Page 106 - the-trial

important to maintain control of oneself at important mo-
ments if Franz had not screamed then it was at least highly
probable that K. would have been able to dissuade the whip-
man. If all the junior officers were contemptible why would
the whip-man, whose position was the most inhumane of
all, be any exception, and K. had noticed very clearly how
his eyes had lit up when he saw the banknotes, he had obvi-
ously only seemed serious about the flogging to raise the
level of the bribe a little. And K. had not been ungenerous,
he really had wanted to get the policemen freed; if he really
had now begun to do something against the degeneracy of
the court then it was a matter of course that he would have
to do something here as well. But of course, it became im-
possible for him to do anything as soon as Franz started
screaming. K. could not possibly have let the junior bank
staff, and perhaps even all sorts of other people, come along
and catch him by surprise as he haggled with those people
in the junk room. Nobody could really expect that sort of
sacrifice of him. If that had been his intention then it would
almost have been easier, K. would have taken his own
clothes off and offered himself to the whip-man in the po-
licemen’s place. The whip-man would certainly not have
accepted this substitution anyway, as in that way he would
have seriously violated his duty without gaining any benefit.
He would most likely have violated his duty twice over, as
court employees were probably under orders not to cause
any harm to K. while he was facing charges, although there
may have been special conditions in force here. However
things stood, K. was able to do no more than throw the door

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