Page 174 - the-trial

What did the letter actually say? K. had taken it as a matter
of course that the manufacturer had explained to the paint-
er in his letter that K. wanted nothing more with him than
to find out more about his trial. He had been far too rash in
coming here! But now he had to give the painter some sort
of answer and, glancing at the easel, said, “Are you working
on a picture currently?” “Yes,” said the painter, and he took
the shirt hanging over the easel and threw it onto the bed
after the letter. “It’s a portrait. Quite a good piece of work,
although it’s not quite finished yet.” This was a convenient
coincidence for K., it gave him a good opportunity to talk
about the court as the picture showed, very clearly, a judge.
What’s more, it was remarkably similar to the picture in the
lawyer’s office, although this one showed a quite different
judge, a heavy man with a full beard which was black and
bushy and extended to the sides far up the man’s cheeks.
The lawyer’s picture was also an oil painting, whereas this
one had been made with pastel colours and was pale and
unclear. But everything else about the picture was similar,
as this judge, too, was holding tightly to the arm of his
throne and seemed ominously about to rise from it. At first
K. was about to say, “He certainly is a judge,” but he held
himself back for the time being and went closer to the pic-
ture as if he wanted to study it in detail. There was a large
figure shown in middle of the throne’s back rest which K.
could not understand and asked the painter about it. That’ll
need some more work done on it, the painter told him, and
taking a pastel crayon from a small table he added a few
strokes to the edges of the figure but without making it any

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