Page 171 - the-trial

in just his nightshirt appeared. “Oh!” he cried, when he saw
the approaching crowd, and vanished. The hunchbacked
girl clapped her hands in glee and the other girls crowded
in behind K. to push him faster forward.
They still had not arrived at the top, however, when
the painter up above them suddenly pulled the door wide
open and, with a deep bow, invited K. to enter. The girls,
on the other hand, he tried to keep away, he did not want
to let any of them in however much they begged him and
however much they tried to get in if they could not get in
with his permission they would try to force their way in
against his will. The only one to succeed was the hunch-
back when she slipped through under his outstretched arm,
but the painter chased after her, grabbed her by the skirt,
span her once round and set her down again by the door
with the other girls who, unlike the first, had not dared to
cross the doorstep while the painter had left his post. K.
did not know what he was to make of all this, as they all
seemed to be having fun. One behind the other, the girls
by the door stretched their necks up high and called out
various words to the painter which were meant in jest but
which K. did not understand, and even the painter laughed
as the hunchback whirled round in his hand. Then he shut
the door, bowed once more to K., offered him his hand and
introduced himself, saying, “Titorelli, painter”. K. pointed
to the door, behind which the girls were whispering, and
said, “You seem to be very popular in this building.” “Ach,
those brats!” said the painter, trying in vain to fasten his
nightshirt at the neck. He was also bare-footed and, apart

1 0 The Trial