Chapter 19 seventeen

In front of the dark Herrenhof Hotel stood a small group, two or three with lanterns, so that faces could be made out. K. recognized only one acquaintance, Gestak the coachman.Gestak greeted him and asked him: "Are you still in the village?" "Yes," replied K., "I came here intending to stay forever." "That has nothing to do with me," said Gestak. A cough cut him off, Stark said, before he turned to talk to someone else. It turned out that they were all waiting for Erlanger.Erlanger has arrived, but he has to discuss with Momus before meeting these parties.They were all complaining that they were not allowed to wait inside the house, so they could only stand outside in the snow waiting to be interviewed.The weather is not very cold, but it is not considerate to let them stand in front of the hotel in the dark, maybe they have to wait for several hours.This is definitely not Erlanger's fault, he has always been very easy-going, he doesn't know such a thing at all, if he knows, he will be very angry.It was the fault of the proprietress of the Herrenhof Hotel, who was so obsessed with manners that she couldn't stand a large number of people rushing into the Herrenhof Hotel at the same time.She used to say something like this: "If it is absolutely necessary, they must come, then, for God's sake, let them come one by one." Waiting first, then in the lobby, then in the bar, and finally in the street.But even so, she still felt dissatisfied.She said she couldn't stand being "surrounded" in her house by them all the time.She couldn't understand why the parties were waiting there. "To dirty the door steps," an officer once said to her, evidently a little annoyed, but it seemed to her so cleverly said, that she never tired of repeating it. quote this sentence.She insisted on building a house opposite the Herrenhof Hotel--which the parties agreed with--so that the parties could wait there.She wished that these interviews and examinations would be held outside the Herrenhof Hotel, but the officials objected to this, and when the officials expressed serious objections, the proprietress naturally could not disobey them, but in some small matters, With her indomitable yet feminine nagging energy, she can still exercise a little tyranny.The landlady might then have to put up with the constant interviews and examinations at the Herrenhof Hotel, because the gentleman in the castle, who was away on business in the country, did not want to move a single step once he arrived at the hotel.They were always in such a hurry, and coming to the village out of necessity, that they had no intention of prolonging their stay beyond what was absolutely necessary, nor did they take all their papers with them merely to make the Herrenhof Hotel more orderly. Move to another place, because it would be a waste of time.Indeed, officials prefer to work in the bar or in their rooms, if possible, even in bed before eating or going to bed at night, or in the morning when they are too tired and want to lie down a little longer. The business is dealt with.It would seem to be a satisfactory solution to build another reception room outside, but it would be another serious blow to the proprietress--people can't help laughing at this--because of the reception room thing. It was bound to attract countless audiences, so that the lobby of the Herrenhof was never free.

These things were whispered among the waiting crowd, and they passed the time. K. was surprised that, despite everyone's disapproval, no one objected to Erlanger's late-night interview with the client.He asked people why they had to meet late at night, and the answer he got was that they were only grateful to him for it.Since it was all Erlanger's good intentions and his high sense of duty to come to the village, he could just send any junior secretary if he wanted--and it might be more in line--and let him give him Just write a report.But he was often unwilling to do this, he had to observe and hear everything for himself, so he had to sacrifice his evenings, because there was no time in the castle's office schedule for him to travel to the village. K. disagreed with this statement, because even Klamm came to the village during the day, and even stayed for several days; Erlanger was only a secretary, and was he more indispensable in the castle than Klamm?One or two laughed heartily at what he said, the others fell silent in embarrassment, the latter predominated, and almost no one answered K.Only one replied hesitantly that Klamm was, of course, an important person, both in the castle and in the village.

At this moment the gate opened, and Momus appeared between two attendants with lamps.He said, "The first person to go to see Mr. Erlanger is Gestak and see are these two people here?" They both reported, but they haven't walked up yet, Jeremiah said He said "I'm the waiter here" and slipped in. Momus also smiled and patted him on the shoulder as a greeting, and disappeared through the door. "I have to watch out for Jeremiah," K. said to himself, although at the same time he knew that Jeremiah was probably far less dangerous than Arthur, who was now fighting against him in the castle.Perhaps he'd better keep them as assistants, though they annoyed him, and it was actually better than letting them wander around unsupervised, free to plot, which they seemed to be very good at.

When K passed, Momus was taken aback, as if he had only just now recognized him as a land surveyor. "Ah, are you a land surveyor?" he said. "People who were so unwilling to accept the review before are now eager to accept the review. If I had been reviewed at the time, it might have saved a lot of trouble. Yes, it is really not easy to find an appropriate time to hear the appeal." Seeing K. stop at these words, Momes went on: "Go in, go in! I needed your answer then, and I don't need it now." But Momes' tone of voice was irritating. K., he replied: "You only think of yourselves. I have not been, and will never be, subject to any scrutiny merely because of a person's position. I have always been and always will be." Whom to think of? Who else is here? Could it be yourself?"

In the hall a servant came up to them and led them along the old path that K. had already taken, across the courtyard, then into an entrance, and then through a low corridor that sloped slightly downwards. .The upper floors were obviously reserved only for high-ranking officials, and the secretaries lived in rooms along this corridor, even Erlanger himself, despite being one of the most senior secretaries.The servant blew out the lamp in his hand, for the place was brightly lit by electric lights.Everything here is small, but it is very elegantly arranged, making full use of the space.The corridor is just high enough for a person to walk upright.The doors on both sides of the corridor can almost touch each other.The walls were not built as high as the ceiling, probably for the sake of ventilation, for the narrow rooms in this low, cellar-like corridor could not have windows.The disadvantage of unwalled walls is that the noise in the corridors must be equally noisy in the rooms.Many of the rooms seemed to be occupied, and most of the people in the rooms were still awake, and they could be heard talking, beating and clinking glasses.These sounds, however, did not give the impression of any particular joy.Those speaking voices are depressing, and occasionally only one or two words can be vaguely heard, and it doesn't seem to be talking, maybe it's just someone dictating or reading something aloud; the room with the clinking of cups and plates Not a single human voice could be heard, but the sound of beating reminded K. that he had been told at some point that some officials occasionally did carpentry, sand-turning, etc. themselves in order to refresh their constantly strained brains. labor.The corridor was empty, except for a thin, tall gentleman with a haggard face, wearing a leather coat, and it could be seen that he was wearing pajamas underneath, sitting in front of a door.Probably because he felt too much in the room, he sat outside, and he was reading a newspaper, but not very carefully; he often put the paper down and yawned, then leaned out and looked along the corridor, Maybe he's waiting for a no-show party.As they passed him, the squire said to Gestak, "That's Pinscore." Gestak nodded and said, "He hasn't been in the country for a long time." "It's been a long time," said the squire. agreed.

At last they stopped in front of a door, which was no different from any other door, but the attendants told them that Erlanger lived behind this door.The squire told K. to lift him up on his shoulders and let him peek into the room through the opening. "He's lying down," said the squire, climbing down, "in bed with all his clothes on, it's true, but I think he's asleep anyway. He's often in this state when he's here in the village, because of the habits of life." Changed. We'll have to wait for him to wake up. He'll ring when he wakes up. Besides, it's happened to him before that he sleeps as soon as he gets here, and sleeps all the time he stays in the village, so , and when he wakes up, he'll have to start back to the castle at once. Of course, he's come here to work voluntarily." "Well, it might be better if he just slept like that," said Gastak Say, "Because when he wakes up and realizes that he's running out of work time, he'll get mad at himself for taking a nap and want to rush everything over so you don't even have to say a word." There is no chance." "Are you here to undertake the shipping of that new house?" asked the squire.Gestak nodded, and took the squire aside to talk to him in a low voice, but the squire didn't listen to him, he was a head taller than Gestak, so he looked away over him, while Slowly and solemnly stroking his hair.