2: Three days later he was called in to get his pay and walked out with a stupid look on his face and a stack of matches as pay. When he got home the stupid look on his face was still there. He immediately started to action and tried to sell them to his neighbors. His neighbor was sitting on the floor crying because she had been given communion wine in pay. Korotkov thought it was ink. She told him that they don't light, but he spent all night lighting them to make sure they light. He got a small percentage to light and almost burned his eye in the bargain. He had to use the American first-aid package to heal himself as if he had been wounded in battle.
3: The next morning he decided to keep the bandage on in case. His room smelled badly of sulpher and he had a bad dream about a billiard ball on legs. He tried not to make his mistake known so the lower ranks in the company wouldn't know about the pay in kind. He then almost ran into a very short man that only came up to his waist. His head looked a lot like an egg and he was very strong and weirdly dressed. A combination of an army officer with a Ukrainian shirt. Korotkov tried to get past him, but the bald man blocked the way - he demanded memos for admittance and only accepted Korotkins after he insulted him. K took offense, but there was nothing to do and the bald man took his memo and went in the room he was blocking. K met up with a co-worker that also had an eye bandaged. Apparently, the old boss was fired and the bald man was the new boss. The new boss had written on K's memo that all women were to be issued army longjohns (кальсоны). K and the woman co-worker fled back to their offices. K sent a memo to the boss to sign for the supplies informing them of the new longjohn directive and then waited in his office so he could be seen working if the boss came around. He never did and once everyone found that he had left in a car, they all went home. The last to leave was K.
4: K took off the bandage and went to work the next day, but the train he was on ran the wrong route and broke down so he had to walk about 2 miles to work and was late. When he got in everyone that was usually sitting and talking was standing by a sheet on the wall. On the sheet of paper was written that K was fired for coming in late, misunderstanding memos and for getting in a fight, thus the eye bandage. The sheet was signed : Longjohn (Кальсонер). K could not believe that he was fired, but the first thing out of his mouth was in surprise at the last name, Longjohn. This was the problem with the memo: K thought everyone would be wearing LJs, but it was the new boss's last name. LJ also thought the matches worked fine. K went to talk to him about it. He ran into a co-worker that was to stop people going into the room. Then LJ came out and K followed him and tried to explain what had happened with his memo yesterday. LJ kept going and had the other man hold him or hug him until LJ could get away on a motorcycle. K went after him.
5: K catches up to LJ and enters the same building just after him, but it is filled with people K has a hard time staying close to him. It seems that LJ is moving at inhuman pace. K loses him and tries a number of doors on the floor only to find the people inside occupied with strange habits or blond typists. K talks to one and understood which direction to follow. He finds LJ just as LJ gets on an elevator, but for some reason LJ has grown a beard - which seems natural at first, then absurd. Maybe it was a fake beard - also strange. LJ tells him he is too late, but this voice seems to be false to K also. K states that he won't let black magic get in his way. He then gets stopped by a woman that detains him for no reason and tells him to go talk to another boss, but K is only getting more angry and runs down stairs almost hitting someone else. The other woman he almost hits crosses herself from the close call. K sees LJ from behind a glass wall, but can't get there. he then gets stuck talking to a man with a list that mistakes K for another man, Kolobhov. The list man tells him that he has been transfered and that LJ has been fired after only one day. The old man with the list wants to write in the change in pencil in K's work book, but K can't find it. He runs around trying to find it and cannot in the building. He meets a young man that just claims anyone lied about what they might be accusing him of. K thinks maybe on the tram it was stolen by a man with a false moustache. He understands that he could be arrested for not having his papers. He meets a man that tells K that it might have been Kolobkhov that stole the papers since he is working that area and that he must present papers that affirm his papers have been stolen. K must go to his work and get them, but just then the work day ends and he decides it is too late and goes home
6: Once home he finds a note from his neighbor that tells him he should take all the communion wine and so he does so. K goes inside and stares at his portrait of Cromwell for half an hour, then goes to bed in his clothes. Then he gets up in a fit and starts stomping on all of his matches. He imagined that he was stomping on LJ's head and started to cry from the agony of the situation. The cry made him feel better. Then he realized he has wine and drank a glass, but it gave him a terrible headache and he drank three glasses of water to cure it, but ended up falling asleep calling for aspirin.
7: He woke at ten and went to the housing manager, but a notice said that that man was dead and thus not taking applications. He then decided to go to work to see if his old boss was in. In his old office he found that everything and everyone had changed and at his desk was LJ. LJ claimed to be the chief clerk, K's old position and that made K lose a sort of consciousness and the world spun on the bald head of LJ. LJ explained that he allocated the positions in the office. LJ explained that everyone including K was fired. LJ explained that K was under him. K explained that he had his documents stolen, which LJ explained was maybe better. K started rambling about the days of the week and the date. LJ told hi he was going out, but that K was to meet him at LJ's. K was mistaken for Kolobkhov and K was given a note explaining that he was actually Kolobkhov and LJ's assistant. Just then the bearded LJ came in and spoke with K. Everything swam before K's eyes. K jumped up and attacked LJ and LJ called in the suited men. LJ ran in and out and K tried to follow, but his coat caught on a door handle and he sat on the floor. There was a music box sort of thing that he accidently started to play odd music. Panteleimon, the man that was LJ's assistant recently fired that had detained and hugged K walked in and left. The mad LJ came back and K ran out to get away. The bearded man ran out into the street where K was and got into a cab that was whipping his nag to get going. The cab-horse started and money in bill started flying about the place. K was going crazy and went to the police to tell them his documents had been stolen. He met a man claiming to be Jan Sobieski. He had tried to change his name, but nothing came of it. The man asked for anything from K, but he didn't understand. K tried to explain about the double LJ, but the man seemed not to be confused by it. They knew about the LJs and how they had stolen all the furniture. He had K go out and K ended up where he started. Everything seems to be changing and transforming from animate to inanimate - very hard to follow the story. K ended up in various rooms and in contact with LJ again and again K tried to attack him to get answers. LJ turned into a black cat. K was going mad now.
8: K sat in his apartment and drank three bottles of wine and got sick twice. He decided to try to avoid LJ as a cat or otherwise and just leave it and his job alone and work on getting new documents. He heard the clock strike 40 times and understood he was going insane. The story is a bit Gogolian like the diary of a madman.
9: K went to the complaints bureau and saw a bunch of typists again and one of them accosted him and said she couldn't sleep because of him and that K should take her body and soul. She tries to kiss him, but he refuses and then a man comes in and mistakes him for Kolobkhov and a womanizer. The old man accused K of taking the maiden's honor and his traveling expenses. Kolobkhv seems to be a party man. Things here turn into other things and people talk to K as if he is Kolobkhov or someone else - very confusing. K just keeps trying to tell his story about LJ and the stolen documents. The people in the office want to know if he is going to Poltava or Irkutsk. K is confused. K just wants his name back and will do anything to get it. The room goes dark and other things transform. It is said that only Dyrkin can solve things.
10:K meets a man that tries to arrest him, but K just starts talking gibberish to him about marriage and arrest and LJ. The go to Dyrkin. A young man comes into Dyrkin's office and accosts D of stealing and the young man slaps D with a briefcase. D is now nice, not mean. D asked K to hit him and so K hits him with the chandellier. D said he would tell on K and then a clock struck and so K hit the clock with the chandellier and LJ jumped out of it. Everyone went after LJ.
11: K went into the street and the people parted for him and shots were fired after him. It is started, whatever that means. K went into a building and an elevator and a boy took him up in it. K says that they have started the attack on LJ, but LJ has taken the offensive. The boy recommends going to the roof and the billiard room. K takes the attack into the billiard room. K starts throwing billiard balls at heads he sees in the windows and a machine gun starts taking out the windows. K ends up on the roof and understands he is surrounded when firemen start climbing into the building. LJ came at him on rollerskates and K knew he was finished, but wanted to go out with courage. "Better death than dishonor." He jumped and died.
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