌的样子，但还是家庭的一个成员，不可像对待敌人那样对待他。应该对他尽家庭的义务。家里应该吞食这个苦果，应该容忍，除了容忍，不能有别的。 虽然由于格里高受伤，也许永远失去了活动能力，像一个伤残人一样，横穿房间暂时需要好几分钟--往高处爬那是不可想象的，但是按照他的看法，他也得了一种足够的补偿，靠近晚上时，客厅的门被打开了，他已经习惯于进行敏锐的观察，可长达一二个小时。这时他躺在黑暗中，从客厅往外看，看不清楚，他就躺在他的黑暗的房间里观察，而全家则坐在桌子旁边，全都处于灯光之下，他可以看着他们并听他们的谈话，和以前完全不一样，家里人在某种程度上对他是听之任之。 当然，往日的谈笑风生没有了，这使他有点神往的想起了以前出差在外的情况，他住在小旅馆房间里，劳累不堪，一头扑向潮湿的被褥。客厅里现在变得非常的安静，晚餐后父亲坐在单人沙发上很快睡着了，母女俩相约保持安静。在灯光下母亲向前弯着腰，继续缝制模特公司的高级内衣；妹妹现在已经有了一个当售货员的工作，晚上正学速记和法文，以便能谋得一个更好的职位。有时候，父亲醒来了，好像他根本不知道他睡着了，他对母亲说："你今天又缝制了多久？"然后他又立刻入睡了。而母亲和妹妹则相视而笑，可她们显得疲倦。 父亲在家里也穿着他那一套侍者制服，不能不说这是一种顽固，他的睡衣挂在衣钩上毫无用处。他穿得整整齐齐，靠在沙发里假寐。好像随时都在准备着对付差使，等待上司的吩咐；这样一来，他的制服也就很快失去了开始时的鲜艳，虽然母亲和妹妹精心洗涤也无济于事。格里高经常整个晚上看着他父亲那件越来越肮脏的衣服，不过那制服上的镀金钮扣由于经常的擦拭倒显得光辉夺目，这位老人就是穿着这种极不舒服的衣服，安详地睡觉。很快就十点钟了，母亲小声地给父亲说着什么，想把他弄醒，说服他到床上去，因为这里睡不好，他明早六点就得上班，睡个好觉对父亲来说是必要的。但父亲很固执，这是他当侍者以来养成的脾气，他坚持还要在桌子旁边睡一会，尽管他入睡是很有规律的，但要他从沙发上移到床上去得费很大的劲。这时母亲和妹妹想小声劝说他挪窝，一刻钟过去了，他还是慢慢地摇着头，闭着眼睛，不起来。母亲拽着他的袖口，在他耳朵上说了些柔声细语。妹妹也离开了作业本帮母亲的忙，但这对父亲来说都不起作用，他在沙发里睡得更熟了。直到母女两个抓住他的腋下，他才睁开眼睛，一会儿看着妹妹，然后说，"这是一种生活，是我的晚年的安静。"在两个妇女的扶持下，他很费事地起来了，好像他本身具有重量，他由两个妇女引他到房门，在这里向她们表示：自己走。他就这样自行继续前进，妹妹急忙放下钢笔，母亲也将手中的缝纫机具放下，紧跟着在父亲后面，准备继续帮助他。