But he must have seemed very odd standing there in silence, and the young woman and the usher were indeed looking at him as if they thought he would go through some major metamorphosis any second which they didn’t want to miss seeing. And in the doorway stood the man whom K. had noticed in the background earlier, he held firmly on to the beam above the low door swinging a little on the tips of his feet as if becoming impatient as he watched. But the young woman was the first to recognise that K.’s behaviour was caused by his feeling slightly unwell, she brought a chair and asked, «Would you not like to sit down?» K. sat down immediately and, in order to keep his place better, put his elbows on the armrests. «You’re a little bit dizzy, aren’t you?» she asked him. Her face was now close in front of him, it bore the severe expression that many young women have just when they’re in the bloom of their youth. «It’s nothing for you to worry about,» she said, «that’s nothing unusual here, almost everyone gets an attack like that the first time they come here. This is your first time is it. Yes, it’s nothing unusual then. The sun burns down on the roof and the hot wood makes the air so thick and heavy. It makes this place rather unsuitable for offices, whatever other advantages it might offer. But the air is almost impossible to breathe on days when there’s a lot of business, and that’s almost every day. And when you think that there’s a lot of washing put out to dry here as well—and we can’t stop the tenants doing that—it’s not surprising you started to feel unwell. But you get used to the air alright in the end. When you’re here for the second or third time you’ll hardly notice how oppressive the air is. Are you feeling any better now?» K. made no answer, he felt too embarrassed at being put at the mercy of these people by his sudden weakness, and learning the reason for feeling ill made him feel not better but a little worse. The girl noticed it straight away, and to make the air fresher for K., she took a window pole that was leaning against the wall and pushed open a small hatch directly above K.’s head that led to the outside. But so much soot fell in that the girl had to immediately close the hatch again and clean the soot off K.’s hands with her handkerchief, as K. was too tired to do that for himself. He would have liked just to sit quietly where he was until he had enough strength to leave, and the less fuss people made about him the sooner that would be. But then the girl said, «You can’t stay here, we’re in people’s way here….» K. looked at her as if to ask whose way they were impeding. «If you like, I can take you to the sick room,» and turning to the man in the doorway said, «please help me.» The man immediately came over to them, but K. did not want to go to the sick room, that was just what he wanted to avoid, being led further from place to place, the further he went the more difficult it must become. So he said, «I am able to walk now,» and stood up, shaking after becoming used to sitting so comfortably. But then he was unable to stay upright. «I can’t manage it,» he said shaking his head, and sat down again with a sigh. He remembered the usher who, despite everything, would have been able to lead him out of there but who seemed to have gone long before. K. looked out between the man and the young woman who were standing in front of him but was unable to find the usher. «I think,» said the man, who was elegantly dressed and whose appearance was made especially impressive with a grey waistcoat that had two long, sharply tailored points, «the gentleman is feeling unwell because of the atmosphere here, so the best thing, and what he would most prefer, would be not to take him to the sick room but get him out of the offices altogether.» «That’s right,» exclaimed K., with such joy that he nearly interrupted what the man was saying, «I’m sure that’ll make me feel better straight away, I’m really not that weak, all I need is a little support under my arms, I won’t cause you much trouble, it’s not such a long way anyway, lead me to the door and then I’ll sit on the stairs for a while and soon recover, as I don’t suffer from attacks like this at all, I’m surprised at it myself. I also work in an office and I’m quite used to office air, but here it seems to be too strong, you’ve said so yourselves. So please, be so kind as to help me on my way a little, I’m feeling dizzy, you see, and it’ll make me ill if I stand up by myself.» And with that he raised his shoulders to make it easier for the two of them to take him by the arms.
The man, however, didn’t follow this suggestion but just stood there with his hands in his trouser pockets and laughed out loud. «There, you see,» he said to the girl, «I was quite right. The gentleman is only unwell here, and not in general.» The young woman smiled too, but lightly tapped the man’s arm with the tips of her fingers as if he had allowed himself too much fun with K. «So what do you think, then?» said the man, still laughing, «I really do want to lead the gentleman out of here.» «That’s alright, then,» said the girl, briefly inclining her charming head. «Don’t worry too much about him laughing,» said the girl to K., who had become unhappy once more and stared quietly in front of himself as if needing no further explanation. «This gentleman—may I introduce you?»—(the man gave his permission with a wave of the hand)—»so, this gentleman’s job is to give out information. He gives all the information they need to people who are waiting, as our court and its offices are not very well known among the public he gets asked for quite a lot. He has an answer for every question, you
