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around the bank in extremely exaggerated form, and that
K. had been a member of the Society for the Preservation
of City Monuments, albeit only for business reasons. It was
said that this Italian was an art lover, so the choice of K. to
accompany him was a matter of course.
It was a very rainy and stormy morning when K., in a
foul temper at the thought of the day ahead of him, arrived
early at seven o’clock in the office so that he could at least
do some work before his visitor would prevent him. He had
spent half the night studying a book of Italian grammar so
that he would be somewhat prepared and was very tired; his
desk was less attractive to him than the window where he
had spent far too much time sitting of late, but he resisted
the temptation and sat down to his work. Unfortunately, just
then the servitor came in and reported that the director had
sent him to see whether the chief clerk was already in his of-
fice; if he was, then would he please be so kind as to come to
his reception room as the gentleman from Italy was already
there. “I’ll come straight away,” said K. He put a small dic-
tionary in his pocket, took a guide to the city’s tourist sites
under his arm that he had compiled for strangers, and went
through the deputy director’s office into that of the direc-
tor. He was glad he had come into the office so early and
was able to be of service immediately, nobody could seri-
ously have expected that of him. The deputy director’s office
was, of course, still as empty as the middle of the night, the
servitor had probably been asked to summon him too but
without success. As K. entered the reception room two men
stood up from the deep armchairs where they had been sit-

The Trial