Page 42 - the-trial

as K. came over. All of them seemed to be looking at him,
surprised at seeing their superior running; it was a kind of
pride that made K. want to go on foot, this was his affair and
the idea of any help from strangers, however slight, was re-
pulsive to him, he also wanted to avoid asking for anyone’s
help because that would initiate them into the affair even if
only slightly. And after all, he had no wish at all to humiliate
himself before the committee by being too punctual. Any-
way, now he was running so that he would get there by nine
o’clock if at all possible, even though he had no appoint-
ment for this time.
He had thought that he would recognise the building
from a distance by some kind of sign, without knowing ex-
actly what the sign would look like, or from some particular
kind of activity outside the entrance. K. had been told that
the building was in Juliusstrasse, but when he stood at the
street’s entrance it consisted on each side of almost nothing
but monotonous, grey constructions, tall blocks of flats oc-
cupied by poor people. Now, on a Sunday morning, most of
the windows were occupied, men in their shirtsleeves leant
out smoking, or carefully and gently held small children on
the sills. Other windows were piled up with bedding, above
which the dishevelled head of a woman would briefly ap-
pear. People called out to each other across the street, one
of the calls provoked a loud laugh about K. himself. It was
a long street, and spaced evenly along it were small shops
below street level, selling various kinds of foodstuffs, which
you reached by going down a few steps. Women went in and
out of them or stood chatting on the steps. A fruitmonger,

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