No More Learning

So I don't want to say that this is a joke. " "Quite right," said the
supervisor, looking to see how many matches were left in the box. "But
on the other hand," K. went on, looking round at everyone there and even
wishing he could get the attention of the three who were looking at the
photographs, "on the other hand this really can't be all that
important. That follows from the fact that I've been indicted, but
can't think of the slightest offence for which I could be indicted.
But even that is all beside the point, the main question is: Who is
issuing the indictment? What office is conducting this affair? Are you
officials? None of you is wearing a uniform, unless what you are
wearing" - here he turned towards Franz - "is meant to be a uniform,
it's actually more of a travelling suit. I require a clear answer to
all these questions, and I'm quite sure that once things have been made
clear we can take our leave of each other on the best of terms. " The
supervisor slammed the box of matches down on the table. "You're making
a big mistake," he said. "These gentlemen and I have got nothing to do
with your business, in fact we know almost nothing about you. We could
be wearing uniforms as proper and exact as you like and your situation
wouldn't be any the worse for it. As to whether you're on a charge, I
can't give you any sort of clear answer to that, I don't even know
whether you are or not. You're under arrest, you're quite right about
that, but I don't know any more than that. Maybe these officers have
been chit-chatting with you, well if they have that's all it is, chit-
chat. I can't give you an answer to your questions, but I can give you
a bit of advice: You'd better think less about us and what's going to
happen to you, and think a bit more about yourself. And stop making all
this fuss about your sense of innocence; you don't make such a bad
impression, but with all this fuss you're damaging it. And you ought to
do a bit less talking, too. Almost everything you've said so far has
been things we could have taken from your behaviour, even if you'd said
no more than a few words. And what you have said has not exactly been
in your favour. "

K. stared at the supervisor. Was this man, probably younger than
he was, lecturing him like a schoolmaster? Was he being punished for
his honesty with a telling off? And was he to learn nothing about the
reasons for his arrest or those who were arresting him? He became
somewhat cross and began to walk up and down. No-one stopped him doing
this and he pushed his sleeves back, felt his chest, straightened his
hair, went over to the three men, said, "It makes no sense," at which
these three turned round to face him and came towards him with serious
expressions. He finally came again to a halt in front of the
supervisor's desk. "State Attorney Hasterer is a good friend of mine,"
he said, "can I telephone him? " "Certainly," said the supervisor, "but
I don't know what the point of that will be, I suppose you must have
some private matter you want to discuss with him. " "What the point is? "
shouted K. , more disconcerted that cross. "Who do you think you are?
You want to see some point in it while you're carrying out something as
pointless as it could be? It's enough to make you cry! These gentlemen
first accost me, and now they sit or stand about in here and let me be
hauled up in front of you. What point there would be, in telephoning a
state attorney when I'm ostensibly under arrest? Very well, I won't
make the telephone call. " "You can call him if you want to," said the
supervisor, stretching his hand out towards the outer room where the
telephone was, "please, go on, do make your phone call. " "No, I don't
want to any more," said K. , and went over to the window. Across the
street, the people were still there at the window, and it was only now
that K. had gone up to his window that they seemed to become uneasy
about quietly watching what was going on. The old couple wanted to get
up but the man behind them calmed them down. "We've got some kind of
audience over there," called K. to the supervisor, quite loudly, as he
pointed out with his forefinger. "Go away," he then called across to
them. And the three of them did immediately retreat a few steps, the
old pair even found themselves behind the man who then concealed them
with the breadth of his body and seemed, going by the movements of his
mouth, to be saying something incomprehensible into the distance. They
did not disappear entirely, though, but seemed to be waiting for the
moment when they could come back to the window without being noticed.
"Intrusive, thoughtless people! " said K. as he turned back into the
room. The supervisor may have agreed with him, at least K. thought that
was what he saw from the corner of his eye. But it was just as possible
that he had not even been listening as he had his hand pressed firmly
down on the table and seemed to be comparing the length of his fingers.
The two policemen were sitting on a chest covered with a coloured
blanket, rubbing their knees. The three young people had put their
hands on their hips and were looking round aimlessly. Everything was
still, like in some office that has been forgotten about. "Now,
gentlemen," called out K. , and for a moment it seemed as if he was
carrying all of them on his shoulders, "it looks like your business with
me is over with. In my opinion, it's best now to stop wondering about
whether you're proceeding correctly or incorrectly, and to bring the
matter to a peaceful close with a mutual handshake. If you are of the
same opinion, then please. . . " and he walked up to the supervisor's desk
and held out his hand to him. The supervisor raised his eyes, bit his
lip and looked at K. 's outstretched hand; K still believed the
supervisor would do as he suggested. But instead, he stood up, picked
up a hard round hat that was laying on Miss Burstner's bed and put it
carefully onto his head, using both hands as if trying on a new hat.
"Everything seems so simple to you, doesn't it," he said to K. as he did
so, "so you think we should bring the matter to a peaceful close, do
you. No, no, that won't do. Mind you, on the other hand I certainly
wouldn't want you to think there's no hope for you. No, why should you
think that? You're simply under arrest, nothing more than that. That's
what I had to tell you, that's what I've done and now I've seen how
you've taken it. That's enough for one day and we can take our leave of
each other, for the time being at least. I expect you'll want to go in
to the bank now, won't you. " "In to the bank? " asked K. , "I thought I
was under arrest. " K. said this with a certain amount of defiance as,
although his handshake had not been accepted, he was feeling more
independent of all these people, especially since the supervisor had
stood up. He was playing with them. If they left, he had decided he
would run after them and offer to let them arrest him. That's why he
even repeated, "How can I go in to the bank when I'm under arrest? " "I
see you've misunderstood me," said the supervisor who was already at the
door. "It's true that you're under arrest, but that shouldn't stop you
from carrying out your job. And there shouldn't be anything to stop you
carrying on with your usual life. " "In that case it's not too bad,
being under arrest," said K. , and went up close to the supervisor. "I
never meant it should be anything else," he replied. "It hardly seems
to have been necessary to notify me of the arrest in that case," said K. ,
and went even closer. The others had also come closer. All of them had
gathered together into a narrow space by the door. "That was my duty,"
said the supervisor. "A silly duty," said K. , unyielding. "Maybe so,"
replied the supervisor, "only don't let's waste our time talking on like
this. I had assumed you'd be wanting to go to the bank. As you're
paying close attention to every word I'll add this: I'm not forcing you
to go to the bank, I'd just assumed you wanted to. And to make things
easier for you, and to let you get to the bank with as little fuss as
possible I've put these three gentlemen, colleagues of yours, at your
disposal. " "What's that? " exclaimed K. , and looked at the three in
astonishment. He could only remember seeing them in their group by the
photographs, but these characterless, anaemic young people were indeed
officials from his bank, not colleagues of his, that was putting it too
high and it showed a gap in the omniscience of the supervisor, but they
were nonetheless junior members of staff at the bank. How could K. have
failed to see that? How occupied he must have been with the supervisor
and the policemen not to have recognised these three! Rabensteiner,
with his stiff demeanour and swinging hands, Kullich, with his blonde
hair and deep-set eyes, and Kaminer, with his involuntary grin caused by
chronic muscle spasms. "Good morning," said K. after a while, extending
his hand to the gentlemen as they bowed correctly to him. "I didn't
recognise you at all. So, we'll go into work now, shall we? " The
gentlemen laughed and nodded enthusiastically, as if that was what they
had been waiting for all the time, except that K. had left his hat in
his room so they all dashed, one after another, into the room to fetch
it, which caused a certain amount of embarrassment. K. stood where he
was and watched them through the open double doorway, the last to go, of
course, was the apathetic Rabensteiner who had broken into no more than
an elegant trot. Kaminer got to the hat and K. , as he often had to do
at the bank, forcibly reminded himself that the grin was not deliberate,
that he in fact wasn't able to grin deliberately. At that moment Mrs.
Grubach opened the door from the hallway into the living room where all
the people were. She did not seem to feel guilty about anything at all,
and K. , as often before, looked down at the belt of her apron which, for
no reason, cut so deeply into her hefty body. Once downstairs, K. , with
his watch in his hand, decided to take a taxi - he had already been
delayed by half an hour and there was no need to make the delay any
longer. Kaminer ran to the corner to summon it, and the two others were
making obvious efforts to keep K. diverted when Kullich pointed to the
doorway of the house on the other side of the street where the large man
with the blonde goatee beard appeared and, a little embarrassed at first
at letting himself be seen in his full height, stepped back to the wall
and leant against it. The old couple were probably still on the stairs.
K. was cross with Kullich for pointing out this man whom he had already
seen himself, in fact whom he had been expecting. "Don't look at him! "
he snapped, without noticing how odd it was to speak to free men in this
way. But there was no explanation needed anyway as just then the taxi
arrived, they sat inside and set off. Inside the taxi, K. remembered
that he had not noticed the supervisor and the policemen leaving - the
supervisor had stopped him noticing the three bank staff and now the
three bank staff had stopped him noticing the supervisor. This showed
that K. was not very attentive, and he resolved to watch himself more
carefully in this respect. Nonetheless, he gave it no thought as he
twisted himself round and leant over onto the rear shelf of the car to
catch sight of the supervisor and the policemen if he could. But he
turned back round straight away and leant comfortably into the corner of
the taxi without even having made the effort to see anyone. Although it
did not seem like it, now was just the time when he needed some
encouragement, but the gentlemen seemed tired just then, Rabensteiner
looked out of the car to the right, Kullich to the left and only Kaminer
was there with his grin at K. 's service. It would have been inhumane to
make fun of that.

That spring, whenever possible, K. usually spent his evenings
after work - he usually stayed in the office until nine o'clock - with a
short walk, either by himself or in the company of some of the bank
officials, and then he would go into a pub where he would sit at the
regulars' table with mostly older men until eleven. There were,
however, also exceptions to this habit, times, for instance, when K. was
invited by the bank's manager (whom he greatly respected for his
industry and trustworthiness) to go with him for a ride in his car or to
eat dinner with him at his large house. K. would also go, once a week,
to see a girl called Elsa who worked as a waitress in a wine bar through
the night until late in the morning. During the daytime she only
received visitors while still in bed.

That evening, though, - the day had passed quickly with a lot of
hard work and many respectful and friendly birthday greetings - K.
wanted to go straight home. Each time he had any small break from the
day's work he considered, without knowing exactly what he had in mind,
that Mrs. Grubach's flat seemed to have been put into great disarray by
the events of that morning, and that it was up to him to put it back
into order. Once order had been restored, every trace of those events
would have been erased and everything would take its previous course
once more. In particular, there was nothing to fear from the three bank
officials, they had immersed themselves back into their paperwork and
there was no alteration to be seen in them. K. had called each of them,
separately or all together, into his office that day for no other reason
than to observe them; he was always satisfied and had always been able
to let them go again.

At half past nine that evening, when he arrived back in front of
the building where he lived, he met a young lad in the doorway who was
standing there, his legs apart and smoking a pipe. "Who are you? "
immediately asked K. , bringing his face close to the lad's, as it was
hard to see in the half light of the landing. "I'm the landlord's son,
sir," answered the lad, taking the pipe from his mouth and stepping to
one side. "The landlord's son? " asked K. , and impatiently knocked on
the ground with his stick. "Did you want anything, sir? Would you like
me to fetch my father? " "No, no," said K. , there was something
forgiving in his voice, as if the boy had harmed him in some way and he
was excusing him. "It's alright," he said then, and went on, but before
going up the stairs he turned round once more.

He could have gone directly to his room, but as he wanted to speak
with Mrs. Grubach he went straight to her door and knocked. She was sat
at the table with a knitted stocking and a pile of old stockings in
front of her. K. apologised, a little embarrassed at coming so late,
but Mrs. Grubach was very friendly and did not want to hear any apology,
she was always ready to speak to him, he knew very well that he was her
best and her favourite tenant. K. looked round the room, it looked
exactly as it usually did, the breakfast dishes, which had been on the
table by the window that morning, had already been cleared away. "A
woman's hands will do many things when no-one's looking," he thought, he
might himself have smashed all the dishes on the spot but certainly
would not have been able to carry it all out. He looked at Mrs. Grubach
with some gratitude. "Why are you working so late? " he asked. They
were now both sitting at the table, and K. now and then sank his hands
into the pile of stockings. "There's a lot of work to do," she said,
"during the day I belong to the tenants; if I'm to sort out my own
things there are only the evenings left to me. " "I fear I may have
caused you some exceptional work today. " "How do you mean, Mr. K. ? " she
asked, becoming more interested and leaving her work in her lap. "I
mean the men who were here this morning. " "Oh, I see," she said, and
went peacefully back to what she was doing, "that was no trouble, not
especially. " K. looked on in silence as she took up the knitted
stocking once more. She seems surprised at my mentioning it, he
thought, she seems to think it's improper for me to mention it.
All the
more important for me to do so. An old woman is the only person I can
speak about it with. "But it must have caused some work for you," he
said then, "but it won't happen again. " "No, it can't happen again," she
agreed, and smiled at K. in a way that was almost pained. "Do you mean
that seriously? " asked K. "Yes," she said, more gently, "but the
important thing is you mustn't take it too hard. There are so many
awful things happening in the world! As you're being so honest with me,
Mr. K. , I can admit to you that I listened to a little of what was going
on from behind the door, and that those two policemen told me one or two
things as well. It's all to do with your happiness, and that's
something that's quite close to my heart, perhaps more than it should be
as I am, after all, only your landlady. Anyway, so I heard one or two
things but I can't really say that it's about anything very serious.
No. You have been arrested, but it's not in the same way as when they
arrest a thief. If you're arrested in the same way as a thief, then
it's bad, but an arrest like this . . . . It seems to me that it's
something very complicated - forgive me if I'm saying something stupid -
something very complicated that I don't understand, but something that
you don't really need to understand anyway. "

"There's nothing stupid about what you've said, Mrs. Grubach, or
at least I partly agree with you, only, the way I judge the whole thing
is harsher than yours, and think it's not only not something complicated
but simply a fuss about nothing. I was just caught unawares, that's
what happened. If I had got up as soon as I was awake without letting
myself get confused because Anna wasn't there, if I'd got up and paid no
regard to anyone who might have been in my way and come straight to you,
if I'd done something like having my breakfast in the kitchen as an
exception, asked you to bring my clothes from my room, in short, if I
had behaved sensibly then nothing more would have happened, everything
that was waiting to happen would have been stifled. People are so often
unprepared. In the bank, for example, I am well prepared, nothing of
this sort could possibly happen to me there, I have my own assistant
there, there are telephones for internal and external calls in front of
me on the desk, I continually receive visits from people,
representatives, officials, but besides that, and most importantly, I'm
always occupied with my work, that's to say I'm always alert, it would
even be a pleasure for me to find myself faced with something of that
sort. But now it's over with, and I didn't really even want to talk
about it any more, only I wanted to hear what you, as a sensible woman,
thought about it all, and I'm very glad to hear that we're in agreement.
But now you must give me your hand, an agreement of this sort needs to
be confirmed with a handshake. "

Will she shake hands with me? The supervisor didn't shake hands,
he thought, and looked at the woman differently from before, examining
her. She stood up, as he had also stood up, and was a little self-
conscious, she hadn't been able to understand everything that K.
said. As a result of this self consciousness she said something that
she certainly did not intend and certainly was not appropriate. "Don't
take it so hard, Mr. K. ," she said, with tears in her voice and also, of
course, forgetting the handshake. "I didn't know I was taking it hard,"
said K. , feeling suddenly tired and seeing that if this woman did agree
with him it was of very little value.

Before going out the door he asked, "Is Miss Burstner home? "
"No," said Mrs. Grubach, smiling as she gave this simple piece of
information, saying something sensible at last. "She's at the theatre.
Did you want to see her? Should I give her a message? " "I, er, I just
wanted to have a few words with her. " "I'm afraid I don't know when
she's coming in; she usually gets back late when she's been to the
theatre. " "It really doesn't matter," said K. his head hanging as he
turned to the door to leave, "I just wanted to give her my apology for
taking over her room today. " "There's no need for that, Mr. K. , you're
too conscientious, the young lady doesn't know anything about it, she
hasn't been home since early this morning and everything's been tidied
up again, you can see for yourself. " And she opened the door to Miss
Burstner's room. "Thank you, I'll take your word for it," said K, but
went nonetheless over to the open door. The moon shone quietly into the
unlit room. As far as could be seen, everything was indeed in its
place, not even the blouse was hanging on the window handle. The
pillows on the bed looked remarkably plump as they lay half in the
moonlight. "Miss Burstner often comes home late," said K. , looking at
Mrs. Grubach as if that were her responsibility. "That's how young
people are! " said Mrs. Grubach to excuse herself. "Of course, of
course," said K. , "but it can be taken too far. " "Yes, it can be," said
Mrs. Grubach, "you're so right, Mr. K. Perhaps it is in this case. I
certainly wouldn't want to say anything nasty about Miss Burstner, she
is a good, sweet girl, friendly, tidy, punctual, works hard, I
appreciate all that very much, but one thing is true, she ought to have
more pride, be a bit less forthcoming. Twice this month already, in the
street over the way, I've seen her with a different gentleman. I really
don't like saying this, you're the only one I've said this to, Mr. K. , I
swear to God, but I'm going to have no choice but to have a few words
with Miss Burstner about it myself. And it's not the only thing about
her that I'm worried about. " "Mrs. Grubach, you are on quite the wrong
track," said K. , so angry that he was hardly able to hide it, "and you
have moreover misunderstood what I was saying about Miss Burstner, that
is not what I meant. In fact I warn you quite directly not to say
anything to her, you are quite mistaken, I know Miss Burstner very well
and there is no truth at all in what you say. And what's more, perhaps
I'm going to far, I don't want to get in your way, say to her whatever
you see fit. Good night. " "Mr. K. ," said Mrs. Grubach as if asking him
for something and hurrying to his door which he had already opened, "I
don't want to speak to Miss Burstner at all, not yet, of course I'll
continue to keep an eye on her but you're the only one I've told what I
know. And it is, after all something that everyone who lets rooms has
to do if she's to keep the house decent, that's all I'm trying to do. "
"Decent! " called out K. through the crack in the door, "if you want to
keep the house decent you'll first have to give me notice. " Then he
slammed the door shut, there was a gentle knocking to which he paid no
more attention.

He did not feel at all like going to bed, so he decided to stay
up, and this would also give him the chance to find out when Miss
Burstner would arrive home. Perhaps it would also still be possible,
even if a little inappropriate, to have a few words with her. As he lay
there by the window, pressing his hands to his tired eyes, he even
thought for a moment that he might punish Mrs. Grubach by persuading
Miss Burstner to give in her notice at the same time as he would. But
he immediately realised that that would be shockingly excessive, and
there would even be the suspicion that he was moving house because of
the incidents of that morning. Nothing would have been more nonsensical
and, above all, more pointless and contemptible.

When he had become tired of looking out onto the empty street he
slightly opened the door to the living room so that he could see anyone
who entered the flat from where he was and lay down on the couch. He
lay there, quietly smoking a cigar, until about eleven o'clock. He
wasn't able to hold out longer than that, and went a little way into the
hallway as if in that way he could make Miss Burstner arrive sooner. He
had no particular desire for her, he could not even remember what she
looked like, but now he wanted to speak to her and it irritated him that
her late arrival home meant this day would be full of unease and
disorder right to its very end. It was also her fault that he had not
had any dinner that evening and that he had been unable to visit Elsa as
he had intended. He could still make up for both of those things,
though, if he went to the wine bar where Elsa worked. He wanted to do
so even later, after the discussion with Miss Burstner.

It was already gone half past eleven when someone could be heard
in the stairway. K. , who had been lost in his thoughts in the hallway,
walking up and down loudly as if it were his own room, fled behind his
door. Miss Burstner had arrived. Shivering, she pulled a silk shawl
over her slender shoulders as she locked the door. The next moment she
would certainly go into her room, where K. ought not to intrude in the
middle of the night; that meant he would have to speak to her now, but,
unfortunately, he had not put the electric light on in his room so that
when he stepped out of the dark it would give the impression of being an
attack and would certainly, at the very least, have been quite alarming.
There was no time to lose, and in his helplessness he whispered through
the crack of the door, "Miss Burstner. " It sounded like he was pleading
with her, not calling to her. "Is there someone there? " asked Miss
Burstner, looking round with her eyes wide open. "It's me," said K. and
came out. "Oh, Mr. K. ! " said Miss Burstner with a smile. "Good
Evening," and offered him her hand. "I wanted to have a word with you,
if you would allow me? " "Now? " asked Miss Burstner, "does it have to be
now? It is a little odd, isn't it? " "I've been waiting for you since
nine o'clock. " "Well, I was at the theatre, I didn't know anything
about you waiting for me. " "The reason I need to speak to you only came
up today" "I see, well I don't see why not, I suppose, apart from being
so tired I could drop. Come into my room for a few minutes then. We
certainly can't talk out here, we'd wake everyone up and I think that
would be more unpleasant for us than for them. Wait here till I've put
the light on in my room, and then turn the light down out here. " K. did
as he was told, and then even waited until Miss Burstner came out of her
room and quietly invited him, once more, to come in. "Sit down," she
said, indicating the ottoman, while she herself remained standing by the
bedpost despite the tiredness she had spoken of; she did not even take
off her hat, which was small but decorated with an abundance of flowers.
"What is it you wanted, then? I'm really quite curious. " She gently
crossed her legs.
"I expect you'll say," K. began, "that the matter really isn't all that
urgent and we don't need to talk about it right now, but . . . " "I never
listen to introductions," said Miss Burstner. "That makes my job so
much easier," said K. "This morning, to some extent through my fault,
your room was made a little untidy, this happened because of people I
did not know and against my will but, as I said, because of my fault; I
wanted to apologise for it. " "My room? " asked Miss Burstner, and
instead of looking round the room scrutinised K. "It is true," said K. ,
and now, for the first time, they looked each other in the eyes,
"there's no point in saying exactly how this came about. " "But that's
the interesting thing about it," said Miss Burstner. "No," said K.
"Well then," said Miss Burstner, "I don't want to force my way into any
secrets, if you insist that it's of no interest I won't insist. I'm
quite happy to forgive you for it, as you ask, especially as I can't see
anything at all that's been left untidy. " With her hand laid flat on
her lower hip, she made a tour around the room. At the mat where the
photographs were she stopped. "Look at this! " she cried. "My
photographs really have been put in the wrong places. Oh, that's
horrible. Someone really has been in my room without permission. " K.
nodded, and quietly cursed Kaminer who worked at his bank and who was
always active doing things that had neither use nor purpose. "It is
odd," said Miss Burstner, "that I'm forced to forbid you to do something
that you ought to have forbidden yourself to do, namely to come into my
room when I'm not here. " "But I did explain to you," said K. , and went
over to join her by the photographs, "that it wasn't me who interfered
with your photographs; but as you don't believe me I'll have to admit
that the investigating committee brought along three bank employees with
them, one of them must have touched your photographs and as soon as I
get the chance I'll ask to have him dismissed from the bank. Yes, there
was an investigating committee here," added K. , as the young lady was
looking at him enquiringly. "Because of you? " she asked. "Yes,"
answered K. "No! " the lady cried with a laugh. "Yes, they were," said
K. , "you believe that I'm innocent then, do you? " "Well now, innocent
. . . " said the lady, "I don't want to start making any pronouncements
that might have serious consequences, I don't really know you after all,
it means they're dealing with a serious criminal if they send an
investigating committee straight out to get him. But you're not in
custody now - at least I take it you've not escaped from prison
considering that you seem quite calm - so you can't have committed any
crime of that sort. " "Yes," said K. , "but it might be that the
investigating committee could see that I'm innocent, or not so guilty as
had been supposed. " "Yes, that's certainly a possibility," said Miss
Burstner, who seemed very interested. "Listen," said K. , "you don't
have much experience in legal matters. " "No, that's true, I don't,"
said Miss Burstner, "and I've often regretted it, as I'd like to know
everything and I'm very interested in legal matters. There's something
peculiarly attractive about the law, isn't there? But I'll certainly be
perfecting my knowledge in this area, as next month I start work in a
legal office. " "That's very good," said K. , "that means you'll be able
to give me some help with my trial. " "That could well be," said Miss
Burstner, "why not? I like to make use of what I know. " "I mean it
quite seriously," said K. , "or at least, half seriously, as you do.
This affair is too petty to call in a lawyer, but I could make good use
of someone who could give me advice. " "Yes, but if I'm to give you
advice I'll have to know what it's all about," said Miss Burstner.
"That's exactly the problem," said K. , "I don't know that myself. " "So
you have been making fun of me, then," said Miss Burstner exceedingly
disappointed, "you really ought not to try something like that on at
this time of night. " And she stepped away from the photographs where
they had stood so long together. "Miss Burstner, no," said K. , "I'm not
making fun of you. Please believe me!