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whatever sacrifice. At the same time, though, he did not forget to
remind himself that calm consideration was much better than rushing
to desperate conclusions. At times like this he would direct his
eyes to the window and look out as clearly as he could, but
unfortunately, even the other side of the narrow street was
enveloped in morning fog and the view had little confidence or cheer
to offer him. "Seven o'clock, already", he said to himself when the
clock struck again, "seven o'clock, and there's still a fog like
this." And he lay there quietly a while longer, breathing lightly
as if he perhaps expected the total stillness to bring things back
to their real and natural state.

But then he said to himself: "Before it strikes quarter past seven
I'll definitely have to have got properly out of bed. And by then
somebody will have come round from work to ask what's happened to me
as well, as they open up at work before seven o'clock." And so he
set himself to the task of swinging the entire length of his body
out of the bed all at the same time. If he succeeded in falling out
of bed in this way and kept his head raised as he did so he could
probably avoid injuring it. His back seemed to be quite hard, and
probably nothing would happen to it falling onto the carpet. His
main concern was for the loud noise he was bound to make, and which
even through all the doors would probably raise concern if not
alarm. But it was something that had to be risked.

When Gregor was already sticking half way out of the bed - the new
method was more of a game than an effort, all he had to do was rock
back and forth - it occurred to him how simple everything would be
if somebody came to help him. Two strong people - he had his father
and the maid in mind - would have been more than enough; they would
only have to push their arms under the dome of his back, peel him
away from the bed, bend down with the load and then be patient and
careful as he swang over onto the floor, where, hopefully, the
little legs would find a use. Should he really call for help
though, even apart from the fact that all the doors were locked?
Despite all the difficulty he was in, he could not suppress a smile
at this thought.

After a while he had already moved so far across that it would have
been hard for him to keep his balance if he rocked too hard. The
time was now ten past seven and he would have to make a final
decision very soon. Then there was a ring at the door of the flat.
"That'll be someone from work", he said to himself, and froze very
still, although his little legs only became all the more lively as

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