Page 170 - the-trial

hand as if he had said something extraordinarily surpris-
ing or clumsy, with both hands she lifted her skirt, which
was already very short, and, as fast as she could, she ran off
after the other girls whose indistinct shouts lost themselves
in the heights. At the next turn of the stairs, however, K. en-
countered all the girls once more. The hunchbacked girl had
clearly told them about K.’s intentions and they were wait-
ing for him. They stood on both sides of the stairs, pressing
themselves against the wall so that K. could get through be-
tween them, and smoothed their aprons down with their
hands. All their faces, even in this guard of honour, showed
a mixture of childishness and depravity. Up at the head
of the line of girls, who now, laughing, began to close in
around K., was the hunchback who had taken on the role
of leader. It was thanks to her that K. found the right direc-
tion without delay he would have continued up the stairs
straight in front of him, but she showed him that to reach
Titorelli he would need to need to turn off to one side. The
steps that led up to the painter were especially narrow, very
long without any turning, the whole length could be seen in
one glance and, at the top, at Titorelli’s closed door, it came
to its end. This door was much better illuminated than the
rest of the stairway by the light from a small skylight set
obliquely above it, it had been put together from unpainted
planks of wood and the name ‘Titorelli’ was painted on it in
broad, red brushstrokes. K. was no more than half way up
the steps, accompanied by his retinue of girls, when, clearly
the result of the noise of all those footsteps, the door opened
slightly and in the crack a man who seemed to be dressed

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