Текст книги "The Complete Stories (forword by John Updike)"

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N. sat with wide-open, glassy, bulging eyes, which seemed on the point of failing; he was trembling and his body was bent forward as if someone were holding him down or striking him on the shoulders; his lower lip, indeed the lower jaw itself with the exposed gums, hung down helplessly; his whole face seemed out of joint; he still breathed, though with difficulty; but then, as if released, he fell back against the back of his chair, closed his eyes, the mark of some great strain passed over his face and vanished, and all was over. I sprang to him and seized his lifeless hand, which was so cold that it sent a chill through me; no pulse beat there now. So it was all over. Still, he was a very old man. We would be fortunate if we all had such an easy death. But how much there was to be done! And what should one do first? I looked around for help; but the son had drawn the bedclothes over his head, and I could hear his wild sobbing; the agent, cold as a fish, sat immovably on his chair, two steps from N., and was obviously resolved to do nothing, to wait for what time would bring; so I, only I was left to do something, and the hardest thing that anyone could be asked to do, that was to tell the news to his wife in some bearable form, in a form that did not exist, in other words. And already I could hear her eager shuffling steps in the next room.

Still wearing her outdoor clothes – she had not found time to change – she brought in a nightshirt that she had warmed before the fire for her husband to put on. "He's fallen asleep," she said, smiling and shaking her head, when she found us sitting so still. And with the infinite trustfulness of the innocent she took up the same hand that I had held a moment before with such fear and repugnance, kissed it playfully, and – how could we three others have borne the sight? – N. moved, yawned loudly, allowed his nightshirt to be put on, endured with a mixture of annoyance and irony his wife's tender reproaches for having overstrained himself by taking such a long walk, and strangely enough said in reply, to provide no doubt a different explanation for his having fallen asleep, something about feeling bored. Then, so as not to catch cold by going through the draughty passage into a different room, he lay down for the time being in his son's bed; his head was bedded down beside his son's feet on two cushions hastily brought by his wife. After all that had gone before I found nothing particularly odd in that. Then he asked for the evening paper, opened it without paying any attention to his guests, but did not read it, only glancing through it here and there, and made several very unpleasant observations on our offers, observations which showed astonishing shrewdness, while he waved his free hand disdainfully, and by clicking his tongue indicated that our business methods had left a bad taste in his mouth. The agent could not refrain from making one or two untimely remarks, no doubt he felt in his insensitive way that some compensation was due to him after what had happened, but his way of. securing it was the worst he could have chosen. I said goodbye as soon as I could, I felt almost grateful to the agent; if he had not been there I would not have had the resolution to leave so soon.

In the lobby I met Frau N. again. At the sight of that pathetic figure I said impulsively that she reminded me a little of my mother. And as she remained silent I added: "Whatever people say, she could do wonders. Things that we destroyed she could make whole again. I lost her when I was still a child." I had spoken with deliberate slowness and distinctness, for I assumed the old lady was hard of hearing. But she must have been quite deaf, for she asked without transition: "And how does my husband look to you?" From a few parting words I noticed, moreover, that she confused me with the agent; I like to think that otherwise she would have been more forthcoming.

Then I descended the stairs: The descent was more tiring than the ascent had been, and not even that had been easy. Oh, how many business calls come to nothing, and yet one must keep going.

Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir

Give it Up!

IT WAS very early in the morning, the streets clean and deserted, I was on my way to the station. As I compared the tower clock with my watch I realized it was much later than I had thought and that I had to hurry; the shock of this discovery made me feel uncertain of the way, I wasn't very well acquainted with the town as yet; fortunately, there was a policeman at hand, I ran to him and breathlessly asked him the way. He smiled and said: "You asking me the way?" "Yes," I said, "since I can't find it myself." "Give it up! Give it up!" said he, and turned with a sudden jerk, like someone who wants to be alone with his laughter.

Translated by Tania and James Stern

On Parables

MANY complain that the words of the wise are always merely parables and of no use in daily life, which is the only life we have. When the sage says: "Go over," he does not mean that we should cross to some actual place, which we could do anyhow if the labor were worth it; he means some fabulous yonder, something unknown to us, something that he cannot designate more precisely either, and therefore cannot help us here in the very least. All these parables really set out to say merely that the incomprehensible is incomprehensible, and we know that already. But the cares we have to struggle with every day: that is a different matter.

Concerning this a man once said: Why such reluctance? If you only followed the parables you yourselves would become parables and with that rid of all your daily cares.

Another said: I bet that is also a parable.

The first said: You have won.

The second said: But unfortunately only in parable.

The first said: No, in reality: in parable you have lost.

Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir

POSTSCRIPT

Albert Camus once said that "the whole of Kafka's art consists in compelling the reader to re-read him." Since the interpretations of Kafka are many and the search for the meaning of his stories seemingly endless, the reader will return to the story itself in the hope of finding guidance from within. Thus a second reading will – hopefully – become a commentary on the first, and subsequent readings will – again hopefully – shed light on the preceding ones. It is the purpose of this volume to provide ready access to the entire corpus of Kafka's stories; they, rather than the novels, constitute the very core of his brief life's work.

The longer stories which form the bulk of the volume are followed by a collection of shorter stories and sketches. All stories published by Kafka during his lifetime and the material from the literary estate that Max Brod selected for publication after Kafka's death are included. Within the two parts (the longer and the shorter stories) a chronological order has been attempted. The notes by Max Brod and, later, the efforts of Klaus Wagenbach, Malcolm Pasley, and Ludwig Dietz to establish a literary chronology have been consulted and have offered welcome aid. Some dates remain approximations only.

Kafka chose the titles of the stories in the case of material published by himself. All other tales were given their titles by Max Brod, except for "Description of a Struggle," "The Village Schoolmaster," "The Bucket Rider," "The Great Wall of China," "A Crossbreed," and "The Problem of Our Laws," which come from Kafka's hand.

"The Stoker," though published by Kafka as a separate story, is not included; it has its rightful place as the first chapter of the novel Amerika.Two brief dialogues, "Conversation with the Supplicant" and "Conversation with the Drunk," also published by Kafka, have been omitted; they reappear in their proper context in "Description of a Struggle." However, "The Trees," "Clothes," and "Excursion into the Mountains" – also from "Description of a Struggle" – were retained. And, because of their special significance, two pieces, parts of other works by Kafka, are reproduced here as "introductory parables": "Before the Law," which reappears in the novel The Trial;and "An Imperial Message," whose place is in "The Great Wall of China." The fragments of "The Hunter Gracchus", "The Great Wall of China," and "A Report to an Academy" are placed after the stories that bear these titles. "The Warden of the Tomb," Kafka's only piece in dramatic form, was given hospitality in this volume of stories.

In 1934, a decade after Franz Kafka's death, Schocken Verlag, Berlin, acquired the world rights to his works in an agreement made with Kafka's mother and with Max Brod, whom the author had appointed his literary executor. Between 1935 and 1937, Schocken Verlag published the first German edition of Kafka's collected writings. In 1946, Schocken Books Inc., New York, reissued this German-language edition, and has since published English-language translations of most of the works (see Bibliography). In 1950, Schocken granted a license to S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, for German publication of Kafka's oeuvre. Kafka's writings have been translated and published in many countries, east and west. British editions are published by Martin Seeker & Warburg Ltd., London.

A critical edition of Kafka's complete works is being planned. This edition will make use of the original manuscripts deposited in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and of other collections.

NAHUM N. GLATZER

June 1971

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. KAFKA'S STORIES AND COLLECTIONS OF STORIES PUBLISHED DURING HIS LIFETIME

(For details, see the notes to the individual stories.)

Betrachtung.Leipzig: Rowohlc Verlag, 1913.

Das Urteil. Eine Geschichte.Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1913.

Der Heizer. Ein Fragment,Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1913.

Die Verwandlimg.Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1915; 2d ed., 1918.

In der Strafkolonie.Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1919.

Ein Landarzt. Kleine Erz ä hlungen.Munich and Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1919.

Ein Hungerkünstler. Vier Geschichten.Berlin: Verlag Die Schmiede, 1924.

II. KAFKA'S WORKS PUBLISHED AFTER HIS DEATH

Der Prozess.Berlin: Verlag Die Schmiede, 1925.

Das Schloss.Munich: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1926.

Amerika.Munich: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1927.

Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. Ungedruckte Erz ä hlungen und Prosa aus dem Nachlass.Hsg. von Max Brod und Hans Joachim Schoeps [edited by Max Brod and Hans Joachim Schoeps]. Berlin: Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag, 1931.

Vor dem Gesetz.Von Heinz Politzer aus den Schriften Kafkas zusammengestellt [collected by Heinz Politzer from Kafka's writings]. Berlin: Schocken Verlag, 1934 (Bücherei des Schocken Verlags, No. 19).

III. COLLECTED WORKS IN GERMAN

Gesanrmelte Schriften. Hsg. von Max Brod (in Gemeinschaft mit Heinz Politzer)[Collected Writings, edited by Max Brod in cooperation with Heinz Politzer].

Schocken A.

i. Erz ä hlungen und kleine Prosa.Berlin: Schocken Verlag, 1935.

ii. Amerika.Berlin: Schocken Verlag, 1935.

iii. Der Prozess.Berlin: Schocken Verlag, 1935.

iv. Das Schloss.Berlin: Schocken Verlag, 1935.

v. Beschreibung eines Kampfes. Novellen, Skizzen, Aphorismen aus dem Nachlass.Prague: Verlag Heinrich Mercy Sohn, 1936. [Verlag Heinrich Mercy Sohn acted as agent for Schocken Verlag.]

vi. Tageb ü cher und Briefe.Prague: Verlag Heinrich Mercy Sohn, 1937.

Gesanrmelte Schriften. Hsg. von Max Brod[Collected Writings, edited by Max Brod].

Schocken B.

i. Erz ä hlungen und kleine Prosa.Zweite Ausgabe. New York: Schocken Books, 1946.

ii. Amerika.Dritte Ausgabe. New York: Schocken Books, 1946.

III. Der Prozess.Dritte Ausgabe. New York: Schocken Books, 1946.

iv. Das Schloss.Dritte Ausgabe. New York: Schocken Books, 1946.

v. Beschreibung ernes Kampfes. Novellen, Skizzen, Aphorismen aus dem Nachlass.Zweite Ausgabe. New York: Schocken Books, 1946.

Gesanrmelte Werke. Hsg. von Max Brod[Collected Works, edited by Max Brod].

Schocken C.

[1] Der Prozess.Vierte Ausgabe. New York: Schocken Books [1950]; Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1950.

[2] Das Schloss.Vierte Ausgabe. New York: Schocken Books [1951]; Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1951.

[3] Tageb ü cher 1910-1923.New York: Schocken Books [1951]; Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1951.

[4] Briefe an Milena.Hsg. und mit einem Nachwort versehen von Willy Haas [edited, with an epilogue, by Willy Haas]. New York: Schocken Books, 1952; Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1952.

[5] Erz ä hlungen.Dritte Ausgabe. [Identical with Erz ä hlungen und kleine Prosa.] New York: Schocken Books [1952]; Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1952. [Quoted as Erz ä hlungen.]

[6] Amerika.Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1953.

[7] Hochzeitsvorbereitungen auf dem Lande und andere Prosa aus dem Nachlass.New York: Schocken Books, 1953; Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1953. [English title, see Schocken D7.]

[8] Beschreibung ernes Kampfes. Novellen, Skizzen, Aphorismen aus dem Nachlass.Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1953. (A text-critical edition of the title story appeared as Beschreibung eines Kampfes: Die zwei Fassungen.Hsg. und mit einem Nachwort versehen von Max Brod. Textedition von Ludwig Dietz. [The Two Versions. Edited and with an epilogue by Max Brod. Text-critical edition by Ludwig Dietz.] Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Verlag, 1969.)

[9] Briefe 1992-1924.Hsg. von Max Brod [edited by Max Brod]. Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1958.

[10] Briefe an Felice und andere Korrespondenz aus der Verlobungszeit.Hsg. von Erich Heller und Jürgen Born, mit einer Einleitung von Erich Heller [edited by Erich Heller and Jürgen Born, with an introduction by Erich Heller]. Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Lizenzausgabe, 1967.

IV. SCHOCKEN EDITIONS OF KAFKA'S WORKS IN ENGLISH

Schocken D.

[1] The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. Exegetical Notes by Philip Rahv. New York, 1946; new edition, 1970. [Quoted as Great Wall of China.] The present version follows the Schocken edition of 1970.

[2] Amerika.Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. Preface by Klaus Mann. Afterword by Max Brod. Copyright 1946, by New Directions. Published by Schocken in 1962 in association with New Directions.

[3] The Penal Colony. Stories and Short Pieces.Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. New York, 1948. [Quoted as Penal Colony.]

[4] Diaries, 1910-1923.Edited by Max Brod. Translated by Joseph Kresh. New York, 1948. [Quoted as Diaries,followed by the date of entry.]

[5] Diaries, 1914-1923.Edited by Max Brod. Translated by Martin Greenberg, with the cooperation of Hannah Arendt. New York, 1949. [Quoted as Diaries,followed by the date of entry.]

[6] Letters to Milena.Edited by Willy Haas. Translated by Tania and James Stern. New York, 1953.

[7] Dearest Father. Stories and Other Writings.Translated by Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins. Notes by Max Brod. New York, 1954.

[8] Description of a Struggle.Translated by Tania and James Stern. New York, 1958.

[9] Parables and Paradoxes/Parabeln und Paradoxe.Bilingual edition. Edited by Nahum N. Glatzer. Second, expanded, ed., New York, 1961.

[10] Letter to His Father/Brief an den Vater.Bilingual edition. Translated by Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins. New York, 1966.

[11] The Metamorphosis/Die Verwandlung.Bilingual edition. Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. New York, 1968.

[12] The Trial.Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. Revised, and with additional material translated by E. M. Butler. With excerpts from Kafka's Diaries.Drawings by Franz Kafka. New York, 1968.

V. OTHER EDITIONS OF KAFKA'S WORKS IN ENGLISH

The Trial.Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1935; London: Martin Seeker & Warburg Ltd., 1945, 1956 (the latter edition revised, with additional material translated by E. M. Butler). New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1937; definitive edition, 1957.

The Castle.Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. London: Martin Seeker & Warburg Ltd., 1930, 1953 (the latter edition with additional material translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser). New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930; new edition, with an introduction by Thomas Mann, 1941; definitive edition, 1954.

Amerika.Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. Preface by Klaus Mann. Afterword by Max Brod. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1938; London: Martin Seeker & Warburg Ltd.; Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1946.

VI. SUPPLEMENT

Benson, Ann. "Franz Kafka: An American Bibliography," Bulletin of Bibliography,XXII, No. 5 (1958).

Brod, Max. Franz Kafka: A Biography.Second, enlarged edition (including an additional chapter, "New Aspects of Kafka"). Translated from the German by G. Humphreys Roberts and Richard Winston. New York: Schocken Books, 1960. [Quoted as Max Brod, Franz Kafka.]

Flores, Angel, and Swander, Homer, eds. Franz Kafka Today.Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1958.

Hemmerle, Rudolf. Franz Kafka -– eine Bibliographie.Munich: Verlag Robert Lerche, 1958.

Janouch, Gustav. Conversations with Kafka: Notes and Reminiscences.With an introduction by Max Brod. Translated by Goronwy Rees. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1953. [Quoted as Conversations with Kafka.]

Järv, Harry. Die Kafka-Literatur: Eine Bibliographie.Malmö and Lund: Bo Cavefors Verlag, 1961. [An extensive listing of the writings on Kafka.]

Jonas, Klaus W. "Franz Kafka: An American Bibliography," Bulletin of Bibliography,XX, No. 9 (1952), and XX, No. 10 (1953).

EDITORS AND TRANSLATORS

(* used in the present volume)

Arendt, Hannah: co-tr., Diaries, 1914-1923.New York, 1949 (Schocken D5).

Born, Jurgen: co-ed., Briefe an Felice.Frankfurt a. M., 1967 (Schocken C10).

* Brod, Max: ed., Gesammelte Schriften,vols. I-VI. Berlin (Prague), 1935-1937 (Schocken A).

* –: ed., Gesammelte Schriften,vols. I-V. New York, 1946 (Schocken B).

* –: ed., Gesammelte Werke,10 vols. New York and Frankfurt a. M., 1950-1967 (Schocken C).

–: ed., Tagebücher 1910-1923.Prague, 1937; New York, 1951 (Schocken C3).

Glatzer, Nahum N.: ed., Parables and Paradoxes,2d ed. New York, 1958.

Greenberg, Martin: tr., Diaries, 1914-1923.New York, 1949 (Schocken D5).

Haas, Willy: ed., Briefe an Milena.New York and Frankfurt a. M., 1952 (Schocken C4).

–: ed., Letters to Milena.New York, 1953 (Schocken D6).

Heller, Erich: ed., Briefe an Felice.Frankfurt a. M., 1967 (Schocken C10).

* Kaiser, Ernst, and Wilkins, Eithne: tr., Dearest Father.New York, 1954 (Schocken D7).

Kresh, Joseph: tr., Diaries, 1910-1913.New York, 1948 (Schocken D4).

Muir, Willa and Edwin: tr., The Castle.London, 1930; New York, 1930, 1941, 1954.

–: tr., The Trial.London, 1935; New York, 1937, 1957, 1968.

–: tr., The Trial.New York, 1968 (Schocken D12).

–: tr., Amerika.London, 1938; Norfolk, Conn., 1946; New York, 1962.

–: tr., Amerika.New York, 1946, 1962 (Schocken D2).

* –: tr., The Great Wall of China.New York, 1946, 1970 (Schocken D1).

* –: tr., The Penal Colony.New York, 1948 (Schocken D3).

Politzer, Heinz: ed., Vor dem Gesetz.Berlin, 1934 (Schocken Bücherei).

–: co-ed., Gesammelte Schriften,vols. I-IV (Schocken A).

Schoeps, Hans Joachim: co-ed., Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer.Berlin, 1931.

Stern, Tania and James: tr., Letters to Milena.New York, 1953 (Schocken D6).

* –: tr., Description of a Struggle.New York, 1958 (Schocken D8).

Wilkins, Eithne: see Kaiser, Ernst.

ON THE MATERIAL 

INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME

Two Introductory Parables

Before the Law

"Vor dem Gesetz," from the ninth chapter of the novel Der Prozess (The Trial),written in the winter of 1914, was first published in the almanac Vom jüngsten Tag,Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1916. See the fragment "I ran past the first watchman," in Dearest Father(Schocken D7), pp. 322 f. Included in the collection of stories Ein Landarzt. Kleine Erzahlungen,Munich and Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1919. Der Prozesswas published by Verlag Die Schmiede, Berlin, 1925 (Die Romane des XX. Jahrhunderts). Vor dem Gesetz: Ausgewahlte Erzahlungen und Aphorismen,Berlin: Bücherei des Schocken Verlags, No. 19, 1934. Erzahlungen(Schocken B1 and C5), pp. 144 ff. Penal Colony(Schocken D3), pp. 148 ff.

Diaries,December 13, 1914: "Contentment and a feeling of happiness as the 'Legend' ['Before the Law'] in particular inspires in me."

An Imperial Message

"Eine kaiserliche Botschaft," written in the spring of 1917 as part of the story "The Great Wall of China" (Great Wall,Schocken D1, pp. 93 f.), was published in the Prague Jewish weekly Selbstwehr(September 24, 1919) and in Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor).See Penal Colony(Schocken D3), pp. 158 f.

The Longer Stories

Description of a Struggle

The first draft of the unfinished "Beschreibung eines Kampfes" was written in 1904-5. The story (in two parallel versions) was for a long time considered lost until, in 1935, it turned up in Max Brod's library. Brod edited it as the title story (pp. 9-66) of vol. V of Kafka's Gesammelte Schriften(Schocken A, B, C8), which, in addition, includes fourteen longer and shorter stories and the novelist's only larger piece in dramatic form ("The Warden of the Tomb"). Description of a Struggle(Schocken D8), pp. 9-96.

Kafka to Brod: "The thing that pleases me most about the short story ['Description of a Struggle'] is that I have got rid of it" (Briefe,March 18, 1910, p. 80). Kafka wanted to destroy the manuscript but finally allowed Brod to keep it (Max Brod, Franz Kafka,p. 61). Max Brod prepared a text-critical edition of the two versions and added an epilogue: Franz Kafka, Beschreibung eines Kampfes: Die zwei Fassungen.Herausgegeben und mit einem Nachwort versehen von Max Brod. Text-edition von Ludwig Dietz. Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer Verlag, 1969.

In 1909, Kafka published in the March-April issue of the bimonthly Hyperion(Munich), edited by Franz Blei, two pieces taken from the manuscript of version A of Beschreibung eines Kampfes:"Gespräch mit dem Beter" ("Conversation with the Supplicant") and "Gespräch mit dem Betrunkenen" ("Conversation with the Drunk"). The Hyperionversion is reprinted in Erz ä hlungen(Schocken B1 and C5), pp. 9-22. See also Beschreibung eines Kampfes,pp. 37-47 and 52-56. Penal Colony(Schocken 03), pp. 9-17, includes "Conversation with the Supplicant." The two pieces are not reproduced in the present volume.

Wedding Preparations in the Country

"Hochzeitsvorbereitungen auf dem Lande," "fragments of a novel" of which three transcripts are extant, was written in 1907-8. The manuscript turned up in Max Brod's library together with "Description of a Struggle" (q.v.).Brod edited it as the title story (pp. 7-54) of a volume of posthumously published Kafka material (Gesammelte Werke,Schocken C7), which includes the "Letter to His Father," the eight octavo notebooks, and the "fragments from notebooks." The piece originally appeared in Die Neue Rundschau,Frankfurt a. M., 1951. English edition of the volume: Dearest Father. Stories and Other Writings(Schocken D7).

The Judgment

"Das Urteil," written during the night of September 22-23, 1912, was first published in the annual Arkadia,edited by Max Brod (Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1913), dedicated "to Miss Felice B.," in later editions "for F." English title also "The Verdict." Erz ä hlungen(Schocken B1 and C5), pp. 51-66. Penal Colony(Schocken 03), pp. 49-63.

Diaries,September 23, 1912, following the complete draft of "The Judgment": "This story, 'The Judgment,' I wrote at one sitting during the night of the 22nd-23rd, from ten o'clock at night to six o'clock in the morning. I was hardly able to pull my legs from under the desk, they had got so stiff from sitting. The fearful strain and joy, how the story developed before me, as if I were advancing over water. Several times during this night I heaved my own weight on my back. How everything can be said, how for everything, for the strangest fancies, there waits a great fire in which they perish and rise up again. . . Only in this waycan writing be done, only with such coherence, with such a complete opening out of the body and the soul."

Diaries,February n, 1913: "While I read the proofs of 'The Judgment,'. . . the story came out of me like a real birth, covered with filth and slime, and only I have the hand that can reach to the body itself and the strength of desire to do so." There follow notes toward an interpretation of the story.

Max Brod, Franz Kafka,p. 141: "At [Oskar] Baum's he read 'The Verdict' to us and had tears in his eyes. 'The indubitability [Zweifellosigkeit]of the story is confirmed.' Those are strong words of self-conviction [ Ü berzeugt-sein von sich selbst],rare enough in the case of Franz."

The Metamorphosis

"Die Verwandlung," written in the second half of November and the first days of December 1912, was first published in the monthly Die Weissen Blatter,October 1915; reprinted in the series Der jüngste Tag,vols. XXII-XXIII (Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1915). Erz ä hlungen(Schocken B1 and C5), pp. 67-142. Penal Colony(Schocken 03), pp. 67-132.

Diaries,January 19, 1914: "Great antipathy to 'Metamorphosis.' Unreadable ending. Imperfect almost to its very marrow." Gustav Janouch suggested that Samsa, the hero of the story, sounds like a cryptogram for Kafka. "Kafka interrupted me. 'It is not a cryptogram. Samsa is not merely Kafka and nothing else [Samsa ist nicht restlos Kafka]. The Metamorphosisis not a confession, although it is – in a certain sense – an indiscretion'." (Conversations with Kafka,p. 35).

In the Penal Colony

"In der Strafkolonie," written October 1914, was first published by Kurt Wolff Verlag as a Drugulin Press edition, Leipzig, 1919. Erz ä hlungen(Schocken B1 and C5), pp. 179-213. Penal Colony(Schocken D3), pp. 191-227.

Kafka to Janouch on this story: "Personal proofs of my human weakness are printed. . . because my friends, with Max Brod at their head, have conceived the idea of making literature out of them, and because I have not the strength to destroy this evidence of solitude." (Conversations with Kafka,p. 32).

The Village Schoolmaster [The Giant Mole]

The unfinished "Der Dorfschullehrer" or "Der Riesenmaulwurf" (Kafka used both titles), written in December 1914 and the beginning of 1915, appeared first in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer(Berlin, 1931), pp. 131-53. Great Wall of China(Schocken D1), pp. 98-113.

Diaries,December 19, 1914: "Yesterday wrote 'The Village Schoolmaster' almost without knowing it, but was afraid to go on writing later than a quarter to two; the fear was well founded, I slept hardly at all, merely suffered through perhaps three short dreams. . . Then went home and calmly wrote for three hours." "The one gravely incomplete story in the book [Great Wall of China](E. Muir, Introductory Note to the first English edition, p. xvii).

Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor

The incomplete "Blumfeld, ein alterer Junggeselle," written probably in the beginning of 1915, first appeared in Beschreibung eines Kampfes(Schocken Bv), pp. 142-71. Description of a Struggle(Schocken D8), pp. 97-145.

Diaries,February 9, 1915: "Just now read the beginning. It is ugly and gives me a headache. In spite of all its truth it is wicked, pedantic, mechanical, a fish barely breathing on a sandbank." This entry, mentioning the "dog story," is understood to refer to "Blumfeld."

The Warden of the Tomb

"Der Gruftwächter," a piece in drama form, written in the winter of 1916-17, was first published in Beschreibung eines Kampfes(Schocken Bv), pp. 288-305. Description of a Struggle(Schocken D8), pp. 147-78.

"Talking about a play he had written – probably 'The Warden of the Tomb' – when we very much wanted to hear it, he said: 'The only thing about the play that is not dilletantish, is that I shall notread it to you" (Max Brod, Franz Kafka,p. 74, quoting Oskar Baum's "Memories of Franz Kafka," 1929).

A Country Doctor

"Ein Landarzt," written not before the winter of 1916-17, was first published in the almanac Die neue Dichtung(Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1918). Included in the collection of stories Ein Landarzt. Kleine Erz ä hlungen(Munich and Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1919). Erz ä hlungen(Schocken B1 and C5), pp. 146-53. Penal Colony(Schocken D3), pp. 136-43.

Kafka dedicated the collection to his father. "Not as if I could appease the father; the roots of this hostility are irradicable. . ." (to Max Brod, end of March 1918; Briefe,p. 237). Max Brod, Franz Kafka,p. 31: "Franz often recounted the reply with which his father received the book – he certainly meant no harm by it – his father said nothing but, 'Put it on my bedside table.' "

The Hunter Gracchus

"Der Jäger Gracchus," written in the first half of 1917, was first published in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer(pp. 43-50), and reprinted in Beschreibung eines Kampfes(Schocken Bv), pp. 102-7, which contains also a "Fragment zum 'Jäger Gracchus' " (pp. 331-35). Great Wall of China(Schocken D1), pp. 115-20. The "Fragment": in Description of a Struggle(Schocken D8), pp. 234-41. See also the reference to the Hunter Gracchus motif in Diaries,April 6, 1917.

The Great Wall of China

"Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer," written in the spring of 1917, was first published in the volume bearing that title (pp. 9-28) and reprinted in Beschreibung eines Kampfes(Schocken Bv), pp. 67-82. Great Wall of China(Schocken D1), pp. 83-97. The story "though apparently a fragment, is so perfect in itself that it may be read as a finished work" (E. Muir, Introductory Note to the first English edition, p. xvii). The "Fragment" ("The News of the Building of the Wall"): in Description of a Struggle(Schocken D8), pp. 226 ff.

A Report to an Academy

"Ein Bericht für eine Akademie," written in mid-1917, was first published in the monthly Der Jude,edited by Martin Buber, vol. II (November 1917), pp. 559-65. Included in Ein Landarzt,1919. Erz ä hlungen(Schocken B1 and C5), pp. 184-96. Penal Colony(Schocken D3), pp. 173-84. The "Fragment": in Description of a Struggle(Schocken D8), pp. 219-25.

The Refusal

"Die Abweisung," written in the fall of 1920, was first published in Beschreibung eines Kampfes(Schocken Bv), pp. 83-89. Description of a Struggle(Schocken D8), pp. 179-91.