Page 46 - the-metamorphosis

But perhaps the enthusiastic sensibility of young women
of her age also played a role. This feeling sought release at
every opportunity, and with it Grete now felt tempted to
want to make Gregor’s situation even more terrifying, so
that then she would be able to do even more for him than
now. For surely no one except Grete would ever trust them-
selves to enter a room in which Gregor ruled the empty
walls all by himself. And so she did not let herself be dis-
suaded from her decision by her mother, who in this room
seemed uncertain of herself in her sheer agitation and soon
kept quiet, helping his sister with all her energy to get the
chest of drawers out of the room. Now, Gregor could still
do without the chest of drawers if need be, but the writing
desk really had to stay. And scarcely had the women left the
room with the chest of drawers, groaning as they pushed
it, when Gregor stuck his head out from under the sofa to
take a look how he could intervene cautiously and with as
much consideration as possible. But unfortunately it was his
mother who came back into the room first, while Grete had
her arms wrapped around the chest of drawers in the next
room and was rocking it back and forth by herself, without
moving it from its position. His mother was not used to the
sight of Gregor; he could have made her ill, and so, fright-
ened, Gregor scurried backwards right to the other end of
the sofa, but he could no longer prevent the sheet from mov-
ing forward a little. That was enough to catch his mother’s
attention. She came to a halt, stood still for a moment, and
then went back to Grete.
Although Gregor kept repeating to himself over and