out his instructions because it’s my duty and out of respect to the Superintendent.” Washed and combed, K. now sat down at the table to wait for his shirt and clothes; he was not very curious to know the message that the teacher had brought, he was influenced besides by the landlady’s low opinion of the Superintendent. “It must be after twelve already, surely?” he said, thinking of the distance he had to walk; then he remembered himself, and said: “You want to give me some message from the Superintendent.” “Well, yes,” said the teacher, shrugging his shoulders as if he were discarding all responsibility. “The Superintendent is afraid that, if the decision in your case takes too long, you might do something rash on your own account. For my own part I don’t know why he should fear that⁠—my own opinion is that you should just be allowed to do what you like. We aren’t your guardian angels and we’re not obliged to run after you in all your doings. Well and good. The Superintendent, however, is of a different opinion. He can’t of course hasten the decision itself, which is a matter for the authorities. But in his own sphere of jurisdiction he wants to provide a temporary and truly generous settlement; it simply lies with you to accept it. He offers you provisionally the post of school janitor.” At first K. thought very little of the offer made him, but the fact that an offer had been made seemed to him not without significance. It seemed to point to the fact that in the Superintendent’s opinion he was in a position to look after himself, to carry out projects against which the Town Council itself was preparing certain counter measures. And how seriously they were taking the matter! The teacher, who had already been waiting for a while, and who before that, moreover, had made out the protocol, must of course have been told to run here by the Superintendent. When the teacher saw that he had made K. reflect at last, he went on: “I put my objections. I pointed out that up till now a janitor hadn’t been found necessary; the churchwarden’s wife cleared up the place from time to time, and Fräulein Gisa, the second teacher, overlooked the matter. I had trouble enough with the children, I didn’t want to be bothered by a janitor as