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from you that I probably could not have got anywhere else,
but that can’t be enough when the trial, supposedly in se-
cret, is getting closer and closer to me.” K. had pushed the
chair away and stood erect, his hands in the pockets of his
frock coat. “After a certain point in the proceedings,” said
the lawyer quietly and calmly, “nothing new of any impor-
tance ever happens. So many litigants, at the same stage in
their trials, have stood before me just like you are now and
spoken in the same way.” “Then these other litigants,” said
K., “have all been right, just as I am. That does not show that
I’m not.” “I wasn’t trying to show that you were mistaken,”
said the lawyer, “but I wanted to add that I expected better
judgement from you than from the others, especially as I’ve
given you more insight into the workings of the court and
my own activities than I normally do. And now I’m forced
to accept that, despite everything, you have too little trust
in me. You don’t make it easy for me.” How the lawyer was
humiliating himself to K.! He was showing no regard for
the dignity of his position, which on this point, must have
been at its most sensitive. And why did he do that? He did
seem to be very busy as a lawyer as well a rich man, neither
the loss of income nor the loss of a client could have been of
much importance to him in themselves. He was moreover
unwell and should have been thinking of passing work on
to others. And despite all that he held on tightly to K. Why?
Was it something personal for his uncle’s sake, or did he re-
ally see K.’s case as one that was exceptional and hoped to be
able to distinguish himself with it, either for K.’s sake or and
this possibility could never be excluded for his friends at the