The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka

Author:Franz Kafka
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical Fiction
ISBN: 0760799121
Publisher: Barnes and Noble Publishing
Published: 2000-07-27T05:00:00+00:00

1 Kafka, either by design or in error, describes the statue this way.—Trans.

2 Kafka is referring here to the woman who seduced Karl, earlier called "the maid."—Trans.

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A Country Doctor

I WAS DISTRAUGHT: AN URGENT journey awaited me; I had to visit a gravely ill patient in a village ten miles away; a thick blizzard filled the distance that separated us; I had a trap, a light one with large wheels that was perfect for our country roads; I stood in the courtyard, wrapped in furs, holding my bag of instruments, all ready to go, but the horse was missing—no horse. My own horse had died the night before from the exertions of this icy winter. My maid was now running around the village trying to scrounge up a horse, but it was utterly hopeless. I knew it. I stood there aimlessly, more and more covered in snow, less and less able to move. The girl appeared at the gate, swinging the lantern, alone of course. Who would lend his horse for such a journey and at a time like this? I paced the courtyard once more; there was nothing I could do. Frustrated, I distractedly kicked at the flimsy door of the long-vacant pigsty. It flew open and was flung back and forth on its hinges. Steam and the smell of horses emerged. Inside, a dim stable lantern was hanging from a rope, swaying. A man, crouching in the low shed, revealed his open, blue-eyed face. "Shall I harness the horses to the trap?" he asked, crawling out on all fours. I could think of nothing to say and merely bent down to see what else was in the sty. The maid was standing beside me. "You never know what you'll find in your own house," she said, and we both laughed.

"Greetings brother, greetings sister!" cried the groom, and two horses, mighty creatures with powerful flanks, pushed themselves, one after the other, their legs close to their bodies, their shapely heads dipped down like camels', propelling themselves, with the sheer force of their writhing bodies, through the doorway they completely filled. But they promptly stood upright on their long legs, their coats steaming thickly. "Give him a hand," I said, and the willing girl hurried to hand the harnesses to the groom, but she was hardly near him when the groom threw his arms around her and shoved his face against hers. She screamed and ran back to me for safety, two red rows of tooth marks imprinted on her cheek. "You brute," I yelled furiously, "I'll give you a whipping, I swear," but then I immediately remember that he is a stranger, that I don't know where he comes from, and that he is helping me of his own free will when all others have refused me. As if he has read my thoughts, he takes no offense at my threat, but, still busy with the horses, only once turns around to look at me. "Get in," he then says, and everything is actually ready.

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