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Aber Gregor fiel es doch gar nicht ein, irgend jemandem und gar seiner Schwester Angst
machen zu wollen. Er hatte bloß angefangen sich umzudrehen, um in sein Zimmer
zurückzuwandern, und das nahm sich allerdings auffallend aus, da er infolge seines leidenden
Zustandes bei den schwierigen Umdrehungen mit seinem Kopfe nachhelfen mußte, den er hierbei
viele Male hob und gegen den Boden schlug. Er hielt inne und sah sich um. Seine gute Absicht
schien erkannt worden zu sein; es war nur ein augenblicklicher Schrecken gewesen. Nun sahen
ihn alle schweigend und traurig an. Die Mutter lag, die Beine ausgestreckt und
aneinandergedrückt, in ihrem Sessel, die Augen fielen ihr vor Ermattung fast zu; der Vater
und die Schwester saßen nebeneinander, die Schwester hatte ihre Hand um des Vaters Hals
gelegt.
»Nun darf ich mich schon vielleicht umdrehen«, dachte Gregor und begann seine Arbeit wieder.
Er konnte das Schnaufen der Anstrengung nicht unterdrücken und mußte auch hier und da
ausruhen.
Im übrigen drängte ihn auch niemand, es war alles ihm selbst überlassen. Als er die
Umdrehung vollendet hatte, fing er sofort an, geradeaus zurückzuwandern. E staunte über die
große Entfernung, die ihn von seinem Zimmer trennte, und begriff gar nicht, wie er bei
seiner Schwäche vor kurze Zeit den gleichen Weg, fast ohne es zu merken, zurückgelegt hatte.
Immerfort nur auf rasches Kriechen bedacht, achtete er kaum da auf, daß kein Wort, kein
Ausruf seiner Familie ihn störte. |
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But Gregor had had no intention of frightening anyone, least of all his sister. All he had done was begin to turn round so that he could go back into his room, although that was in itself quite startling as his pain-wracked condition meant that turning round required a great deal of effort and he was using his head to help himself do it, repeatedly raising it and striking it against the floor. He stopped and looked round. They seemed to have realised his good intention and had only been alarmed briefly. Now they all looked at him in unhappy silence. His mother lay in her chair with her legs stretched out and pressed against each other, her eyes nearly closed with exhaustion; his sister sat next to his father with her arms around his neck.
"Maybe now they'll let me turn round", thought Gregor and went back to work. He could not help panting loudly with the effort and had sometimes to stop and take a rest. No-one was making him rush any more, everything was left up to him. As soon as he had finally finished turning round he began to move straight ahead. He was amazed at the great distance that separated him from his room, and could not understand how he had covered that distance in his weak state a little while before and almost without noticing it. He concentrated on crawling as fast as he could and hardly noticed that there was not a word, not any cry, from his family to distract him. |
