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Gregor war nun von der
Mutter abgeschlossen, die durch seine Schuld vielleicht dem Tod nahe war; die Tür durfte er
nicht öffnen, wollte er die Schwester, die bei der Mutter bleiben mußte, nicht verjagen; er
hatte jetzt nichts zu tun, als zu warten; und von Selbstvorwürfen und Besorgnis bedrängt,
begann er zu kriechen, überkroch alles, Wände, Möbel und Zimmerdecke und fiel endlich in
seiner Verzweiflung, als sich das ganze Zimmer schon um ihn zu drehen anfing, mitten auf den
großen Tisch.
Es verging eine kleine Weile, Gregor lag matt da, ringsherum war es still, vielleicht war
das ein gutes Zeichen. Da läutete es. Das Mädchen war natürlich in ihrer Küche eingesperrt
und Grete mußte daher öffnen gehen. Der Vater war gekommen. »Was ist geschehen?« waren seine
ersten Worte; Gretes Aussehen hatte ihm wohl alles verraten. Grete antwortete mit dumpfer
Stimme, offenbar drückte sie ihr Gesicht an des Vaters Brust: »Die Mutter war ohnmächtig,
aber es geht ihr schon besser. Gregor ist ausgebrochen.« »Ich habe es ja erwartet«, sagte
der Vater, »ich habe es euch ja immer gesagt, aber ihr Frauen wollt nicht hören.«
Gregor war es klar, daß der Vater Gretes allzu kurze Mitteilung schlecht gedeutet hatte und
annahm, daß Gregor sich irgendeine Gewalttat habe zuschulden kommen lassen. Deshalb mußte
Gregor den Vater jetzt zu besänftigen suchen, denn ihn aufzuklären hatte er weder Zeit noch
Möglichkeit. Und so flüchtete er sich zur Tür seines Zimmers und drückte sich an sie, damit
der Vater beim Eintritt vom Vorzimmer her gleich sehen könne, daß Gregor die beste Absicht
habe, sofort in sein Zimmer zurückzukehren, und daß es nicht nötig sei, ihn zurückzutreiben,
sondern daß man nur die Tür zu öffnen brauche, und gleich werde er verschwinden. |
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So now Gregor was shut out from his mother, who, because of him, might be near to death; he could not open the door if he did not want to chase his sister away, and she had to stay with his mother; there was nothing for him to do but wait; and, oppressed with anxiety and self-reproach, he began to crawl about, he crawled over everything, walls, furniture, ceiling, and finally in his confusion as the whole room began to spin around him he fell down into the middle of the dinner table.
He lay there for a while, numb and immobile, all around him it was quiet, maybe that was a good sign. Then there was someone at the door. The maid, of course, had locked herself in her kitchen so that Grete would have to go and answer it. His father had arrived home. "What's happened?" were his first words; Grete's appearance must have made everything clear to him. She answered him with subdued voice, and openly pressed her face into his chest: "Mother's fainted, but she's better now. Gregor got out." "Just as I expected", said his father, "just as I always said, but you women wouldn't listen, would you." It was clear to Gregor that Grete had not said enough and that his father took it to mean that something bad had happened, that he was responsible for some act of violence. That meant Gregor would now have to try to calm his father, as he did not have the time to explain things to him even if that had been possible. So he fled to the door of his room and pressed himself against it so that his father, when he came in from the hall, could see straight away that Gregor had the best intentions and would go back into his room without delay, that it would not be necessary to drive him back but that they had only to open the door and he would disappear. |
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