in the night and went out to see the damage and if possible put it right, the assistants ran out after him, likely because they were afraid to stay here by themselves, and saw my fiancé working at the broken door, and that’s why they say now—but they’re only children—” True, the assistants kept on shaking their heads during Freida’s story, pointed again at K. and did their best by means of dumb show to deflect her from her story; but as they did not succeed they submitted at last, took Frieda’s words as a command, and on being questioned anew by the teacher made no reply. “So,” said the teacher, “you’ve been lying? Or at least you’ve groundlessly accused the janitor?” They still remained silent, but their trembling and their apprehensive glances seemed to indicate guilt. “Then I’ll give you a sound thrashing straight away,” he said, and he sent one of the children into the next room for his cane. Then as he was raising it, Freida cried: “The assistants have told the truth!” flung her scrubbing-cloth in despair into the pail, so that the water splashed up on every side, and ran behind the parallel bars, where she remained concealed. “A lying crew!” remarked the lady teacher, who had just finished bandaging the paw, and she took the beast into her lap, for which it was almost too big.
“So it was the janitor,” said the teacher, pushing the assistants away and turning to K. , who had been listening all the time leaning on the handle of his broom: “This fine janitor who out of cowardice allows other people to be falsely accused of his own villainies.” “Well,” said K. who had not missed the fact that Frieda’s intervention had appeased the first uncontrollable fury of the teacher, “if the assistants had got a little taste of the rod I shouldn’t have been sorry; if they get off ten times when they should justly be punished, they can well afford to pay for it by being punished unjustly for once. But besides that it would have been very welcome to me if a direct quarrel between me and you, Mr. Teacher, could have been avoided; perhaps you would have liked it as well yourself too. But seeing that Frieda has sacrificed me to the assistants now—” here K. paused, and in the silence Frieda’s sobs could be heard behind the