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you, with immediate effect.” “Do I understand you rightly?”
asked the lawyer as he half raised himself in his bed and
supported himself with one hand on the pillow. “I think you
do,” said K., sitting stiffly upright as if waiting in ambush.
“Well we can certainly discuss this plan of yours,” said the
lawyer after a pause. “It’s not a plan any more,” said K. “That
may be,” said the lawyer, “but we still mustn’t rush any-
thing.” He used the word ‘we’, as if he had no intention of
letting K. go free, and as if, even if he could no longer repre-
sent him, he could still at least continue as his adviser.
“Nothing is being rushed,” said K., standing slowly up and
going behind his chair, “everything has been well thought
out and probably even for too long. The decision is final.”
“Then allow me to say a few words,” said the lawyer, throw-
ing the bed cover to one side and sitting on the edge of the
bed. His naked, whitehaired legs shivered in the cold. He
asked K. to pass him a blanket from the couch. K. passed
him the blanket and said, “You are running the risk of
catching cold for no reason.” “The circumstances are im-
portant enough,” said the lawyer as he wrapped the bed
cover around the top half of his body and then the blanket
around his legs. “Your uncle is my friend and in the course
of time I’ve become fond of you as well. I admit that quite
openly. There’s nothing in that for me to be ashamed of.” It
was very unwelcome for K. to hear the old man speak in this
touching way, as it forced him to explain himself more fully,
which he would rather have avoided, and he was aware that
it also confused him even though it could never make him
reverse his decision. “Thank you for feeling so friendly to-

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