Процесс

           "Youstilldon’tseemtohavemuchgeneralideaofwhatthecourt’sabout",saidthepainter,whohadstretchedhislegswideapartandwastappingloudlyonthefloorwiththetipofhisfoot."Butasyou’reinnocentyouwon’tneeditanyway.I’llgetyououtofthisbymyself.""Howdoyouintendtodothat?"askedK."Youdidsayyourselfnotlongagothatit’squiteimpossibletogotothecourtwithreasonsandproofs.""Onlyimpossibleforreasonsandproofsyoutaketothecourtyourself"saidthepainter,raisinghisforefingerasifK.hadfailedtonoticeafinedistinction."Itgoesdifferentlyifyoutrytodosomethingbehindthepubliccourt,that’stosayintheconsultationrooms,inthecorridorsorhere,forinstance,inmystudio."K.nowbegantofinditfareasiertobelievewhatthepainterwassaying,orratheritwaslargelyinagreementwithwhathehadalsobeentoldbyothers.Infactitwasevenquitepromising.Ifitreallywassoeasytoinfluencethejudgesthroughpersonalcontactsasthelawyerhadsaidthenthepainter’scontactswiththesevainjudgeswasespeciallyimportant,andattheveryleastshouldnotbeundervalued.AndthepainterwouldfitinverywellinthecircleofassistantsthatK.wasslowlygatheringaroundhimself.Hehadbeennotedatthebankforhistalentinorganising,here,wherehewasplacedentirelyonhisownresources,wouldbeagoodopportunitytotestthattalenttoitslimits.ThepainterobservedtheeffecthisexplanationhadhadonK.