Chapter 9 Chapter nine

So he freed himself, and going back into the house—not along the wall, but straight across the snow—he met the innkeeper in the hall, who greeted him silently. He then pointed to the door of the bar. K. followed his cue because he was trembling and longed to see people's faces; but he was disappointed when he entered the door. Because usually the customers sit on top of the buckets that have been turned down - and the young gentleman is sitting next to him.Standing in front of him—a person K. did not like to see—was the proprietress of the bridgehead inn.Pepi was in high spirits, with her head up, a smile on her face, and a look of great dignity. Her braids swung left and right with every movement, and she ran around in a hurry, grabbing beer for a while, and drinking for a while. He brought a pen and ink, because the master had already spread out the documents in front of him, and he was checking the dates from this document to the document on the other side of the table, and was about to start writing instructions.The proprietress straightened her body and looked at the master and the documents, pursing her lips slightly, as if she was in deep thought.It was as if she had said all that needed to be said and was fully heard. "The land surveyor is here at last," said the gentleman, seeing K. enter, and he only looked up for a moment, and then went back to his papers.The proprietress only cast him a cold, unsurprised glance.But when K. went up to the counter to order a glass of brandy, Pepi seemed to be discovering K. for the first time.

K leaned against the counter, put his hands to his eyes, and thought nothing of it.Then he took a sip of the brandy, but put it down again, saying it was hardly drinkable. "Gentlemen drink that kind of wine," replied Pepi coldly, pouring out what was left in the glass, rinsing the glass, and putting it back on the shelf. "But gentlemen have better whiskey to drink," said K. "That's possible," Pepi replied, "but I don't have it here." Then she dismissed K. and ran to wait on the gentleman, but the gentleman didn't need anything, so she walked up and down behind him. Walking around in circles, with admiration, from time to time, she wanted to peek at the official documents from the master's back. This kind of behavior was just to show her unnecessary curiosity and sense of superiority, so even the proprietress couldn't bear it. He frowned to scold her.

Suddenly something seemed to distract the proprietress's attention, she stared straight into the sky and listened attentively. K. turned around, but he did not hear any particular sound, and neither did the others; but the landlady ran on tiptoe to the gate leading to the yard, and slipped through the keyhole. Peeped out, then turned with wide-eyed, flushed face, and pointed to the rest of the room to come to her, and they now took turns peeping into the keyhole; naturally, The proprietress watched the longest, but Pepi was also taken care of. In short, among the three, only the master showed the least concern.Pepi and the master soon went away, but the landlady continued to look around desperately, bent over as if kneeling on the ground; you could almost feel that she was begging the keyhole to let her go in at once, because There really wasn't so much in the keyhole that she had to look so long.At last she got up, touched her face, straightened her hair, and took a deep breath, as though now at last she had to adapt her eyes to the room and its people helplessly, and K. wanted to be the first. Announcing what he now considered to be a public attack on him, not entirely to confirm his suspicions, he said: "Has Klamm left?" The landlady walked past him in silence, but that But the gentleman at the table replied: "Yes, of course. As soon as you retreat, Klamm gets away. It's amazing how sensitive he is. Did you notice, madam, that Klamm is not so careful?" looking around?" The landlady made no sign that she saw this, but the gentleman went on to say, "Well, luckily, nothing was seen, not even his footprints in the snow. The coachman has been swept away." "The landlady didn't see anything," said K., but he did not have much confidence in this, only because the gentleman said it so firmly and with such certainty that it was impossible to answer. His tone angered him, so he said so. "Perhaps I didn't look into the keyhole just then," said the landlady at once in support of the master, but then she was obliged to judge Klamm in a matter-of-fact manner, and went on: "Nevertheless, I don't believe that Klamm would have been so astonishing." Sensitive. We all cared about him and wanted to defend him, so we went one step further and suspected that he was surprisingly sensitive. It seemed to be taken for granted that Klamm's will must be like this. But exactly what, we don't know. Indeed, any He would never speak to a person whom Klamm did not want to talk to, even if he was trying to get around in a lawless way; Suffice it to say: Isn't it because he can't bear to meet any such people in the final analysis? But, in any case, whether he can bear it or not cannot be proved, because he will never make such an attempt." The gentleman repeatedly nod. "That's basically my opinion, of course," he said, "and if I've said something different, it's to show the land surveyor what I'm like. It's true, though, that Klamm looked around several times as he stepped through the gate." "Perhaps he was looking for me," said K. "Perhaps," said the gentleman, "I hadn't thought of that." They all laughed, and although Pepi didn't understand what they were saying, her laughter was the loudest. ring.

"Since we are all so happy to be here now," went on the master, "I seriously request you, Land Surveyor, to answer a few questions so that I can finish dealing with these papers." "Here is a great pile of papers It has to be dealt with," said K., glancing at the papers from where he stood. "Yes, it's a very troublesome thing," said the master, laughing again, "but perhaps you don't know who I am. My name is Momus, and I'm Klamm's country secretary." , the air in the room suddenly became serious; although the proprietress and Pepi knew exactly who this master was, they seemed to be unsteady when they heard his name and identity. He seemed to feel that what he said exceeded the scope of what he should say, as if determined to avoid the consequences caused by the solemn meaning of his two sentences, he buried his head in the pile of official documents and began to write. In this way, no one in the room except his pen Except for the rustling of the sharp tips, there is no sound at all. "What does a village secretary do?" asked K. after a while.After introducing himself, Momus now thought it inappropriate to explain herself, so the landlady replied in his place: "Mr. Momus is Klamm's secretary, that is to say, he and Klamm's other secretaries Same, but the scope of his authority, if I'm not mistaken, his official status," Momes shook his head decisively while still reviewing the official documents, so the landlady hastily corrected herself, "well, well, his The terms of reference, not his official status, are limited to the village. Mr. Momus handles the paperwork that Klamm has to do in the village, and acts as Klamm's representative in dealing with requests from the village." Influenced by K., he still looked at the landlady blankly, and she went on in a slightly embarrassed tone: "That's how things are arranged; all the gentlemen in the castle have their village secretaries." Momus had been listening. He listened more attentively to the landlady than K., and now he added a fact to the landlady: "Most village secretaries work for one master, but I work for two masters, Klamm and Valrabin. ""Yes," went on the landlady, now remembering herself, and turning to K., "Mr. Momels works for the two gentlemen Klamm and Valrabin, so he is a double village secretary." ""Double, indeed," K. nodded to Momes - who now leaned slightly forward and looked into his face - as if to someone who had just heard The child who was praised by others nodded and said that.If there was a certain contempt in his nod, it was either undetected or expected. K., a man whom Klamm did not even consider worth looking at when passing by, seemed to be the kind of person who, without disguise, gave him a detailed description of the duties of a person in Klamm's circle in an attempt to amuse him. jealousy and admiration.But K. did not pay due attention to this point; although he tried his best to see Klamm, he did not pay much attention to it, for example, such a Morgan who made a living under Klamm's eyes. Max's position; because in his opinion, it is not these people around Klamm who should be approached, but Klamm, only K. himself, and no one else should approach him, and not with him. To stay together, but to constantly surpass him, far beyond him, and then enter the castle. --so he looked at his watch and said, "But now I have to go home." At once the odds turned in Momus' favor. "Yes, of course," he replied, "the work at the school requires you to go back to it. But please be sure to stay a moment, and I'll just ask you a few questions." "I'm not in the mood to answer you." question," said K., and turned towards the door.Momus put the papers in his hand on the table and stood up: "In Klamm's name I order you to answer my questions." "In Klamm's name!" K repeated Momus. "So does he himself worry about my affairs?" "As to that," replied Momus, "I don't know, and you certainly don't; we may well leave him to think about it." .But I will order you to stay here and answer my questions by virtue of the authority that Klamm has given me." "Land surveyor," interposed the landlady, "I don't want to advise you any more. So far, my advice to you The kindest advice you can ever hear, but you have refused with unheard-of attitude; so, I have come here to see Mr. Momus—I have nothing to hide,—in order to make the official authorities Having a full understanding of your actions and intentions, I will never let you stay at my inn; that is why we stand here face to face again, and why we will always be at odds in the future. If I To be honest with you, I can tell you that I am not here to help you, but to relieve Mr. Momus from having to deal with people like you. But because of my straight-hearted Temper—I will only treat you openly and honestly, and I can't change it even if I want to—if you listen a little, you can still hear something in my words that is beneficial to you. At present In this case, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the only way to lead you to Klamm is this record of Mr. Momus's interview. But I don't want to exaggerate, maybe this way is not Will lead you all the way to Klamm, or it may stop at a great distance from him; it depends on Mr. Momus's judgment, but in any case it leads you to The only way to get to Klamm. Don't you willingly refuse this way for any other reason than your arrogance?" "Oh, ma'am," said Ugly, "it's not the only way to get to Klamm , is not a way that is much better than other ways. But you, Mr. Secretary, please decide this question, can what I say here reach Klamm's ears?" "Of course." said Momus, lowering his eyes proudly and looking at nothing, "otherwise why would I be here as a secretary?" "You know, ma'am," said K., "I don't need a road to Klamm's I just need a way to Mr. Secretary." "I have long been willing to open this way for you," said the landlady, "didn't I express my willingness to convey your request to Klamm this morning? Mr. Momus might be able to do it. But you refused. From now on, there is no other way for you to go but this. But frankly, after you disturbed Klamm's private life, The hope of going this way is very slim. But this last, small, vanishing, yes, actually invisible hope is still your only hope." "Madam," said K. , "At first you tried everything possible to prevent me from seeing Klamm, but now you take my wish to see Klamm so seriously, and you think that I have failed, most of the time.It seems that it is only due to my inappropriate actions. What's going on?If you were sincerely trying to persuade me not to go to Klamm at all then, why are you now apparently sincerely trying to drive me down the road where I can see Klamm, even though you actually admit it? Is it a long and endless road? ""Am I driving you down this road? "The proprietress asked." I tell you that your attempt is impossible to realize, can you say that I am driving you down this road?It would be shameless if you were going to shift the responsibility to me like this.Perhaps it was the presence of Mr. Momus that made you dare to do it.No, land surveyor, I'm not going to force you to do anything.There is only one mistake I can admit, and that is that I overestimated you a bit when I first saw you.I was surprised that you won Frieda so quickly, I wondered what else you could do.I wanted to prevent any further loss, and the only way of doing this I thought at the time was to shake your resolve by entreaties and threats.I've since learned to look at the whole thing more calmly.You can do whatever you like.Your actions can undoubtedly leave deep footprints in the snow of the yard, but nothing more can be done. ""It seems to me that the inconsistencies have not been clarified," said K. "but since this has been noticed, I am content.Now I beg you, Mr. Secretary, to tell me whether the proprietress is right in saying that the interview notes you wrote down have the effect of getting me to meet Klamm.If this is the case, then I am ready to answer all your questions at once.Really, in that respect, I do what I am asked to do. ""No," answered Momus, "that cannot be inferred at all.It was merely a matter of putting down what had happened this afternoon, and furnishing a proper entry for Klamm's village register, that's all.This record has been written, and is short of two or three omissions, which, by order of superiors, should be filled by you; otherwise, there is nothing else intended, nor possible. . "I was looking at the proprietress silently." Why are you staring at me? she asked. "What else did I say?"He's always like that, Mr. Secretary, he's always like that.He himself babbled about what he had been told, so he insisted that he had been deceived.I told him at the beginning, and I told him today, that Klamm should never be expected to receive him; well, if he can't make it clear, he can't change the fact with this record of the interview.Is there anything clearer than this?I also said that this transcript of the meeting was really his official connection to Kramm.This too is clear enough and indisputable.But even if he didn't want to believe me, he just kept hoping--I don't know why he thought that, and I don't know what his intentions were--that he'd see Klamm someday. However, as long as he still has such an idea, the only thing that can help him is this official contact with Kramm, in other words, this interview record.That is what I say, and whoever insists on the contrary is maliciously perverting what I say. ""If that's true, ma'am," said K., "then, please forgive me, I misunderstood you; because I thought—in the present case, that I was wrong—from you. From what I have said before, I realize that I still have a little hope. ""Of course," replied the landlady, "that's exactly what I mean.You are twisting my words again, but this day you are twisting it from the wrong side.In my opinion, there is still such a glimmer of hope for you, and this glimmer of hope rests entirely on this meeting record and nothing else.But this hope, asks you, Mr. Momus, if I answer your question, will I see Klamm?This question has nothing in common.Such a question from a child would be laughed at, but from a grown-up would insult all authority; and Mr. Momus kindly concealed the insult by a polite reply.But when I say hope, I mean only this: You can make a connection, perhaps a connection with Klamm, through this record of the meeting.Isn't that enough?If you were asked to do a thing by which you could acquire this right to hope, would you say it was insignificant?This is your last chance, or your best hope, and of course Mr. Momus, in his sphere of authority, cannot give you the slightest hint.For him, as he said, it was only because of the order of his superiors that he recorded what happened this afternoon; other than that, he is unwilling to say anything, even if you ask him now to tell me If you have any opinions on these words, he will not answer you. " "Well, Mr. Secretary! asked K. "Will Klamm read the minutes of the meeting?" ""No," answered Momus, "why should he look?"It's impossible for Kramm to read every transcript of the meeting, in fact he doesn't read it at all.Give me the minutes of your meeting!That's what he usually says. ""Land surveyor," cried the landlady bitterly, "I'm tired of giving you these questions.Do you think that Klamm will read this interview record and understand the trivial details of your life word by word?Do you think this is necessary?Or just you wish it were?You might as well hope humbly that this record of the interview will not be seen by Klamm... But this hope is as unreasonable as the previous one, because although Klamm showed his sympathetic character in many ways, but Who can hide things from him?Must he also know that hope you speak of?Didn't you say yourself that as long as you get the chance to talk to Klamm, even if he doesn't look at you or listen to you, you will be satisfied?So you have at least realized this wish through this interview record, or is it more than that? ""Isn't that more than that? asked K. "In what way?" ""As long as you don't keep yelling for this and that like a child, as if it were edible, you can!Who has the skills to answer these questions?You have heard that the record of this interview is to be entered in Klamm's country register, and nothing could make it clearer.But you probably don't know the full significance of the interview minutes, this Mr. Momus, and the village register?Do you know what it means to be censored by Mr. Momus?Perhaps—at least from all appearances—he himself did not know.He sat there quietly, carrying out his task, because his superiors ordered him to do so, as he said.But if you think about it, he was appointed by Kramm, and he acted in Kramm's name. Even if it was impossible for Kramm to know all of his actions, he had been approved by Kramm in advance.How could everything that Klamm agreed to not carry out his spirit?I don't mean to make vulgar compliments to Mr. Momus--nor would he allow me to do so himself, but I don't see him as a man of his own, except when he has Klamm's permission. , as it is now, that's what I said; therefore, he is an instrument in Klamm's hands, and anyone who disobeys him will suffer. "

K. was not intimidated by the landlady's threats; but her attempts to bring him to his knees annoyed him.Klamm was miles away from them.The landlady had once compared Klamm to a vulture, a comparison that seemed ridiculous to K at the time, but it didn't seem so ridiculous now; he thought of how far Klamm was from him, Klamm's impenetrable abode, his silence (broken, I am afraid, only by some shout that K. His unimpeded paths, K.'s troubles below could not stop him, only traced by the impetus of the unattainable and mysterious law, and these paths were only short-lived--in these respects Yes, Klamm and the vulture do have something in common.But these obviously have nothing to do with the meeting record. At this time, Momus was crumbling a bread roll dipped in fine salt on the document as an accompaniment to drinking beer, so the paper was covered with fine salt and coriander seeds.

"Good-bye," said K. "I have no objection to any form of censorship." Now at last he went to the door. "He's gone anyway," Momes said to the proprietress almost agitatedly. "I'm sorry he didn't dare," she said. K. did not answer them anymore, he had already gone into the living room.It was cold and windy.From a door on the opposite side came the innkeeper, who seemed to have been watching the drawing-room from behind the small opening.The wind in the living room was blowing against him so violently that he had to wrap the hem of his coat around his knees. "Are you leaving now, land surveyor?" he asked. "Does that seem strange to you?" K. asked him. "Yes," said the boss, "then you have been censored?" "No," replied K., "I don't want to be censored." "Why?" asked the boss. "I don't know," he said, "why should I be censored, why should I succumb to such tricks or official whims? Maybe someday I'll play tricks myself, or whim Under review, not today." "Well, of course, of course," the boss agreed, saying it out of politeness, not really taking his word for it. "Now I have to send the servants into the bar," he said at once, "they should have gone in a long time ago. It's just that I'm afraid to disturb the inspection." "Do you think the inspection is so important?" asked K. "Well, of course," replied the boss. "Then I shouldn't have refused the examination," said K. "That's right," replied the boss, "you shouldn't refuse." Seeing that K was silent, he didn't know whether to comfort K or to get away quickly, so he added: "Come on, come on, God won't let him go because of this." It has fallen." "That's right," replied K., "according to the weather, the sky will not fall." And they parted with a big laugh.