… at that moment something or other thrown casually flew down close by and rolled in front of him. It was an apple; immediately a second one flew after it… From the fruit bowl on the sideboard his father had filled his pockets, and now… was throwing apple after apple. These small red apples rolled as if electrified around on the floor and collided with each other… another thrown immediately after that one drove into Gregor’s back really hard. Gregor wanted to drag himself off, as if the unexpected and incredible pain would go away if he changed his position. But he felt as if he was nailed in place…
No plea of Gregor’s helped, no plea was even understood; however humbly he might turn his head, his father merely stamped his feet more forcefully […] he drove Gregor on, as if there were no obstacle […] his father gave him a hard shove, which was truly his salvation, and bleeding profusely, he flew far into his room.
But the empty high-ceilinged room in which he was forced to lie flat on the floor… made him nervous, without his being able to tell why… it was, after all, the room in which he had lived for the past five years… and turning half unconsciously and not without a slight feeling of shame… he scuttled under the couch…
…leaving out the fact that the doors were locked, should he really call for help? In spite of all his miseries, he could not repress a smile at this thought.
… all three left the apartment together, something they had not done for months now… They talked to each other, leaning back comfortably in their seats, about future prospects, and they discovered that on closer observation these were not at all bad, for all three had employment… The greatest improvement in their situation at this moment, of course, had to come from a change of dwelling. And it was something of a confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions when at the end of their journey the daughter first lifted herself up and stretched her young body
