7.16 Kafka — «Die Verwandlung» (opening) — Epoché
What you will be able to do Read the opening pages of Franz Kafka's Die Verwandlung in its first printed text of 1915. Follow Kafka's long, precise sentences and Gregor's thoughts in German quotation marks, »…« . Read the subjunctive of daydreams and regrets: wenn ich noch ein wenig weiterschliefe ; ich hätte längst gekündigt ; Vom Pult hätte er fallen müssen! Recognise Austrian words in Kafka's Prague German: Kasten , Verkühlung , dreiviertel sieben . Sentences from this text, before the notes. Read the German aloud; all of them come back below. German English Die geschäftlichen Aufregungen sind viel größer, als im eigentlichen Geschäft zuhause. The stresses of business are much greater on the road than in the actual office at home. Andere Reisende leben wie Haremsfrauen. Other travelling salesmen live like women in a harem. Sollte der Wecker nicht geläutet haben? Could the alarm clock not have rung? Das war aber äußerst peinlich und verdächtig, denn Gregor war während seines fünfjährigen Dienstes noch nicht einmal krank gewesen. But that was extremely awkward and suspicious, for in his five years of service Gregor had never once been ill. und er war gespannt, wie sich seine heutigen Vorstellungen allmählich auflösen würden. and he was curious to see how today's imaginings would gradually dissolve. Trotz aller Not konnte er bei diesem Gedanken ein Lächeln nicht unterdrücken. For all his distress, he could not suppress a smile at this thought. Prerequisites : 7.15 — you need the subjunctive of unreality and its past from 2.23 Grammar and 2.24 Grammar , extended attributes from 2.28 Grammar , and telling the time from 5.6 Vocabulary . About this text Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was a German-speaking Jewish writer from Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He worked as a lawyer for a workers' accident insurance institute and wrote at night. Die Verwandlung , The Metamorphosis , written in November and December 1912, first appeared in the monthly Die Weißen Blätter , Leipzig, October 1915. The text here is the opening of the story, its first 20 paragraphs and about 2,800 words, from the transcription of that first printing in German Wikisource, unchanged except that the printed page numbers are left out. It is in the public domain. The first sentence is one of the most famous in world literature: a travelling salesman, Gregor Samsa, wakes up one morning transformed into a monstrous insect. What makes the story unsettling is what follows. Gregor hardly wonders how this happened; he worries about missing his train, about his boss, about his job, which supports his whole family. The excerpt covers the first hour: Gregor's attempts to get out of bed, the voices of his mother, father and sister through the doors, and the arrival of the chief clerk from his firm, who has come to find out why he missed the five o'clock train. Kafka's German is clear and correct, almost like an official report, which makes the impossible situation all the more disturbing. For a learner this is good news: the vocabulary is everyday, the grammar regular, and the sentences, though long, are built logically. Grammar in the text Thoughts in quotation marks. Gregor's thoughts are given as direct speech with dachte er or sagte er sich , inside German quotation marks »…« pointing inward. The punctuation inside is older: a comma stands inside the closing mark, »Dies frühzeitige Aufstehen,« dachte er . The subjunctive of daydreams. Gregor's escapes are all in the subjunctive. A wish: Wie wäre es, wenn ich noch ein wenig weiterschliefe und alle Narrheiten vergäße — weiterschliefe and vergäße are the subjunctive forms of schlafen and vergessen from 2.23 Grammar . A regret in the past: ich hätte längst gekündigt, ich wäre vor den Chef hin getreten . And a satisfying fantasy with a double infinitive, as in 2.24 Grammar : Vom Pult hätte er fallen müssen! als + subjunctive. als erwarte er vielleicht von der völligen Stille die Wiederkehr der wirklichen und selbstverständlichen Verhältnisse , as if perhaps he expected the return of real and natural conditions from the complete silence : the construction of 7.15 Reading , here with Konjunktiv I . Precise noun phrases. Kafka packs description into extended attributes: einen noch nie gefühlten, leichten, dumpfen Schmerz , a light, dull pain he had never felt before ; dieses möbelerschütternde Läuten , this furniture-shaking ringing . Read them with the method of 2.28 Grammar . Prague and Austrian German. Kafka writes standard German with some Austrian words. The alarm clock stands auf dem Kasten , on the chest or wardrobe (northern German: Schrank ); Gregor expects a Verkühlung , a cold ( Erkältung ); and the mother says dreiviertel sieben , a quarter to seven , literally three quarters of seven , a way of telling the time common in Austria and southern and eastern Germany. You will meet more such words in 11.3 Background . Reading it a second time, section by section The awakening (paragraphs 1–3). The first paragraph describes the insect's body as calmly as an anatomy textbook. The second describes the room, which is perfectly normal, including the picture of a lady in furs that Gregor cut from a magazine. Gregor tries to go back to sleep and cannot turn onto his side. The job (paragraphs 4–6). Gregor's first long thoughts are about his work, not his body: the tiring travel, the irregular meals, the boss who talks down from his desk. He would have resigned long ago, but he must pay off his parents' debt to the firm. Then he sees the time: half past six, then a quarter to seven. He has missed the five o'clock train. The voices (paragraphs 7–8). The alarm clock strikes a quarter to seven, and his mother, father and sister knock at three different doors. Gregor's voice has changed, mixed with a painful squeak, but through the wooden door nobody notices. Getting out of bed (paragraphs 9–16). A long, tragicomic struggle: the many legs will not obey, the lower body is too heavy, t