“It’s a great nuisance,” said K. without quite meaning it, for he was not much concerned about his lodgings, and in his underclothes he was shivering up here in the loft, which without wall or window on two sides was swept by a cold draught, “you’ve arranged the room so comfortably and now we must leave it. I would take up the post very, very unwillingly, the few snubs I’ve already had from the teacher have been painful enough, and now he’s to become my superior, no less. If we could only stay here a little while longer, perhaps my position might change for the better this very afternoon. If you would only remain here at least, we could wait on for a little and give the teacher a noncommittal answer. As for me, if it came to the worst, I could really always find a lodging for the night with Bar—” Frieda stopped him by putting her hand over his mouth. “No, not that,” she said beseechingly, “please never mention that again. In everything else I’ll obey you. If you like I’ll stay on here by myself, sad as it will be for me. If you like, we’ll refuse the offer, wrong as that would seem to me. For look here, if you find another possibility, even this afternoon, why, it’s obvious that we would throw up the post in the school at once; nobody would object. And as for your humiliation in front of the teacher, let me see to it that there will be none; I’ll speak to him myself, you’ll only have to be there and needn’t say anything, and later too it will be just the same, you’ll never be made to speak to him if you don’t want to, I—I alone—will be his subordinate in reality, and I won’t be even that, for I know his weak points. So you see nothing will be lost if we take on the post, and a great deal if we refuse it; above all, if you don’t wring something out of the Castle this very day, you’ll never manage to find, even for yourself, anywhere at all in the village to spend the night in, anywhere, that is, which I needn’t be ashamed of as your future wife. And if you don’t manage to find a roof for the night, do you really expect me to sleep here in my warm room, while I know that you are wandering about out there in the dark and cold?” K., who had been trying to warm himself all this time by clapping his chest with his arms like a carter, said: “Then there’s nothing left but to accept; come along!”
When they returned to the room he went straight over to the fire; he paid no attention to the teacher; the latter, sitting at the table, drew out his watch and said: “It’s getting late.” “I know, but we’re completely agreed at last,” said Frieda, “we accept the post.” “Good,” said the teacher, “but the post is offered to the Land Surveyor; he must say the word himself.” Frieda came to K.’s help. “Really,” she said, “he accepts the post. Don’t you, K.?” So K. could confine his declaration to a simple “Yes,” which was not even directed to the teacher but to Frieda. “Then,” said the teacher, “the only thing that remains for me is to acquaint you with your duties, so that in that respect we can understand each other once and for all. You have, Land Surveyor, to clean and heat both classrooms daily, to make any small repairs in the house, further to look after the class and gymnastic apparatus personally, to keep the garden path free of snow, run messages for me and the lady teacher, and look after all the work in the garden in the warmer seasons of the year. In return for that you have the right to live in whichever one of the classrooms you like; but, when both rooms are not being used at the same time for teaching, and you are in the
