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there have been some acquittals earlier,” the painter an-
swered, “but it’s very hard to be sure about it. The courts
don’t make their final conclusions public, not even the judg-
es are allowed to know about them, so that all we know
about these earlier cases are just legends. But most of them
did involve absolute acquittals, you can believe that, but
they can’t be proved. On the other hand, you shouldn’t for-
get all about them either, I’m sure there is some truth to
them, and they are very beautiful, I’ve painted a few pic-
tures myself depicting these legends.” “My assessment will
not be altered by mere legends,” said K. “I don’t suppose it’s
possible to cite these legends in court, is it?” The painter
laughed. “No, you can’t cite them in court,” he said. “Then
there’s no point in talking about them,” said K., he wanted,
for the time being, to accept anything the painter told him,
even if he thought it unlikely or contradicted what he had
been told by others. He did not now have the time to exam-
ine the truth of everything the painter said or even to
disprove it, he would have achieved as much as he could if
the painter would help him in any way even if his help
would not be decisive. As a result, he said, “So let’s pay no
more attention to absolute acquittal, but you mentioned
two other possibilities.” “Apparent acquittal and deferment.
They’re the only possibilities,” said the painter. “But before
we talk about them, would you not like to take your coat
off? You must be hot.” “Yes,” said K., who until then had
paid attention to nothing but the painter’s explanations, but
now that he had had the heat pointed out to him his brow
began to sweat heavily. “It’s almost unbearable.” The painter

1 The Trial