2
Chapter Two First Cross-examination
2 初审
K. was informed by telephone that there would be a small hearing concerning his case the following Sunday. He was made aware that these cross examinations would follow one another regularly, perhaps not every week but quite frequently. On the one hand it was in everyone's interest to bring proceedings quickly to their conclusion, but on the other hand every aspect of the examinations had to be carried out thoroughly without lasting too long because of the associated stress. For these reasons, it had been decided to hold a series of brief examinations following on one after another. Sunday had been chosen as the day for the hearings so that K. would not be disturbed in his professional work. It was assumed that he would be in agreement with this, but if he wished for another date then, as far as possible, he would be accommodated. Cross-examinations could even be held in the night, for instance, but K. would probably not be fresh enough at that time. Anyway, as long as K. made no objection, the hearing would be left on Sundays. It was a matter of course that he would have to appear without fail, there was probably no need to point this out to him. He would be given the number of the building where he was to present himself, which was in a street in a suburb well away from the city centre which K. had never been to before.
Ｋ得到电话通知，下星期天将对他的案子进行一次短时间的审理。他注意到这样一个事实：从现在开始，审讯将一次接一次有规律地进行，也许不是每周一次，随着时间的推移，中间隔的时间会越来越短。从一方面来说，早日审理完这件案子对大家都有好处；但从另一方面来说，审讯应该彻底，应该面面俱到，尽管时间不能拖得太长，因为这很累人。正由于这个原因，才选择了这种高频率，然而短暂的审讯方式。审讯的日子选在星期天，这是为了不干扰Ｋ的业务工作。估计他会同意这种安排，然而，如果他喜欢别的日子，他们也会竭尽全力满足他的愿望。比如说，也可以在夜间进行审讯，虽然夜里Ｋ的头脑可能不够清醒。总之，如果Ｋ不反对，他们就在星期天等着他。当然，他必须出席，这是不言而喻的，用不着再加以提醒。他得到了应该去的那个地方的门牌号码，这栋房子位于郊区的一条街道上，他从来也没去过。
Once he had received this notice, K. hung up the receiver without giving an answer; he had decided immediately to go there that Sunday, it was certainly necessary, proceedings had begun and he had to face up to it, and this first examination would probably also be the last. He was still standing in thought by the telephone when he heard the voice of the deputy director behind him - he wanted to use the telephone but K. stood in his way. "Bad news?" asked the deputy director casually, not in order to find anything out but just to get K. away from the device. "No, no," said K., he stepped to one side but did not go away entirely. The deputy director picked up the receiver and, as he waited for his connection, turned away from it and said to K., "One question, Mr. K.: Would you like to give me the pleasure of joining me on my sailing boat on Sunday morning? There's quite a few people coming, you're bound to know some of them. One of them is Hasterer, the state attorney. Would you like to come along? Do come along!" K. tried to pay attention to what the deputy director was saying. It was of no small importance for him, as this invitation from the deputy director, with whom he had never got on very well, meant that he was trying to improve his relations with him. It showed how important K. had become in the bank and how its second most important official seemed to value his friendship, or at least his impartiality. He was only speaking at the side of the telephone receiver while he waited for his connection, but in giving this invitation the deputy director was humbling himself. But K. would have to humiliate him a second time as a result, he said, "Thank you very much, but I'm afraid I will have no time on Sunday, I have a previous obligation." "Pity," said the deputy director, and turned to the telephone conversation that had just been connected. It was not a short conversation, but K., remained standing confused by the instrument all the time it was going on. It was only when the deputy director hung up that he was shocked into awareness and said, in order to partially excuse his standing there for no reason, "I've just received a telephone call, there's somewhere I need to go, but they forgot to tell me what time." "Ask them then," said the deputy director. "It's not that important," said K., although in that way his earlier excuse, already weak enough, was made even weaker. As he went, the deputy director continued to speak about other things. K. forced himself to answer, but his thoughts were mainly about that Sunday, how it would be best to get there for nine o'clock in the morning as that was the time that courts always start work on weekdays.
Ｋ得到电话通知后，没有回答，便把听筒撂下了；他决定星期天按时赴约，这是绝对必要的。案子有进展了，他必须为之奋斗；必须使初审变成最后一次审讯。他正站在电话旁边出神的时候，突然听见副经理的声音从身后传来；副经理想打电话，但发现Ｋ挡着他的路。“是坏消息吗？”副经理随便问了一句，他并非真想知道点什么，只是急着要让Ｋ离开电话。“不是，不是，”Ｋ一面说，一面问在一边，但没有走开。副经理拿起听筒，利用电话还没接通的机会，转脸对Ｋ说：“喂，我有句话要跟你说，Ｋ先生。星期天上午，我邀了几个人乘我的游艇去玩，你愿意赏光一块来吗？人很多，其中毫无疑问会有你的朋友。比如说，律师哈斯特勒先生。你来吗？来吧！”Ｋ尽量注意听副经理在讲些什么。这对他来讲并非无关紧要，因为他和副经理的关系向来不大融洽，如今副经理居然向他发出邀请，这是一种友好的开端，表明Ｋ在银行里已成了重要人物，以至银行的第二把手也十分看重他的友谊，至少希望他能采取中立态度。副经理这样做确实已经纤尊降贵了，虽然这个邀请只是在电话未接通的时候随便作出的。然而Ｋ还想让副经理屈尊第二次，因为他说：“十分感谢。但是很抱歉，星期天我没空，已经跟别人约好了。”“真遗憾，”副经理说。电话正好接通了，他转过脸去打电话。他讲了很长时间，心烦意乱的Ｋ一直站在电话机旁边。Ｋ没等副经理挂上电话，就如梦初醒地为自己在这儿无目的地浪费时间进行辩解；他说：“我刚打完电话，他们在电话里约我到一个地方去，可是忘了告诉我几点钟去。”“那你可以再打个电话去问问嘛，”副经理说。“这并不很重要，”Ｋ说；他这么一说，刚才那个本来就站不住脚的借口便更加令人不可置信了。副经理转身要走的当儿，继续就其他事情发表自己的意见。Ｋ勉强作答，心里想的却是：星期天上午最好九点钟就到那个地方去，因为法院平时总是九点钟开庭的。
The weather was dull on Sunday. K. was very tired, as he had stayed out drinking until late in the night celebrating with some of the regulars, and he had almost overslept. He dressed hurriedly, without the time to think and assemble the various plans he had worked out during the week. With no breakfast, he rushed to the suburb he had been told about. Oddly enough, although he had little time to look around him, he came across the three bank officials involved in his case, Rabensteiner, Kullich and Kaminer. The first two were travelling in a tram that went across K.'s route, but Kaminer sat on the terrace of a café and leant curiously over the wall as K. came over. All of them seemed to be looking at him, surprised at seeing their superior running; it was a kind of pride that made K. want to go on foot, this was his affair and the idea of any help from strangers, however slight, was repulsive to him, he also wanted to avoid asking for anyone's help because that would initiate them into the affair even if only slightly. And after all, he had no wish at all to humiliate himself before the committee by being too punctual. Anyway, now he was running so that he would get there by nine o'clock if at all possible, even though he had no appointment for this time.
星期日天气阴沉。Ｋ很疲乏，因为头天晚上他参加了餐厅里举行的庆祝活动，睡得晚了些，差点睡过头。Ｋ来不及考虑或调整一星期来筹划好的计划，匆匆穿上衣服，没吃早饭便奔到郊区那个指定的地方。十分奇怪的是，虽然他没有时间去打量过路人，却看见了那三个已经介入他案子的职员。他们就是拉本斯泰纳、库里希和卡米乃尔。前两人乘着有轨电车，从他面前驶过；但是卡米乃尔却坐在一家咖啡馆的平台上，当Ｋ走过的时候，他从栏杆上探出身来，询问似地看着他。他们三个人好像都很注意他，想搞清楚他们的上司忙着上哪儿去。一种挑战心理使Ｋ决定不乘车到那儿去；他不希望麻烦任何人，甚至是最不相干的局外人在这件案子中帮他的忙，他不想受惠于任何人，也不想让任何人哪怕稍微过问一下他的案子。他最不愿意的是一分不差，准时到达，以至在审讯委员会面前降低自己的身分。不过他还是加快了脚步，希望能在九点钟到达，尽管并没有给他规定确切的到达时间。
He had thought that he would recognise the building from a distance by some kind of sign, without knowing exactly what the sign would look like, or from some particular kind of activity outside the entrance. K. had been told that the building was in Juliusstrasse, but when he stood at the street's entrance it consisted on each side of almost nothing but monotonous, grey constructions, tall blocks of flats occupied by poor people. Now, on a Sunday morning, most of the windows were occupied, men in their shirtsleeves leant out smoking, or carefully and gently held small children on the sills. Other windows were piled up with bedding, above which the dishevelled head of a woman would briefly appear. People called out to each other across the street, one of the calls provoked a loud laugh about K. himself. It was a long street, and spaced evenly along it were small shops below street level, selling various kinds of foodstuffs, which you reached by going down a few steps. Women went in and out of them or stood chatting on the steps. A fruitmonger, taking his goods up to the windows, was just as inattentive as K. and nearly knocked him down with his cart. Just then, a gramophone, which in better parts of town would have been seen as worn out, began to play some murderous tune.
他想，那栋房子准有某种标志，或者门前准是热闹非凡，远远就能辨认出来；但是到底有什么标志，他却无从想像。朱里乌斯大街两旁的房子几乎一模一样，全是灰色的大楼，里面住着穷人；电话里告诉他，那栋房子就位于朱里乌斯大街。他在街头停了一会儿。因为是星期天早晨，所以大部分窗口都有人，只穿着衬衫的男人们靠在窗口抽烟，或者小心翼翼地扶着坐在窗台上的小孩。有些窗口挂满了被褥，偶尔会从被褥上方冒出一个头发蓬松的女人脑袋。人们隔着马路互相叫喊；Ｋ的头顶上方正好有人喊了一声，引起一阵哄笑。大街两旁每隔一段距离便有一家小杂货店；这些小店位于街面以下，门前有一小段石阶，通到街上。女人们从这些店里挤进挤出，或者在店外的石阶上唧唧喳喳。一个流动水果贩正向站在楼上某个窗口的人叫卖，一面叫喊，一面向前走，和Ｋ一样心不在焉；他的推车差点把Ｋ撞倒。在城里某个较漂亮的街区用过很长时间的一个旧唱机开始发出刺耳的声音。
K. went further into the street, slowly, as if he had plenty of time now, or as if the examining magistrate were looking at him from one of the windows and therefore knew that K. had found his way there. It was shortly after nine. The building was quite far down the street, it covered so much area it was almost extraordinary, and the gateway in particular was tall and long. It was clearly intended for delivery wagons belonging to the various warehouses all round the yard which were now locked up and carried the names of companies some of which K. knew from his work at the bank. In contrast with his usual habits, he remained standing a while at the entrance to the yard taking in all these external details. Near him, there was a bare-footed man sitting on a crate and reading a newspaper. There were two lads swinging on a hand cart. In front of a pump stood a weak, young girl in a bedjacket who, as the water flowed into her can, looked at K. There was a piece of rope stretched between two windows in a corner of the yard, with some washing hanging on it to dry. A man stood below it calling out instructions to direct the work being done.
Ｋ慢悠悠地沿着大街走着，越走越远；现在他的时间似乎很充裕，预审法官可能会从某个窗口探出身来，发现他正在路上走着。九点过了些。他沿着马路走了好久才到那栋房子门前；这栋房子大得不同寻常，大门特别高，也特别宽，肯定是供卡车出入用的。内院四周是一间间栈房，门上挂着商号的名牌，有的名字Ｋ曾经在银行的账册上见过。他一反常态，在通向内院的前厅里呆了一会儿，聚精会神地研究起这些外部现象来。他旁边有一个没穿鞋子的人，坐在板条箱上看报。两个男孩正利用一辆小推车玩跷跷板。一位面容。惭淬的年轻姑娘穿着睡衣，站在吸泵前打水；她看着Ｋ，水则不断流进桶里。内院的一角，有人在两扇窗子间系了一根绳子，把衣服晾在上面。绳子下面站着一个男人，不时大声指点几句。
K. went over to the stairway to get to the room where the hearing was to take place, but then stood still again as besides these steps he could see three other stairway entrances, and there also seemed to be a small passageway at the end of the yard leading into a second yard. It irritated him that he had not been given more precise directions to the room, it meant they were either being especially neglectful with him or especially indifferent, and he decided to make that clear to them very loudly and very unambiguously. In the end he decided to climb up the stairs, his thoughts playing on something that he remembered the policeman, Willem, saying to him; that the court is attracted by the guilt, from which it followed that the courtroom must be on the stairway that K. selected by chance.
Ｋ转身朝楼梯走去，打算到审讯室里去；但他随即站住脚，因为除了这道楼梯外，他在院子里又看见另外三道楼梯。楼梯后面还有一条小过道，像是通往第二进院子的。他们没有确切告诉他，审讯室到底在哪间屋子里，他为此感到很恼火。这些人对他的疏忽和冷淡已经达到令人诧异的地步，他决定把自己的看法一五一十地告诉他们。最后，他终于踏上了第一道楼梯，心中想起那个名叫威廉的看守讲的话：法和罪是互相吸引的；既然如此，审讯室就应该位于Ｋ偶然选中的这道楼梯的上面。
As he went up he disturbed a large group of children playing on the stairs who looked at him as he stepped through their rows. "Next time I come here," he said to himself, "I must either bring sweets with me to make them like me or a stick to hit them with." Just before he reached the first landing he even had to wait a little while until a ball had finished its movement, two small lads with sly faces like grown-up scoundrels held him by his trouser-legs until it had; if he were to shake them off he would have to hurt them, and he was afraid of what noise they would make by shouting.
他上楼时，打扰了许多在楼梯上玩耍的小孩；孩子们气呼呼地看着他从他们中间穿过去。“如果我下次还要再来的话，”他心想，“一定要带上糖果来哄他们，要不就带根棍子揍他们一顿。”他刚要到达二楼时，一粒弹子球滚了下来，他不得不止步等弹子球落定。两个皱纹满面、脸庞瘦削、老气横秋的孩子乘机揪住他的裤子；他如果把他们甩开，就可能使他们受伤，他怕他们嚷嚷起来。
On the first floor, his search began for real. He still felt unable to ask for the investigating committee, and so he invented a joiner called Lanz - that name occurred to him because the captain, Mrs. Grubach's nephew, was called Lanz - so that he could ask at every flat whether Lanz the joiner lived there and thus obtain a chance to look into the rooms. It turned out, though, that that was mostly possible without further ado, as almost all the doors were left open and the children ran in and out. Most of them were small, one-windowed rooms where they also did the cooking. Many women held babies in one arm and worked at the stove with the other. Half grown girls, who seemed to be dressed in just their pinafores worked hardest running to and fro. In every room, the beds were still in use by people who were ill, or still asleep, or people stretched out on them in their clothes. K. knocked at the flats where the doors were closed and asked whether Lanz the joiner lived there. It was usually a woman who opened the door, heard the enquiry and turned to somebody in the room who would raise himself from the bed. "The gentleman's asking if a joiner called Lanz, lives here." "A joiner, called Lanz?" he would ask from the bed." "That's right," K. would say, although it was clear that the investigating committee was not to be found there, and so his task was at an end. There were many who thought it must be very important for K. to find Lanz the joiner and thought long about it, naming a joiner who was not called Lanz or giving a name that had some vague similarity with Lanz, or they asked neighbours or accompanied K. to a door a long way away where they thought someone of that sort might live in the back part of the building or where someone would be who could advise K. better than they could themselves. K. eventually had to give up asking if he did not want to be led all round from floor to floor in this way. He regretted his initial plan, which had at first seemed so practical to him. As he reached the fifth floor, he decided to give up the search, took his leave of a friendly, young worker who wanted to lead him on still further and went down the stairs. But then the thought of how much time he was wasting made him cross, he went back again and knocked at the first door on the fifth floor. The first thing he saw in the small room was a large clock on the wall which already showed ten o'clock. "Is there a joiner called Lanz who lives here?" he asked. "Pardon?" said a young woman with black, shining eyes who was, at that moment, washing children's underclothes in a bucket. She pointed her wet hand towards the open door of the adjoining room.
到了二楼，他才真正开始寻找。由于他不好直接打听审讯委员会在什么地方，便装作要找一个名叫兰茨的细木工——他想到了这个名字，因为格鲁巴赫太太的侄子即那个上尉就叫兰茨。于是他挨门逐户去打听，里面是否住着一个名叫兰茨的人，并乘此机会朝屋内看一眼。其实他用不着这么费劲，因为差不多所有的门都开着，孩子们在门口跑进跑出。许多住户都只有一间带一扇窗的小房间，里面正在做饭。不少女人一只手抱着孩子，另一只手则在炉子上忙碌。几个即将成年的姑娘身上除了围裙以外，似乎没穿别的衣服，她们正在不停地操劳。每间屋子里床上都躺着人，有的是病人，有的在酣睡，还有的虽已穿好衣服，但仍然赖在床上养神。如果哪家门关着，Ｋ就敲敲门，问里面是不是住着一个名叫兰茨的细木工。一般是女人来开门，听到他的问题后，便转身对屋里的某人说话，那人便从床上欠起身来。“有位先生问，这儿是不是住着一个名叫兰茨的细木工。”“一个名叫兰茨的细木工？”那人在床上问道。“是的，”Ｋ说，虽然他已经明白，审讯委员会不在这里，他的询问是多此一举。许多人看起来深信，要找到细木工兰茨对Ｋ讲来事关紧要。他们绞尽脑汁，久久思索，倒也想起了某个细木工来，但名字不叫兰茨；他们也会说出一个和兰茨这个名字的发音相近的名字来；或者向邻居打听；或者领Ｋ到离这儿颇远的另一家去，他们觉得那儿可能会住着像兰茨这样的房客，或者那家会有人向他提供他们所不能提供的更确切的消息。最后，Ｋ几乎用不着再问了，因为他这么打听来打听去，已经跑遍了整个二楼。他现在开始为自己的计划感到后悔，而当初他还以为这个计划是切实可行的。当他快要走到六楼时，他决定不再寻找了，他对一个愿意领他继续查询的热情的青年工人道了声“再见”，便朝楼下走去。可是，他又为自己白忙了一阵而感到忿懑；于是便回过头，继续往上登。他到了六楼，敲敲第一家的门。他在小房间里看到的第一样东西是一只大挂钟，时针快要指到十了。“一位名叫兰茨的细木工住在这儿吗？”他问。“请往前走，”一位年轻女人说，她长着一双活泼的黑眼睛，正在水桶里洗小孩衣服；她用那只湿漉漉的手指着旁边的那间房子，那里门开着。
K. thought he had stepped into a meeting. A medium sized, two windowed room was filled with the most diverse crowd of people - nobody paid any attention to the person who had just entered. Close under its ceiling it was surrounded by a gallery which was also fully occupied and where the people could only stand bent down with their heads and their backs touching the ceiling. K., who found the air too stuffy, stepped out again and said to the young woman, who had probably misunderstood what he had said, "I asked for a joiner, someone by the name of Lanz." "Yes," said the woman, "please go on in." K. would probably not have followed her if the woman had not gone up to him, taken hold of the door handle and said, "I'll have to close the door after you, no-one else will be allowed in." "Very sensible," said K., "but it's too full already." But then he went back in anyway.
Ｋ觉得好像走进了一间中等大小的会议厅。厅里有两扇窗，里面挤满了各种各样的人，谁也不在意这个刚进来的人。天花板下面是一圈楼座，那儿也是挤得满满的，人们即使弓着身子站着，头和背也会碰到天花板。Ｋ觉得厅内空气太污浊，便退了出来，对那个看来听错了他的话的年轻女人说：“我是打听一个细木工住在哪里，他的名字叫兰茨。”“我知道，”那女人说，“你只管进去吧。”如果她不走到他面前，抓住门把手并对他说：“你进去吧，我得把门关上，不让任何人再进去，”那他就可能不会再进去。“好吧，听你的，”Ｋ说，“不过大厅里已经挤得太满了。”尽管这样，他还是进了大厅。
He passed through between two men who were talking beside the door - one of them held both hands far out in front of himself making the movements of counting out money, the other looked him closely in the eyes - and someone took him by the hand. It was a small, red-faced youth. "Come in, come in," he said. K. let himself be led by him, and it turned out that there was - surprisingly in a densely packed crowd of people moving to and fro - a narrow passage which may have been the division between two factions; this idea was reinforced by the fact that in the first few rows to the left and the right of him there was hardly any face looking in his direction, he saw nothing but the backs of people directing their speech and their movements only towards members of their own side. Most of them were dressed in black, in old, long, formal frock coats that hung down loosely around them. These clothes were the only thing that puzzled K., as he would otherwise have taken the whole assembly for a local political meeting.
门后有两个人在谈话，其中一个人伸出双手，做出一个像是付钱的手势，另一个人紧紧盯着他。从这两个人的中间伸过一只手，抓住Ｋ。这只手是属于一个脸颊微微发红的小伙子的。“来吧，来吧，”他说；Ｋ听凭他领着自己走。熙熙攘攘的人群中间似乎有一条狭长的通道，他们大概以此为界，分属两个不同的派别；Ｋ朝左右两边看了看，发现没有一个人脸朝着他，大家都是背朝着他，只跟自己的那一派人说话和打手势——这个事实更加证实了他的猜测。大多数人身穿青上衣、外面披一件星期天常穿的宽宽大大的旧式长外套。他们的服装是惟一使Ｋ感到困惑不解的东西，否则他准会认为这是一次地方性的政治集会。
At the other end of the hall where K. had been led there was a little table set at an angle on a very low podium which was as overcrowded as everywhere else, and behind the table, near the edge of the podium, sat a small, fat, wheezing man who was talking with someone behind him. This second man was standing with his legs crossed and his elbows on the backrest of the chair, provoking much laughter. From time to time he threw his arm in the air as if doing a caricature of someone. The youth who was leading K. had some difficulty in reporting to the man. He had already tried twice to tell him something, standing on tip- toe, but without getting the man's attention as he sat there above him. It was only when one of the people up on the podium drew his attention to the youth that the man turned to him and leant down to hear what it was he quietly said. Then he pulled out his watch and quickly looked over at K. "You should have been here one hour and five minutes ago," he said. K. was going to give him a reply but had no time to do so, as hardly had the man spoken than a general muttering arose all over the right hand side of the hall. "You should have been here one hour and five minutes ago," the man now repeated, raising his voice this time, and quickly looked round the hall beneath him. The muttering also became immediately louder and, as the man said nothing more, died away only gradually. Now the hall was much quieter than when K. had entered. Only the people up in the gallery had not stopped passing remarks. As far as could be distinguished, up in the half-darkness, dust and haze, they seemed to be less well dressed than those below. Many of them had brought pillows that they had put between their heads and the ceiling so that they would not hurt themselves pressed against it.
Ｋ被那小伙子带到了会议厅的另一端，那儿有个低矮的、上面挤着不少人的讲台，台上斜放着一张小桌；桌子后面有个矮胖子，坐在讲台的边缘上；他喘着气，兴致勃勃地和另一个人在讲话，那人懒洋洋地躺在他后面的一把椅子上，跷着腿，胳膊肘支撑在椅背上。矮胖子不时在空中挥动手臂，好像在模仿某人的滑稽相。陪Ｋ来的小伙子发现很难向人们通报Ｋ的到来，他两次踮起足尖，打算讲话，但是讲台上的那个矮胖子没有注意到他。直到讲台上另一个人发现了这个小伙子后，矮胖子才朝他转过脸来，并俯下身子听他结结巴巴地说话。矮胖子接着掏出怀表，瞥了Ｋ一眼。“一小时零五分钟以前你就该到达这儿，”他说。Ｋ正要回答，但来不及了，因为那人刚刚说完，会议厅的右半部分便响起一片不满的喧哗声。“一小时零五分钟之前你就该到达这儿，”那人抬高声音重复了一遍，同时匆匆扫了整个会议厅一眼。喧嚷声立即变得更响了，过了好久一阵子才平息下来，这时那人已经住嘴了。大厅里比Ｋ刚进来的时候要安静得多。只是楼座上的人还在发表评论。那儿光线暗淡、尘土飞扬、烟雾腾腾，但人们还能看得出来，他们的衣着似乎比下面的人寒酸。有几个人带着靠垫，垫在他们的脑袋和天花板之间，以免把头碰伤。
K. had decided he would do more watching than talking, so he did not defend himself for supposedly having come late, and simply said, "Well maybe I have arrived late, I'm here now." There followed loud applause, once more from the right hand side of the hall. Easy people to get on your side, thought K., and was bothered only by the quiet from the left hand side which was directly behind him and from which there was applause from only a few individuals. He wondered what he could say to get all of them to support him together or, if that were not possible, to at least get the support of the others for a while.
Ｋ决定不讲话，只是观察；因此他也不为自己的所谓迟到辩护，仅仅说道：“不管我迟到不迟到，反正我现在来了。”话音未落，掌声即起，仍旧是大厅右侧传来的。“这些人很容易争取过来，”Ｋ想道；但他为大厅的左半部分保持缄默感到不安，这一半人就在他身后，他们中间只发出一两下孤零零的拍手声。他思忖着应该说些什么，才能把全大厅的人都争取过来，如果不能争取全部，那至少也得把大部分人暂时争取过来。
"Yes, said the man, "but I'm now no longer under any obligation to hear your case" - there was once more a muttering, but this time it was misleading as the man waved the people's objections aside with his hand and continued - "I will, however, as an exception, continue with it today. But you should never arrive late like this again. And now, step forward!" Someone jumped down from the podium so that there would be a place free for K., and K. stepped up onto it. He stood pressed closely against the table, the press of the crowd behind him was so great that he had to press back against it if he did not want to push the judge's desk down off the podium and perhaps the judge along with it.
“不错，”那人说，“不过现在我没有再听你讲下去的义务。”人声重新鼎沸起来，这次谁也不会再搞错其含义了。那人摆摆手，请大家安静。他接着说：“不过我可以把这次算作例外情况，下次可不能再迟到了。现在请你到前面来。”一个人跳下讲台，给Ｋ腾出地方。Ｋ走上去，靠着桌子站着。后面的人很多，他不能不使劲撑牢，才避免人群把预审法官的桌子、也许还有预审法官本人推下讲台去。
The judge, however, paid no attention to that but sat very comfortably on his chair and, after saying a few words to close his discussion with the man behind him, reached for a little note book, the only item on his desk. It was like an old school exercise book and had become quite misshapen from much thumbing. "Now then," said the judge, thumbing through the book. He turned to K. with the tone of someone who knows his facts and said, "you are a house painter?" "No," said K., "I am the chief clerk in a large bank." This reply was followed by laughter among the right hand faction down in the hall, it was so hearty that K. couldn't stop himself joining in with it. The people supported themselves with their hands on their knees and shook as if suffering a serious attack of coughing. Even some of those in the gallery were laughing. The judge had become quite cross but seemed to have no power over those below him in the hall, he tried to reduce what harm had been done in the gallery and jumped up threatening them, his eyebrows, until then hardly remarkable, pushed themselves up and became big, black and bushy over his eyes.
然而，预审法官看样子并不为此操心；他悠闲自在地坐在自己的椅子上，对身后的人说完最后几句话后，便拿起一个小笔记本来——桌上除此以外，没有任何别的东西。这个笔记本像是学校里用的旧式练习本，翻的次数过多，角全卷着。“好吧，这么说，”预审法官翻着笔记本，摆出一副威风凛凛的架势对Ｋ说，“你是油漆装饰匠？”“不对，”Ｋ说，“我是一家大银行的襄理。”这个回答使右面那部分人开心得捧腹大笑，Ｋ也不由得笑了起来。人们用双手撑在膝盖上，笑得前仰后合，浑身颤动，好像一阵咳嗽。甚至楼座里也有几个人在哈哈大笑。预审法官顿时勃然大怒，他看来已经没有足够的权威可以控制大厅里的人了，便向楼座上的人发泄自己的怒气；他蹦起来，瞪着他们，紧皱起眼睛上方那两道平常没有引起人们注意的又粗又黑的眉毛。
The left hand side of the hall was still quiet, though, the people stood there in rows with their faces looking towards the podium listening to what was being said there, they observed the noise from the other side of the hall with the same quietness and even allowed some individuals from their own ranks, here and there, to go forward into the other faction. The people in the left faction were not only fewer in number than the right but probably were no more important than them, although their behaviour was calmer and that made it seem like they were. When K. now began to speak he was convinced he was doing it in the same way as them.
但是，大厅的左半部分仍旧像刚才那样平静，人们面对讲台，站得整整齐齐，一动不动地听着讲台上的讲话和从大厅的其它部分发出的嘈杂声；他们甚至允许自己这一派的某些成员主动和对方攀谈。左边的这些人不像其它部分的人那么多，他们其实可能是无足轻重的；但是他们的镇静和耐性却使人们对他们刮目相看。Ｋ开始讲话了，他深信自己实际上是代表他们的观点的。
"Your question, My Lord, as to whether I am a house painter - in fact even more than that, you did not ask at all but merely imposed it on me - is symptomatic of the whole way these proceedings against me are being carried out. Perhaps you will object that there are no proceedings against me. You will be quite right, as there are proceedings only if I acknowledge that there are. But, for the moment, I do acknowledge it, out of pity for yourselves to a large extent. It's impossible not to observe all this business without feeling pity. I don't say things are being done without due care but I would like to make it clear that it is I who make the acknowledgement. K. stopped speaking and looked down into the hall. He had spoken sharply, more sharply than he had intended, but he had been quite right. It should have been rewarded with some applause here and there but everything was quiet, they were all clearly waiting for what would follow, perhaps the quietness was laying the ground for an outbreak of activity that would bring this whole affair to an end. It was somewhat disturbing that just then the door at the end of the hall opened, the young washerwoman, who seemed to have finished her work, came in and, despite all her caution, attracted the attention of some of the people there. It was only the judge who gave K. any direct pleasure, as he seemed to have been immediately struck by K.'s words. Until then, he had listened to him standing, as K.'s speech had taken him by surprise while he was directing his attention to the gallery. Now, in the pause, he sat down very slowly, as if he did not want anyone to notice. He took out the notebook again, probably so that he could give the impression of being calmer.
“你向我提了个问题，预审法官先生，问我是不是油漆装饰匠——噢，或许这不是问题，你只是指出一个事实而已——你的这个问题典型地反映出强加在我身上的这次审判的全部特点。你也许会反驳说，这根本不是一次审判；你说得完全对，因为只有在我承认它是一次审判的情况下，它才称得上是次审判。不过，我现在承认它是一次审判，因为我想得到同情。如果人们愿意关心它，就只能抱着同情心来关心它。我并不是说，你的审讯是卑鄙的，但是我很愿意把这个形容词送给你，供你一个人去思考。”Ｋ在这儿停住，低头看着整个大厅。他的话很尖刻，尖刻得超过自己的预想，不过他这样说是有充分理由的。他的话应该激起某种掌声，但掌声却还没有响起来，听众显然正聚精会神地等着他说下去；沉默也许孕育着爆发，这一切将在爆发中结束。这时，大厅那端的门蓦地打开了，刚才那个年轻的洗衣妇走了进来，看来她已经洗完衣服了。Ｋ很恼火：尽管她进来时小心翼翼，但还是分散了一部分人的注意力。不过，预审法官倒使Ｋ觉得开心，因为他听了Ｋ的话后，似乎心情十分沮丧。在此之前法官一直站着，因为当他站起来去斥责楼座上的人时，Ｋ的讲话使他惊讶得呆呆地站在那儿。他利用这个间歇时间重新坐下，他的动作徐缓，好像不想引起别人的注意。也许是为了使自己的心情平静下来，他重新翻开笔记本。
"That won't help you, sir, continued K., "even your little book will only confirm what I say." K. was satisfied to hear nothing but his own quiet words in this room full of strangers, and he even dared casually to pick up the examining judge's notebook and, touching it only with the tips of his fingers as if it were something revolting, lifted it in the air, holding it just by one of the middle pages so that the others on each side of it, closely written, blotted and yellowing, flapped down. "Those are the official notes of the examining judge," he said, and let the notebook fall down onto the desk. "You can read in your book as much as you like, sir, I really don't have anything in this charge book to be afraid of, even though I don't have access to it as I wouldn't want it in my hand, I can only touch it with two fingers." The judge grabbed the notebook from where it had fallen on the desk - which could only have been a sign of his deep humiliation, or at least that is how it must have been perceived - tried to tidy it up a little, and held it once more in front of himself in order to read from it.
“这不会对你有多大用处的，”Ｋ接着说，“你的笔记本本身，预审法官先生，会证实我说的话。”他为自己能在这么一个奇特的集会上用冷静的语调讲话而感到勇气倍增，便从预审法官那儿一把夺过笔记本高高举起。他用手指尖捏着中间的一页，好像怕弄脏手似的；斑渍点点、绘着黄边、写得密密麻麻的本蕊朝两边打开，纸页倒垂着。“这就是预审法官的记录，”他一面说，一面让笔记本重新掉落到桌子上。“你可以继续翻阅，随你的便，预审法官先生，我一点也不怕你的这个账本，虽然它对我来说是保密的。我不会去动它，不愿把它拿在手中，最多只会用手指尖拈着它。”这番话是一种极大的侮辱，或者至少应该如此理解。预审法官把桌子上的笔记本拿起来，尽量使它恢复原状，并重新开始翻阅。
The people in the front row looked up at him, showing such tension on their faces that he looked back down at them for some time. Every one of them was an old man, some of them with white beards. Could they perhaps be the crucial group who could turn the whole assembly one way or the other? They had sunk into a state of motionlessness while K. gave his oration, and it had not been possible to raise them from this passivity even when the judge was being humiliated.
站在第一排的人目不转睛地看着Ｋ；Ｋ一言不发地站在台上，眼睛向下，也瞧了他们一会儿。他们都是上了年纪的男人，没有一个例外，有的甚至胡子都白了。他们能让在场的所有人都跟自己走吗？他们能有这么大的影响吗？他们能从在他讲话以前就陷入的那种无动于衷的状态中挣脱出来吗？尽管他已经当众侮辱了预审法官，他们却依然无动于衷。
"What has happened to me," continued K., with less of the vigour he had had earlier, he continually scanned the faces in the first row, and this gave his address a somewhat nervous and distracted character, "what has happened to me is not just an isolated case. If it were it would not be of much importance as it's not of much importance to me, but it is a symptom of proceedings which are carried out against many. It's on behalf of them that I stand here now, not for myself alone."
“我遇到的事情，”Ｋ接着说，他比刚才平静多了，同时注意观察站在第一排的那些人的脸部表情，这使他讲话时有点分心，“我遇到的事情只是一个孤立的例子，就其本身来说没什么了不起，尤其是因为我根本不把它当一回事；然而，它却代表着一种错误的政策，这种政策也是针对着其他许多人的。我正是为了这些人的利益才在这里表明立场，我并不是为了自己。”
Without having intended it, he had raised his voice. Somewhere in the hall, someone raised his hands and applauded him shouting, "Bravo! Why not then? Bravo! Again I say, Bravo!" Some of the men in the first row groped around in their beards, none of them looked round to see who was shouting. Not even K. thought him of any importance but it did raise his spirits; he no longer thought it at all necessary that all of those in the hall should applaud him, it was enough if the majority of them began to think about the matter and if only one of them, now and then, was persuaded.
他不知不觉地抬高了嗓门。大厅中有人高举着双手鼓掌，并且高喊道：“好极了！真对！好极了！太好了！”第一排中有几个人使劲捋着自己的胡子，但是，没有一个人回过头去看看是谁打断了Ｋ的讲话。Ｋ也对此不大在意，不过仍然觉得甚为振奋；他不再认为有必要去获得所有人的掌声：如果他能使听众开动脑筋思考问题，这儿说服一个人，那儿说服一个人，把他们争取过来，他就会感到很愉快了。
"I'm not trying to be a successful orator, said K. after this thought, "that's probably more than I'm capable of anyway. I'm sure the examining judge can speak far better than I can, it is part of his job after all. All that I want is a public discussion of a public wrong. Listen: ten days ago I was placed under arrest, the arrest itself is something I laugh about but that's beside the point. They came for me in the morning when I was still in bed. Maybe the order had been given to arrest some house painter - that seems possible after what the judge has said - someone who is as innocent as I am, but it was me they chose. There were two police thugs occupying the next room. They could not have taken better precautions if I had been a dangerous robber. And these policemen were unprincipled riff-raff, they talked at me till I was sick of it, they wanted bribes, they wanted to trick me into giving them my clothes, they wanted money, supposedly so that they could bring me my breakfast after they had blatantly eaten my own breakfast in front of my eyes. And even that was not enough. I was led in front of the supervisor in another room. This was the room of a lady who I have a lot of respect for, and I was forced to look on while the supervisor and the policemen made quite a mess of this room because of me, although not through any fault of mine. It was not easy to stay calm, but I managed to do so and was completely calm when I asked the supervisor why it was that I was under arrest. If he were here he would have to confirm what I say. I can see him now, sitting on the chair belonging to that lady I mentioned - a picture of dull-witted arrogance. What do you think he answered? What he told me, gentlemen, was basically nothing at all; perhaps he really did know nothing, he had placed me under arrest and was satisfied. In fact he had done more than that and brought three junior employees from the bank where I work into the lady's room; they had made themselves busy interfering with some photographs that belonged to the lady and causing a mess. There was, of course, another reason for bringing these employees; they, just like my landlady and her maid, were expected to spread the news of my arrest and damage my public reputation and in particular to remove me from my position at the bank. Well they didn't succeed in any of that, not in the slightest, even my landlady, who is quite a simple person - and I will give you here her name in full respect, her name is Mrs. Grubach - even Mrs. Grubach was understanding enough to see that an arrest like this has no more significance than an attack carried out on the street by some youths who are not kept under proper control. I repeat, this whole affair has caused me nothing but unpleasantness and temporary irritation, but could it not also have had some far worse consequences?"
“我不想当个演说家，在这里夸夸其谈，”Ｋ说，他已经得出了这个结论，“即使我有这种愿望，我也当不成。毫无疑问，预审法官先生的口才比我好得多，这是他的天赋的一部分。我只希望公开讨论一下大家所蒙受的一种痛苦。你们听我说吧：大约十天以前，我被捕了，被捕的方式连我也觉得可笑，虽然此时此刻这点不足挂齿。我是在床上被捕的，当时我还没有起来，也许——根据预审法官讲的话来看，这并不是不可能的——也许他们得到的命令是逮捕一位和我一样无辜的油漆装饰匠，但是他们却抓了我。两个粗暴的看守强占了我隔壁的房间。即使我是一个危险的歹徒，他们采取的防范措施也不会比当时更缤密了。此外，这两个看守是道德败坏的流氓，他们喋喋不休，震聋了我的耳朵，诱使我向他们行贿，企图用卑劣的借口骗走我的外衣和内衣；他们当着我的面，厚颜无耻地吃掉了我的早点，然后又居然问我要钱，说是要给我去买早点。这还不是一切。接着我被带到第三间屋子里去见监察官。那间屋子是一位女士的，我深深地尊敬她；可是我却亲眼目睹那间屋子被他们糟蹋得不成样子了；不错，看守和监察官糟蹋了那间屋子是由于我的缘故，但完全不是我的过错。当时要我保持镇静确实很难，然而我还是做到了。我用最冷静的口气问监察官，为什么逮捕我——如果他在这里，他可以证实这点。监察官悠闲自在地坐在我刚才提到的那位女士的椅子上，那副蛮横傲慢、神气活现的样子至今仍然历历在目。你们知道他是怎么回答的吗？先生们，他实际上什么也没有回答，也许他确实什么也不知道。他逮捕了我，这就是一切。但是，事情还没完，他指使我银行里的三个低级职员进入那位女士的房间，听凭他们兴冲冲地翻着和乱动属于那位女士的一些照片。让这三个职员在场当然还有另外一个目的，这就是期待他们和我的女房东及其佣人一样，到处散布关于我已被捕的消息，以便诋毁我的名誉，特别是动摇我在银行里的地位。但是，这种意图完全落空了，即便是我的女房东——我很荣幸地在这儿说出她的名字，她叫格鲁巴赫太太，是一个头脑简单的女人——即便是格鲁巴赫太太，也有足够的智力能认识到，这种形式的逮捕就像野孩子的恶作剧一样，不值得认真对待。我重复一遍，这一切目前仅仅使我感到愤懑和恼火而已，可是，它难道不会引起更坏的后果吗？”
K. broke off here and looked at the judge, who said nothing. As he did so he thought he saw the judge use a movement of his eyes to give a sign to someone in the crowd. K. smiled and said, "And now the judge, right next to me, is giving a secret sign to someone among you. There seems to be someone among you who is taking directions from above. I don't know whether the sign is meant to produce booing or applause, but I'll resist trying to guess what its meaning is too soon. It really doesn't matter to me, and I give his lordship the judge my full and public permission to stop giving secret signs to his paid subordinate down there and give his orders in words instead; let him just say "Boo now!," and then the next time "Clap now!".
说到这里，Ｋ停住了，他朝一声不吭的预审法官瞥了一眼，好像看见法官给大厅里的某人使了一个眼色，传递了一个信号。Ｋ笑了笑说：“坐在我旁边的预审法官先生刚才给你们当中的某人传递了一个秘密信号。看来你们中间的某些人接受坐在上边的人的指示。我不知道，这个信号是授意鼓掌呢还是让你们嘘我；现在既然我过早地泄露了事情的真相，我也就自觉地放弃了掌握它的真实含义的任何希望。我对这件事毫不在乎，我可以公开授权预审法官先生对他雇用的手下人讲任何话，用不着暗递信号，法官可以在他认为适当的时候对他们讲：现在嘘他，或者说：现在给他鼓掌。”
Whether it was embarrassment or impatience, the judge rocked backwards and forwards on his seat. The man behind him, whom he had been talking with earlier, leant forward again, either to give him a few general words of encouragement or some specific piece of advice. Below them in the hall the people talked to each other quietly but animatedly. The two factions had earlier seemed to hold views strongly opposed to each other but now they began to intermingle, a few individuals pointed up at K., others pointed at the judge. The air in the room was fuggy and extremely oppressive, those who were standing furthest away could hardly even be seen through it. It must have been especially troublesome for those visitors who were in the gallery, as they were forced to quietly ask the participants in the assembly what exactly was happening, albeit with timid glances at the judge. The replies they received were just as quiet, and given behind the protection of a raised hand.
预审法官在椅子上坐立不安，他很尴尬，也可能是很不耐烦。他跟后面的那人讲了一句话，那人朝他俯下身来，可能是给他打气，也可能是给他出个具体的主意。下面的听众正在谈论，声音不高，但很热闹。原先似乎势不两立的两派成员现在融会在一起了，有的人指着Ｋ，另外一些人指着预审法官。大厅内烟雾弥漫，令人不可忍受，从大厅这头甚至无法看见在大厅那头的人。楼座上的人更糟，他们忐忑不安，睨视着预审法官，为了弄明白事情的进展，他们只得低声询问楼下的人。回答好像是偷偷摸摸作出的；提供消息的人一般用手遮住嘴，尽量压低自己的嗓门。
"I have nearly finished what I have to say, said K., and as there was no bell available he struck the desk with his fist in a way that startled the judge and his advisor and made them look up from each other. "None of this concerns me, and I am therefore able to make a calm assessment of it, and, assuming that this so-called court is of any real importance, it will be very much to your advantage to listen to what I have to say. If you want to discuss what I say, please don't bother to write it down until later on, I don't have any time to waste and I'll soon be leaving."
“我马上就要讲完了，”Ｋ说，他用拳头擂着桌子，因为桌上没有铃。预审法官和给他出主意的人听见响声后吃了一惊，凑在一起的两个脑袋分开了一会儿。“我基本上置身于这件事以外，因此我可以冷静地对它进行评论，而你们——我的意思是说，如果你们真的把这个所谓的法庭当作一码事的话——会发现，听听我的话是大有好处的。不过我请求你们，如果你们对我讲的有什么看法，需要和我商榷，最好以后再说，因为我时间紧迫，很快就得离开这儿。”
There was immediate silence, which showed how well K. was in control of the crowd. There were no shouts among them as there had been at the start, no-one even applauded, but if they weren't already persuaded they seemed very close to it.
大厅内立即一片寂静，鸦雀无声，Ｋ控制了全场。听众不再像开始那样乱吵乱嚷了，甚至也不鼓掌，他们似乎被说服了，或者几乎被说服了。
K was pleased at the tension among all the people there as they listened to him, a rustling rose from the silence which was more invigorating than the most ecstatic applause could have been. "There is no doubt," he said quietly, "that there is some enormous organisation determining what is said by this court. In my case this includes my arrest and the examination taking place here today, an organisation that employs policemen who can be bribed, oafish supervisors and judges of whom nothing better can be said than that they are not as arrogant as some others. This organisation even maintains a high-level judiciary along with its train of countless servants, scribes, policemen and all the other assistance that it needs, perhaps even executioners and torturers - I'm not afraid of using those words. And what, gentlemen, is the purpose of this enormous organisation? Its purpose is to arrest innocent people and wage pointless prosecutions against them which, as in my case, lead to no result. How are we to avoid those in office becoming deeply corrupt when everything is devoid of meaning? That is impossible, not even the highest judge would be able to achieve that for himself. That is why policemen try to steal the clothes off the back of those they arrest, that is why supervisors break into the homes of people they do not know, that is why innocent people are humiliated in front of crowds rather than being given a proper trial. The policemen only talked about the warehouses where they put the property of those they arrest, I would like to see these warehouses where the hard won possessions of people under arrest is left to decay, if, that is, it's not stolen by the thieving hands of the warehouse workers."
“毫无疑问的是，”Ｋ十分温和地说。听众聚精会神，屏息静气，他深受鼓舞；全场静寂得连一丝最微弱的声音也清晰可闻，这比最热烈的掌声更令人激动，“毫无疑问的是，在法院采取的这一系列行动——我指的是法院在处理我的案子中所采取的逮捕我和今天审讯我这一系列行动——的后面，有一个庞大的机构在活动着。这个机构不仅雇用受贿的看守、愚蠢的监察官和其最大优点便是明白自己不中用的预审法官，而且还拥有一批高级的甚至是最高级的法官，这些人还有大量不可缺少的听差、办事员。警察和其他助手，或许还有刽子手呢，我不忌讳用这个词。先生们，为什么要有这个庞大的机构呢？不外乎是诬告清白无辜的人，对他们进行荒谬的审讯；这种审讯其实在大部分情况下得不到什么结果，就像在我的这桩案子里一样。但是，既然整个机构都是荒谬的，上司又怎么能防止他们的下属贪赃枉法呢？这是不可能的，即使这个机构中的最高法官也不得不默许他的法院里的受贿现象。正因为这样，看守们便想方设法去偷被他们抓来的人身上穿着的衣服，监察官便闯进陌生人的家里去，无辜百姓从此不能得到有礼貌的对待，而是在大庭广众下受辱。看守们讲过，囚徒们的财产保存在一些仓库中，我很想去看看囚徒们辛辛苦苦挣来的东西怎么在那儿霉烂，至少看看经过官员们的洗劫后还能剩下些什么东西。”
K. was interrupted by a screeching from the far end of the hall, he shaded his eyes to see that far, as the dull light of day made the smoke whitish and hard to see through. It was the washerwoman whom K. had recognised as a likely source of disturbance as soon as she had entered. It was hard to see now whether it was her fault or not. K. could only see that a man had pulled her into a corner by the door and was pressing himself against her. But it was not her who was screaming, but the man, he had opened his mouth wide and looked up at the ceiling. A small circle had formed around the two of them, the visitors near him in the gallery seemed delighted that the serious tone K. had introduced into the gathering had been disturbed in this way. K.'s first thought was to run over there, and he also thought that everyone would want to bring things back into order there or at least to make the pair leave the room, but the first row of people in front of him stayed were they were, no-one moved and no-one let K. through. On the contrary, they stood in his way, old men held out their arms in front of him and a hand from somewhere - he did not have the time to turn round - took hold of his collar. K., by this time, had forgotten about the pair, it seemed to him that his freedom was being limited as if his arrest was being taken seriously, and, without any thought for what he was doing, he jumped down from the podium. Now he stood face to face with the crowd. Had he judged the people properly? Had he put too much faith in the effect of his speech? Had they been putting up a pretence all the time he had been speaking, and now that he come to the end and to what must follow, were they tired of pretending? What faces they were, all around him! Dark, little eyes flickered here and there, cheeks drooped down like on drunken men, their long beards were thin and stiff, if they took hold of them it was more like they were making their hands into claws, not as if they were taking hold of their own beards. But underneath those beards - and this was the real discovery made by K. - there were badges of various sizes and colours shining on the collars of their coats. As far as he could see, every one of them was wearing one of these badges. All of them belonged to the same group, even though they seemed to be divided to the right and the left of him, and when he suddenly turned round he saw the same badge on the collar of the examining judge who calmly looked down at him with his hands in his lap. "So," called out K, throwing his arms in the air as if this sudden realisation needed more room, "all of you are working for this organisation, I see now that you are all the very bunch of cheats and liars I've just been speaking about, you've all pressed yourselves in here in order to listen in and snoop on me, you gave the impression of having formed into factions, one of you even applauded me to test me out, and you wanted to learn how to trap an innocent man! Well, I hope you haven't come here for nothing, I hope you've either had some fun from someone who expected you to defend his innocence or else - let go of me or I'll hit you," shouted K. to a quivery old man who had pressed himself especially close to him - "or else that you've actually learned something. And so I wish you good luck in your trade." He briskly took his hat from where it lay on the edge of the table and, surrounded by a silence caused perhaps by the completeness of their surprise, pushed his way to the exit. However, the examining judge seems to have moved even more quickly than K., as he was waiting for him at the doorway. "One moment," he said. K. stood where he was, but looked at the door with his hand already on its handle rather than at the judge. "I merely wanted to draw your attention," said the judge, "to something you seem not yet to be aware of: today, you have robbed yourself of the advantages that a hearing of this sort always gives to someone who is under arrest." K. laughed towards the door. "You bunch of louts," he called, "you can keep all your hearings as a present from me," then opened the door and hurried down the steps. Behind him, the noise of the assembly rose as it became lively once more and probably began to discuss these events as if making a scientific study of them.
这时Ｋ的话被大厅那头发出的一声尖叫所打断。大厅里烟雾弥漫，灯光昏暗，迷迷蒙蒙，他只好举起一只手，遮在眼睛上方，力图看清楚到底出了什么事，原来是洗衣妇。她一进来，Ｋ就知道秩序有可能被她扰乱。到底是不是她的过错，还不清楚。Ｋ只看见一个男人把她拽到门边的一个角落里，紧紧搂着她。但是，发出那声尖叫的却不是她，而是那个男人；他的嘴巴张得老大，眼睛盯着天花板。一小群人聚在他们周围；楼座上离他们较近的那些人看到Ｋ在审讯过程中造成的肃穆气氛由于这种事情而被破坏，似乎感到高兴。Ｋ的第一个本能反应是穿过大厅，奔到那头去。他理所当然地认为，大家都急于恢复秩序，起码应该把那对害群之马逐出会场；但是，头几排公众却无动于衷，他们一动不动，谁也不给他让路。相反，实际上是在阻挡他，有个人——他没功夫回头看是谁——伸出手，从后面揪住他的衣领；老头们横着胳膊不让他过去。Ｋ这时已经顾不得那两个人了，他觉得自己的自由受到威胁，好像他真的被捕了。他不顾一切地跳下讲台。他现在和人群面对面站着。他是不是看错了这些人？他是不是过高估计了自己讲话的效果？当他讲话的时候，他们是不是故意掩饰自己的真实态度？现在他讲完了，他们是不是终于对自己的装腔作势感到厌倦了？瞧瞧他周围的人的脸部表情吧！他们那黑色的小眼睛左顾右盼，目光诡谲；他们的胡子脆硬，根本不像胡子，要是把它们捏在手里，准和握着一大把蟹钳一样。胡子下方的外衣领子上，大大小小五颜六色的徽章在闪闪发光——这是Ｋ的真正发现。他还发现他们全都佩戴着这些徽章。表面上看来，他们有的属于右派，有的属于左派，其实都是同僚；他猛地转过身来，发现预审法官的外衣领子上也缀着同样的徽章。预审法官坐在那儿，手搁在膝盖上，逍遥自在地看着这个场面。“原来如此！”Ｋ大声说道，并在空中挥动着手臂。他突然明白了，怒不可遏：“你们都是当官的，没有一个不是。我明白了，你们就是我刚才所讲的那些贪赃枉法的人。你们赶到这里来，用耳朵听，用鼻子嗅，想尽可能多知道一些我的情况。你们假装分成两派，你们当中的一半人拼命鼓掌，只是为了引诱我讲下去，你们想尝试一下，怎么捉弄一个老实人。好吧，我希望你们已经从中得到很大好处，因为我居然期待你们来保护一个无辜的人，你们已经从中得到一些乐趣，或者还有别的——走开，不然的话我就揍你，”Ｋ对一个索索发抖的老头嚷道，那老头靠得他太近了，“你们也许还真的懂得了一两件事情。我希望你们对自己的职业感到满意。”他匆匆拿起放在桌边的帽子，在全场由于惊愕——如果没有其他原因的话——所引起的一片寂静中，从人群里挤出一条路，朝门口走去。然而，预审法官似乎比Ｋ的动作更快，因为他已经在门口等着了。“等一等，”他说。Ｋ停了下来，但他的眼睛仍然看着门，而不是看着预审法官；他的手已经按在大门的插销上。“我只想指出一点，”预审法官说：“今天——或许你还不知道——你自己抛弃了审讯肯定会给被告带来的全部好处。”Ｋ笑了起来，他仍旧看着门。“你们这些恶棍，总有一天我也要审讯你们，”他大声说道，然后打开门，朝楼下跑去。他身后响起唧唧喳喳的热烈讨论声，公众显然已不再惊愕，他们像内行的学者一样，开始分析面临的局势。