4
Chapter Four Miss Bürstner's Friend
四 布尔斯特纳小姐的朋友
For some time after this, K. found it impossible to exchange even just a few words with Miss Bürstner. He tried to reach her in many and various ways but she always found a way to avoid it. He would come straight home from the office, remain in her room without the light on, and sit on the sofa with nothing more to distract him than keeping watch on the empty hallway. If the maid went by and closed the door of the apparently empty room he would get up after a while and open it again. He got up an hour earlier than usual in the morning so that he might perhaps find Miss Bürstner alone as she went to the office. But none of these efforts brought any success. Then he wrote her a letter, both to the office and the flat, attempting once more to justify his behaviour, offered to make whatever amends he could, promised never to cross whatever boundary she might set him and begged merely to have the chance to speak to her some time, especially as he was unable to do anything with Mrs. Grubach either until he had spoken with Miss Bürstner, he finally informed her that the following Sunday he would stay in his room all day waiting for a sign from her that there was some hope of his request being fulfilled, or at least that she would explain to him why she could not fulfil it even though he had promised to observe whatever stipulations she might make. The letters were not returned, but there was no answer either. However, on the following Sunday there was a sign that seemed clear enough. It was still early when K. noticed, through the keyhole, that there was an unusual level of activity in the hallway which soon abated. A French teacher, although she was German and called Montag, a pale and febrile girl with a slight limp who had previously occupied a room of her own, was moving into Miss Bürstner's room. She could be seen shuffling through the hallway for several hours, there was always another piece of clothing or a blanket or a book that she had forgotten and had to be fetched specially and brought into the new home.
在这以后的几天中，Ｋ发现很难和布尔斯特纳小姐搭上话；甚至讲一句话也不可能。他千方百计地想找她，但是她总设法避开。他离开办公室后，直接回家，坐在屋里的沙发上，熄了灯，开着门，专心致志地看着门厅。如果女仆从这儿走过，发现他的屋里似乎没人，便随手把门关上的话，稍待片刻他便站起身来，重新把门打开。他这几天都比平常早一个钟头起床，希望能在布尔斯特纳小姐上班前，和她单独呆一会儿。但是这些计策却没有一个奏效。于是，他就给她写信，往她办公室寄，也往她家里寄。他在信中试图再一次为自己的行为辩解，表示愿意做任何事情来补救，保证以后决不越出她所规定的界线，请求她给他一次和她讲话的机会：因为他不同她先商量就无法和格鲁巴赫太太谈妥任何事情。最后他告诉小姐说，下星期日他整天都在屋里等着，希望她能带来个信息，或者答应他的要求，或者至少解释一下，为什么即使他已保证对她言听计从，她还是不愿见他。他的信没有退回，但也没有得到回音。不过，到了星期天，他倒是得到了一个意思足够明确的信息。早晨，Ｋ透过自己房门上的钥匙孔，发现门厅中有不同寻常的动向。事情很快就弄明白了。一个法语教师好像搬进了布尔斯特纳小姐的房间，这是一位德国姑娘，名叫蒙塔格，病态，苍白，脚有点跛，到目前为止自己单住一间房。她在门厅里来回走了几个钟头。看来她老是丢三拉四，不是忘了几件内衣，便是忘了一块布，或是忘了一本书，必须专门再跑一次，放进新房间里去。
When Mrs. Grubach brought K. his breakfast - ever since the time when she had made K. so cross she didn't trust the maid to do the slightest job - he had no choice but to speak to her, for the first time in five days. "Why is there so much noise in the hallway today?" he asked as she poured his coffee out, "Can't something be done about it? Does this clearing out have to be done on a Sunday?" K. did not look up at Mrs. Grubach, but he saw nonetheless that she seemed to feel some relief as she breathed in. Even sharp questions like this from Mr. K. she perceived as forgiveness, or as the beginning of forgiveness. "We're not clearing anything out, Mr. K.," she said, "it's just that Miss Montag is moving in with Miss Bürstner and is moving her things across." She said nothing more, but just waited to see how K. would take it and whether he would allow her to carry on speaking. But K. kept her in uncertainty, took the spoon and pensively stirred his coffee while he remained silent. Then he looked up at her and said, "What about the suspicions you had earlier about Miss Bürstner, have you given them up?" "Mr. K.," called Mrs. Grubach, who had been waiting for this very question, as she put her hands together and held them out towards him. "I just made a chance remark and you took it so badly. I didn't have the slightest intention of offending anyone, not you or anyone else. You've known me for long enough, Mr. K., I'm sure you're convinced of that. You don't know how I've been suffering for the past few days! That I should tell lies about my tenants! And you, Mr. K., you believed it! And said I should give you notice! Give you notice!" At this last outcry, Mrs. Grubach was already choking back her tears, she raised her apron to her face and blubbered out loud.
当格鲁巴赫太太进来给他送早餐的时候——自从她那次把Ｋ惹生气以后，她一直无微不至地伺候他——他不得不首先打破他俩之间的沉默。“今天门厅里为什么这样忙乱！”他一面问，一面为自己倒了一杯咖啡，“不能挪到别的时间吗？这地方必须在星期天彻底打扫吗？”虽然Ｋ没有看着格鲁巴赫太太，他却知道她如释重负地喘了一口气。这几个问题尽管很严厉，她却认为这意味着宽容，或者接近于宽容。“没有人在彻底打扫这地方，Ｋ先生，”她说，“蒙塔格小姐搬去和布尔斯特纳小姐住在一起，她正忙着搬东西呢。”她没有往下说，而是等着，看Ｋ会怎么反应，是不是会让她继续说下去。但是Ｋ却故意折磨她，搅着咖啡，一声不响，只顾自己思考问题。过了一会儿，他抬眼看着她说：“你早先对布尔斯特纳小姐的疑问已经消除了吗”“Ｋ先生，”格鲁巴赫太太大声说道，她正盼着这个问题；她两手握在一起，朝Ｋ伸去，“你把我随便说说的话看得过于认真了，我从来没想到过要得罪你或是任何其他人。你肯定早就了解我了，Ｋ先生，你应该相信这点。你简直想像不出，最近这些天我是多么难受！我讲了房客的坏话！而你，Ｋ先生，竟相信了！你还说，我该让你搬出去！让你搬出去！”她最后这次感情的发泄已被啜泣所窒息，她撩起围裙，蒙到脸上，号陶大哭起来。
"Oh, don't cry Mrs. Grubach, said K., looking out the window, he was thinking only of Miss Bürstner and how she was accepting an unknown girl into her room. "Now don't cry," he said again as he turned his look back into the room where Mrs. Grubach was still crying. "I meant no harm either when I said that. It was simply a misunderstanding between us. That can happen even between old friends sometimes." Mrs. Grubach pulled her apron down to below her eyes to see whether K. really was attempting a reconciliation. "Well, yes, that's how it is," said K., and as Mrs. Grubach's behaviour indicated that the captain had said nothing he dared to add, "Do you really think, then, that I'd want to make an enemy of you for the sake of a girl we hardly know?" "Yes, you're quite right, Mr. K.," said Mrs. Grubach, and then, to her misfortune, as soon as she felt just a little freer to speak, she added something rather inept. "I kept asking myself why it was that Mr. K. took such an interest in Miss Bürstner. Why does he quarrel with me over her when he knows that any cross word from him and I can't sleep that night? And I didn't say anything about Miss Bürstner that I hadn't seen with my own eyes." K. said nothing in reply, he should have chased her from the room as soon as she had opened her mouth, and he didn't want to do that. He contented himself with merely drinking his coffee and letting Mrs. Grubach feel that she was superfluous. Outside, the dragging steps of Miss Montag could still be heard as she went from one side of the hallway to the other. "Do you hear that?" asked K. pointing his hand at the door. "Yes," said Mrs. Grubach with a sigh, "I wanted to give her some help and I wanted the maid to help her too but she's stubborn, she wants to move everything in herself. I wonder at Miss Bürstner. I often feel it's a burden for me to have Miss Montag as a tenant but Miss Bürstner accepts her into her room with herself." "There's nothing there for you to worry about" said K., crushing the remains of a sugar lump in his cup. "Does she cause you any trouble?" "No," said Mrs. Grubach, "in itself it's very good to have her there, it makes another room free for me and I can let my nephew, the captain, occupy it. I began to worry he might be disturbing you when I had to let him live in the living room next to you over the last few days. He's not very considerate." "What an idea!" said K. standing up, "there's no question of that. You seem to think that because I can't stand this to-ing and fro-ing of Miss Montag that I'm over-sensitive - and there she goes back again." Mrs. Grubach appeared quite powerless. "Should I tell her to leave moving the rest of her things over till later, then, Mr. K. If that's what you want I'll do it immediately." "But she has to move in with Miss Bürstner!" said K. "Yes," said Mrs. Grubach, without quite understanding what K. meant. "So she has to take her things over there." Mrs. Grubach just nodded. K. was irritated all the more by this dumb helplessness which, seen from the outside, could have seemed like a kind of defiance on her part. He began to walk up and down the room between the window and the door, thus depriving Mrs. Grubach of the chance to leave, which she otherwise probably would have done.
“请别哭，格鲁巴赫太太，”Ｋ说；他看着窗外，思念着布尔斯特纳小姐，并且想着她让一个陌生姑娘住进自己房间这件事。“请别哭，”他又说了一遍，因为当他转过身去的时候，发现格鲁巴赫太太还在哭。“我说的也没有这么可怕，这么严重。我们彼此误解了，这种情况在老朋友之间有时也会发生的。”格鲁巴赫太太把围裙从眼睛上移开，想看看Ｋ是否真的息怒了。“好啦，没什么了不起的，就这么点事，”Ｋ说；他接着又贸然加上一句，因为他根据格鲁巴赫太太的表情判断出，她的侄子——那位上尉——并没有向她透露任何事情。“难道你真的相信，我会为了一个陌生姑娘而和你作对吗？”“我正是这么以为的，”格鲁巴赫太太说；她只要稍微觉得轻松点，马上便会说出一些不合适的话来，这是她的不幸之处，“我一直问自己：为什么Ｋ先生要为布尔斯特纳小姐这么操心呢？他明知道，他嘴里讲出来的任何一句不大好听的话都会使我失眠，为什么非要在布尔斯特纳小姐的问题上跟我吵架呢？何况关于这个姑娘的事，我只讲了亲眼看见的事实而已。”Ｋ对此没有回答，当她讲第一句话的时候，他就应该把她哄出屋去，不过他不想这么做。他满足于自顾自喝咖啡：让格鲁巴赫太太自己明白她呆在这里是个累赘吧。他又听见蒙塔格小姐在外面来回奔忙的脚步声，她一瘸一拐地从门厅的这一头走到那一头。“你听见了吗？”Ｋ指着门说。“听见了，”格鲁巴赫太太叹了口气说，“我主动提出给她帮忙，还让女仆也来一下，可是她很要强，坚持所有的东西自己一个人搬。我委实对布尔斯特纳小姐的做法感到不解：我常常后悔把房间租给蒙塔格小姐，可是布尔斯特纳小姐居然让她搬进了自己的房间。”“你不必为此担心，”Ｋ一面说，一面用小匙把杯底的糖块碾碎，“这是不是意味着你遭受了某种损失？”“不是，”格鲁巴赫太太说，“这件事本身倒是对我颇为有利的，多出了一个房间，我可以让我的侄子——那个上尉——住进去了。我一直担心，他最近两天可能打扰了你，因为我只能让他住在隔壁的起居室里。他不大晓得为别人着想。”“你说什么来着！”Ｋ说，他站了起来，“没关系。你大概以为我神经过敏吧，因为我不能忍受蒙塔格小姐走来走去——瞧，她又开始走动了，这次是往回走。”格鲁巴赫太太觉得几乎没有希望了。“Ｋ先生，我要不要去告诉她，让她晚些时候再搬剩下的东西呢？如果你愿意的话，我马上就可以这样做。”“可是，她得搬进布尔斯特纳小姐的房间里去！”Ｋ嚷道。“是的，”格鲁巴赫太太说，她简直不明白Ｋ的话是什么意思。“反正，”Ｋ说，“应该允许她把自己的东西搬到那儿去。”格鲁巴赫太太只是点点头。她默默无言，她的失望情绪以一种幼稚固执的形式表露出来，这使Ｋ更为愤慨。他来回踱步，从窗前走到门口，然后又走回来，以这种方式使格鲁巴赫太太不能溜出房间，她大概是很想一走了之的。
Just as K. once more reached the door, someone knocked at it. It was the maid, to say that Miss Montag would like to have a few words with Mr. K., and therefore requested that he come to the dining room where she was waiting for him. K. heard the maid out thoughtfully, and then looked back at the shocked Mrs. Grubach in a way that was almost contemptuous. His look seemed to be saying that K. had been expecting this invitation for Miss Montag for a long time, and that it was confirmation of the suffering he had been made to endure that Sunday morning from Mrs. Grubach's tenants. He sent the maid back with the reply that he was on his way, then he went to the wardrobe to change his coat, and in answer to Mrs. Grubach's gentle whining about the nuisance Miss Montag was causing merely asked her to clear away the breakfast things. "But you've hardly touched it," said Mrs. Grubach. "Oh just take it away!" shouted K. It seemed to him that Miss Montag was mixed up in everything and made it repulsive to him.
当Ｋ再一次踱到门边时，响起了敲门声。是女仆，她说，蒙塔格小姐想和Ｋ先生讲一两句话，请他上餐间去，她在那儿等着。他听到这个口信，沉思了一会儿，然后转过头来，用一种近乎嘲讽的目光看着大吃一惊的格鲁巴赫太太。他的目光似乎在说，他早就预料到蒙塔格小姐会向他发出邀请的，这和他在星期天上午被格鲁巴赫太太的房客这样折腾了一番是有关联的。他让女仆回去禀告说，他马上就去，然后走到衣柜前，换了件上衣。格鲁巴赫太太轻声柔气地抱怨了蒙塔格小姐几句，说她太不知趣，Ｋ听后什么也没说，只是请格鲁巴赫太太把早点端走。“为什么？你几乎连动也没动。”格鲁巴赫太太说。“唉，你就拿走吧，”Ｋ嚷道，他觉得蒙塔格小姐不知怎么搞的和早点混在一起了，使早点也变得令人恶心了。
As he went through the hallway he looked at the closed door of Miss Bürstner's room. But it wasn't there that he was invited, but the dining room, to which he yanked the door open without knocking.
他穿过门厅时，瞥了一眼布尔斯特纳小姐关着的房门。蒙塔格小姐没有请他进屋，而是邀他到餐间里去；他没有敲门便把餐间的门推开了。
The room was long but narrow with one window. There was only enough space available to put two cupboards at an angle in the corner by the door, and the rest of the room was entirely taken up with the long dining table which started by the door and reached all the way to the great window, which was thus made almost inaccessible. The table was already laid for a large number of people, as on Sundays almost all the tenants ate their dinner here at midday.
这是一个狭长形的房间，有一个大窗子，地方很小，只能勉强在靠门的两个角落里摆两个碗柜；一张长餐桌占满了餐间的其它部分，餐桌的这头靠近门口，那头一直伸到窗前，几乎使人无法走到窗口去。餐具已经摆好，准备给许多人供餐，因为星期天差不多所有房客都在家里吃午饭。
When K. entered, Miss Montag came towards him from the window along one side of the table. They greeted each other in silence. Then Miss Montag, her head unusually erect as always, said, "I'm not sure whether you know me." K. looked at her with a frown. "Of course I do," he said, "you've been living here with Mrs. Grubach for quite some time now." "But I get the impression you don't pay much attention to what's going on in the lodging house," said Miss Montag. "No," said K. "Would you not like to sit down?" said Miss Montag. In silence, the two of them drew chairs out from the farthest end of the table and sat down facing each other. But Miss Montag stood straight up again as she had left her handbag on the window sill and went to fetch it; she shuffled down the whole length of the room. When she came back, the handbag lightly swinging, she said, "I'd like just to have a few words with you on behalf of my friend. She would have come herself, but she's feeling a little unwell today. Perhaps you'll be kind enough to forgive her and listen to me instead. There's anyway nothing that she could have said that I won't. On the contrary, in fact, I think I can say even more than her because I'm relatively impartial. Would you not agree?"
Ｋ走进餐间后，蒙塔格顺着餐桌的一侧，从窗口迎面向他走来。他们互相默默致意。接着蒙塔格小姐开始说话，她像往常一样昂着头：“我不知道，你是不是晓得我是谁。”Ｋ皱起眉头看了她一眼。“我当然知道，”他说，“你在格鲁巴赫太太这儿住了很长时间啦，对不对？”“但是我认为你对房客不大感兴趣，”蒙塔格小姐说。“对，”Ｋ说。“你不想坐下吗？”蒙塔格小姐问道。他们一声不响地从餐桌尽头拉出两把椅子来，面对面坐下。但是，蒙塔格小姐马上又站起来，因为她把手提包忘在窗台上了。她穿过整个餐间，到窗前去取包；回来时，轻轻地摆晃着手里的提包对Ｋ说：“我的朋友让我跟你讲几句话，这就是事情的原委。她本来想自己来的，可是今天有点不舒服。她请你原谅，由我代替她来对你说。反正她对你讲的事情也不会比我告诉你的多。相反，我认为我倒还能对你多说一点，因为我比较公正。你不这样认为吗？”
"What is there to say, then?" answered K., who was tired of Miss Montag continuously watching his lips. In that way she took control of what he wanted to say before he said it. "Miss Bürstner clearly refuses to grant me the personal meeting that I asked her for." "That's how it is," said Miss Montag, "or rather, that's not at all how it is, the way you put it is remarkably severe. Generally speaking, meetings are neither granted nor the opposite. But it can be that meetings are considered unnecessary, and that's how it is here. Now, after your comment, I can speak openly. You asked my friend, verbally or in writing, for the chance to speak with her. Now my friend is aware of your reasons for asking for this meeting - or at least I suppose she is - and so, for reasons I know nothing about, she is quite sure that it would be of no benefit to anyone if this meeting actually took place. Moreover, it was only yesterday, and only very briefly, that she made it clear to me that such a meeting could be of no benefit for yourself either, she feels that it can only have been a matter of chance that such an idea came to you, and that even without any explanations from her, you will very soon come to realise yourself, if you have not done so already, the futility of your idea. My answer to that is that although it may be quite right, I consider it advantageous, if the matter is to be made perfectly clear, to give you an explicit answer. I offered my services in taking on the task, and after some hesitation my friend conceded. I hope, however, also to have acted in your interests, as even the slightest uncertainty in the least significant of matters will always remain a cause of suffering and if, as in this case, it can be removed without substantial effort, then it is better if that is done without delay." "I thank you," said K. as soon as Miss Montag had finished. He stood slowly up, looked at her, then across the table, then out the window - the house opposite stood there in the sun - and went to the door. Miss Montag followed him a few paces, as if she did not quite trust him. At the door, however, both of them had to step back as it opened and Captain Lanz entered. This was the first time that K. had seen him close up. He was a large man of about forty with a tanned, fleshy face. He bowed slightly, intending it also for K., and then went over to Miss Montag and deferentially kissed her hand. He was very elegant in the way he moved. The courtesy he showed towards Miss Montag made a striking contrast with the way she had been treated by K. Nonetheless, Miss Montag did not seem to be cross with K. as it even seemed to him that she wanted to introduce the captain. K. however, did not want to be introduced, he would not have been able to show any sort of friendliness either to Miss Montag or to the captain, the kiss on the hand had, for K., bound them into a group which would keep him at a distance from Miss Bürstner whilst at the same time seeming to be totally harmless and unselfish. K. thought, however, that he saw more than that, he thought he also saw that Miss Montag had chosen a means of doing it that was good, but two-edged. She exaggerated the importance of the relationship between K. and Miss Bürstner, and above all she exaggerated the importance of asking to speak with her and she tried at the same time to make out that K. was exaggerating everything. She would be disappointed, K. did not want to exaggerate anything, he was aware that Miss Bürstner was a little typist who would not offer him much resistance for long. In doing so he deliberately took no account of what Mrs. Grubach had told him about Miss Bürstner. All these things were going through his mind as he left the room with hardly a polite word. He wanted to go straight to his room, but a little laugh from Miss Montag that he heard from the dining room behind him brought him to the idea that he might prepare a surprise for the two of them, the captain and Miss Montag. He looked round and listened to find out if there might be any disturbance from any of the surrounding rooms, everywhere was quiet, the only thing to be heard was the conversation from the dining room and Mrs. Grubach's voice from the passage leading to the kitchen. This seemed an opportune time, K. went to Miss Bürstner's room and knocked gently. There was no sound so he knocked again but there was still no answer in reply. Was she asleep? Or was she really unwell? Or was she just pretending as she realised it could only be K. knocking so gently? K. assumed she was pretending and knocked harder, eventually, when the knocking brought no result, he carefully opened the door with the sense of doing something that was not only improper but also pointless. In the room there was no-one. What's more, it looked hardly at all like the room K. had known before. Against the wall there were now two beds behind one another, there were clothes piled up on three chairs near the door, a wardrobe stood open. Miss Bürstner must have gone out while Miss Montag was speaking to him in the dining room. K. was not greatly bothered by this, he had hardly expected to be able to find Miss Bürstner so easily and had made this attempt for little more reason than to spite Miss Montag. But that made it all the more embarrassing for him when, as he was closing the door again, he saw Miss Montag and the captain talking in the open doorway of the dining room. They had probably been standing there ever since K. had opened the door, they avoided seeming to observe K. but chatted lightly and followed his movements with glances, the absent minded glances to the side such as you make during a conversation. But these glances were heavy for K., and he rushed alongside the wall back into his own room.
“那么，你想说什么呢？”Ｋ说，他发现蒙塔格小姐目不转睛地注视着他的嘴唇，心里不大好受。她的目光似乎要驾驭他将说出的每一句话。“布尔斯特纳小姐显然拒绝了我的请求，不想亲自见我。”“是这样，”蒙塔格小姐说，“不过，也许根本不是这么回事，是你自己把它说得太严重了。一般说来，人家约你谈话，你当然既不能随便答应，也不能随便拒绝。但也可能遇到这样的情况，即看不出有谈话的必要，今天便是这样。你刚才既然讲了那番话，我就只好坦率地说了。你请求我的朋友和你谈谈，可以写信，也可以面谈。而我的朋友，至少据我推测，却知道将会谈些什么；由于某些我不知道的原因，她深信，如果真的谈了话，将不会对任何人有好处。老实说，只是到了昨天，她才顺便跟我提起了这件事。她还说，你也不会太看重这次谈话的，因为你准是偶然动了这个念头；甚至用不着专门解释，你也会马上明白——如果你现在还没有明白的话——这件事做得多蠢。我对她说，完全可能如此；不过我认为，要把这事完全弄明白，还是应该让你得到一个明确的答复为好。我主动提出当中间人，我的朋友犹豫了一阵之后，听从了我的劝告。我希望这样做对你也有好处，因为哪怕事情再小，只要有一点点不明白的地方，就会使人忧虑；如果不明白的地方像这次似的可以轻而易举地澄清，那就最好当机立断。”“谢谢你，”Ｋ说；他慢慢站起来，先看看蒙塔格小姐，然后又看看餐桌，接着又看看窗外；太阳照着对面的房子；他朝门口走去。蒙塔格小姐跟着他走了几步，似乎不怎么信赖他。然而他俩到了门口时，都不得不退回来，因为上尉兰茨推门走了进来。Ｋ第一次离这么近看见他。上尉个子很高，四十出头，肥胖的脸孔晒得黝黑。他略微欠了欠身，向Ｋ和蒙塔格小姐致意，然后走到她跟前，恭恭敬敬地吻了吻她的手。他的动作潇洒自如。上尉对蒙塔格小姐的彬彬有礼与Ｋ对她的态度形成了鲜明对比。尽管如此，蒙塔格小姐看来并没有生Ｋ的气，因为她还想把Ｋ介绍给上尉，至少Ｋ是这么认为的。但是Ｋ并不愿意被介绍，他既不想和上尉，也不想和蒙塔格小姐客套，吻手这个举动在他看来等于说他俩串通一气，目的在于以最彬彬有礼的利他主义为幌子，阻碍他到布尔斯特纳小姐那儿去。他还觉得自己看出了更多的名堂，他发现蒙塔格小姐选择好了一件得心应手的、从某种意义上讲可以用来一箭双雕的武器。她夸大了布尔斯特纳小姐和Ｋ之间的关系的重要性，首先是夸大了他要求约见布尔斯特纳小姐这件事的重要性；同时又耍弄手腕，让人以为夸大其词的乃是Ｋ。她会发现自己错了，因为Ｋ不想夸大任何事情；他知道布尔斯特纳小姐只是一个普通的打字员，不会长期抗拒他的。他得出这个结论后，就决意不必顾忌格鲁巴赫太太讲过的那些关于布尔斯特纳小姐的话了。他匆匆和他们告别；他在离开餐间的时候，脑子里想的就是这些。他径直朝自己的房间走去，但是蒙塔格小姐的嗤笑声从身后的餐间里传来，这使他顿时闪过一个念头：他可以乘机做一件出乎他俩——上尉和蒙塔格小姐——意料之外的事。他朝四周扫了一眼，仔细听了听，确信旁边的各个房间里一切都很平静，没有任何东西会来妨碍他。除了餐间里的唧咕声和格鲁巴赫太太从通向厨房里去的过道中发出的声音外，四周静悄悄的。看来机会极好，Ｋ便转身走到布尔斯特纳小姐的门前，轻轻叩门：一点动静也没有。他又敲了一次：仍旧没人答应。她在睡觉吗？或者她真的不舒服吗？或许她知道只有Ｋ才会这么轻轻叩门，因此装作不在家吧！Ｋ认为她是装作不在家，因此便敲重了点；最后，由于敲门毫无结果，他便蹑手蹑脚地把门推开；他知道这样做不对，不仅不对，而且也没用处。房间里一个人也没有。另外，它和Ｋ前些日子见过的样子几乎完全不同了。墙边并排放着两张床，门旁的三把椅子上堆满了外衣和内衣，一个衣柜开着。看来，当蒙塔格小姐在餐间里滔滔不绝地讲话时，布尔斯特纳小姐乘机溜出去了。Ｋ并不觉得十分惊讶，他丝毫不期待在目前阶段就能轻而易举地得到布尔斯特纳小姐；不错，他曾经作过尝试，但主要是为了气气蒙塔格小姐。当他重新关上房门时，发现餐间的门开着，蒙塔格小姐和上尉一起站在门口谈话；这使他大为震惊。他们大概一直站在那儿，故意不让Ｋ发现他们在看着他；他们压低嗓门讲话，用漫不经心的眼光注视着Ｋ的每一个动作——侃侃而谈的人们打量从身旁经过的行人时，用的就是这种眼光。尽管这样，他们的目光给Ｋ造成了很大压力；他贴着墙，尽可能快地朝自己的房间走去。