Процесс

           suddenlyturnedroundtofacethetwomenandasked,"Whattheatredoyouplayin?""Theatre?"askedoneofthegentlemen,turningtotheotherforassistanceandpullinginthecornersofhismouth.Theothermadeagesturelikesomeonewhowasdumb,asifhewerestrugglingwithsomeorganismcausinghimtrouble."You’renotproperlypreparedtoanswerquestions,"saidK.andwenttofetchhishat.

           AssoonastheywereonthestairsthegentlemenwantedtotakeK.’sarms,butK.said"Waittillwe’reinthestreet,I’mnotill."ButtheywaitedonlyuntilthefrontdoorbeforetheytookhisarmsinawaythatK.hadneverexperiencedbefore.Theykepttheirshouldersclosebehindhis,didnotturntheirarmsinbuttwistedthemaroundtheentirelengthofK.’sarmsandtookholdofhishandswithagraspthatwasformal,experiencedandcouldnotberesisted.K.washeldstiffanduprightbetweenthem,theyformednowasingleunitsothatifanyoneofthemhadbeenknockeddownallofthemmusthavefallen.Theyformedaunitofthesortthatnormallycanbeformedonlybymatterthatislifeless.

           WhenevertheypassedunderalampK.triedtoseehiscompanionsmoreclearly,asfaraswaspossiblewhentheywerepressedsoclosetogether,asinthedimlightofhisroomthishadbeenhardlypossible."Maybethey’retenors,"hethoughtashesawtheirbigdoublechins.Thecleanlinessoftheirfacesdisgustedhim.