首页>> 旅游天下>> 哲理小说>> 卡夫卡 Franz Kafka   奥地利 Austria     (1883年7月3日1924年6月3日)
城堡 The Castle
  卡夫卡出生在布拉格的一个犹太商人家庭,沿袭了纯种犹太人聪明的血统。父亲是一个半行乞的屠夫的儿子,白手起家,在家中专横如暴君,任意虐待妻儿,他对卡夫卡的学习、生活不闻不问,只是偶尔指手画脚地训斥一通———他想把儿子培养成为性格坚强而又能干的年轻人,但结果是适得其反。卡夫卡内心中一直对父亲存有无法消除的畏惧心理,自小心里充满恐惧,敏感成性。加上他作为布拉格讲德语的少数人的一分子,更造就了他无边无际的孤独。
  
  迫于父亲的压力,他学习法律,后入一家私人保险公司任低薪职员,一直湮没在人群之中。他一生三次订婚,又三次解除婚约,其中原因之一就是怕结婚会破坏他已经习惯的孤独生活。后来他患上肺结核病,更使他远离热闹的尘世生活,沉浸在自己孤独的内心世界中。
  
  这个孤僻的小职员的最大爱好就是写作,他那敏感、怯懦的性格和孤僻、忧郁的气质确实适合做一个作家。卡夫卡业余创作的大部分作品在他生前一直锁在抽屉里,少量面世的短篇小说还不足让他一鸣惊人,而且对他的同时代人来说,他的小说太超前了,当时的人们远未有能力体验卡夫卡独特而奇怪的荒谬感。他病逝后遗留下大量手稿。
  
  二战之后,世界在废墟上重建,战争所带来的人类心灵深重的阴影,使人们不约而同地把目光转向了30年前死去的无名作家卡夫卡,他及其作品在西方世界掀起了一股热潮,人们像投票选举政界要员一样把他列为现代派小说家的第一候选人。
  
  推荐阅读版本:汤永宽译,武汉大学出版社出版。
  《城堡》-内容精要
  
  一个寒冷的冬天的夜晚,土地测量员K来到了一个村子,他的目的是要前往村子附近的那座城堡去执行公务。当K在村口遥望城堡时,他感到笼罩在夜色之中的城堡,如同一片空洞虚无的幻景,这样的感觉似乎预示着他的任务不是那么容易完成的。
  
  他前往客店投宿,可是客店老板对他的到来有点不知所措。他告诉K已经客满了,只好把K勉强安顿下来。客店里的人得知K要去城堡,都用特别的眼神看他。一位年轻人告诉K,每个进入城堡的人都必须得有一张许可证,而要想得到许可证,就必须去找城堡里的伯爵。
  
  第二天,K走向城堡,可是耗费了一整天的时间他也无法靠近城堡一步。天色暗下来,他只好先去找栖身之处。找来找去,又回到了昨天晚上的那家客店。在搭雪橇前往客店的途中,他遇到了两个自称是他的助手的人。他们非常热情地帮助 K,并且用电话联络城堡里的办事机构,询问具体何时能上城堡去,对方回答:“任何时候都不能来。”
  
  这时,来了一位叫巴纳巴斯的人,他是城堡的信使,K对他的来到十分兴奋,认为他可以成为自己和城堡联系的中间人。巴纳巴斯给他带来了城堡的信,信里既没有对K的到来表示欢迎,也没有暗示他赶快离开。事情依旧毫无转机。K和信使一道去了他家,信使的妹妹又表示她可以帮助K,于是把 K送进了一家旅馆,她告诉K,城堡的头面人物克拉姆住在那里,可以借机找克拉姆打通关节。
  
  在旅馆的酒吧里,K认识了克拉姆的情妇弗丽达,K顿时使出浑身解数试图靠近弗丽达,然而旅馆里的人不停地添乱,助手们也在一边添乱,使他无法和弗丽达亲密地谈一谈关于克拉姆。他甚至用与弗丽达结婚的许诺想换得跟克拉姆谈一次话的机会。但K最终发现弗丽达这条路是走不通的,因为她和信使一样,是个无关紧要的小人物,她早已失宠。
  
  K去见村长,村长告诉他,K来到村子完全是个错误,因为这里根本用不着土地测量员。城堡里不同部门彼此封闭,造成了一些差错,所以K才会收到公文,然而这份公文是早已无效的。村长承认他在几年前收到一个招聘一位土地测量员的公文,然而他无论如何找不到那张可以证明K合法身份的薄纸片。村长表达了自己对这件事情的看法,他觉得K收到的公文其实是一封某个主管,比如克拉姆,对他表示私人关心的的信,不能代表城堡的意见,因此K应当趁早回去。
  
  K感到受骗上当了,但他坚持要求得到他应得的权利,那就是找一个住处,安顿他和弗丽达的新家。客栈老板一心想赶走K,K临走前,又从老板娘那里听到了关于她和克拉姆旧情的回忆,这使K感到很不舒服,因为他不由自主地想到了自己的未婚妻。
  
  这时村里学校的教师奉村长之命前来,允许K带家眷住进学校任看门人,同时他也强调,学校其实并不需要一个看门人,他完全遵从村长的命令。K感到受到了侮辱,他拒绝了这份工作。可弗丽达坚持K接受它,她说如果K不接受,连个安身之处都没有,那么这对K对她自己都是十分羞愧的事情。
  
  K对于进入城堡仍然抱着最后的希望,这已经不单纯是执行公务,而是有关个人尊严的问题。他冒雪来到克拉姆的旅馆,女招待说这会儿克拉姆正准备离开旅馆,雪橇已在院子里等着他,K二话没话,守到雪橇边,喝着白兰地等克拉姆出来。和以前一样,克拉姆本人永远不会出现,他的秘书摩麦斯出来告诉K: “不管你跟我走或者留在这里,你都不会见到他。”K反而陷入了进退两难的地步,如果他离开,周围人的神色举止里就表明克拉姆就此脱身了;如果他坚持等下去,显然也是没有结果的。秘书拿出一份会谈记录,向K指出这是引K走向克拉姆的惟一道路,但首先K必须接受一番苛刻的审查,K觉得不可忍受,于是他们两人大笑着分别了。
  
  《城堡》作家卡夫卡
  信使巴纳巴斯又带来了克拉姆的一封信,克拉姆赞赏了K及其助手的测量工作,这使K困惑不已,他至今为止从未干什么测量工作,每天做的事情就是在等待争取城堡的许可。K开始怀疑信使的可靠,但他仍托巴纳巴斯带去一个回音,申诉自己焦灼地渴盼见到克拉姆一面的心情。
  
  之后K回到他和弗丽达的新家,那是学校里的一间大教室,可是K和弗丽达的生活并不安宁。两个助手不停地淘气,争食物,瞅准机会睡到惟一的稻草垫子上去。第二天,学校的女教师来了,她十分吃惊,继而不断地责骂 K,K几乎像个劣等动物一样被欺辱,可他决不接受校方的解职通知。他迁怒于两位无用的助手,宣布辞退他们,助手们施出浑身气力哀求K。弗丽达反对K的决定,她说一旦辞退助手,K就永远没有机会见到克拉姆了。弗丽达鼓励K不要丧失信心。
  
  K 来到信使家等待回音,信使的姐妹奥尔伽和阿玛丽亚总向K暗示她们的倾慕之情,并且在闲聊中,暗示K,她们的哥哥巴纳巴斯可能从未见过克拉姆,他总是给K带来那些耽误了很久,失去时效的信。就连克拉姆本人,也是可疑的,关于克拉姆的种种情况,很大程度上是村里人想象出来的。奥尔伽又告诉K,城堡里的官员如同暴君,他们可以随时瞧上村里的任何姑娘,给她们写下流无比的信。他们的谈话离正题越来越远,奥尔伽讲起了阿玛丽亚因为拒绝城堡里另一位大官员索尔蒂尼的求爱而遭受的不幸,他们全家都被迫接受了一种几乎整天无所事事的刑罚,城堡强制他们退出社会生活。奥尔伽提醒K,不要指望任何一位有同情心的官员为他说话。巴纳巴斯为K送信,其实不过是想让自己一家人不露痕迹地再受恩宠,对于K来说,没有任何意义。这场繁冗而推心置腹的谈话被K的一位助手打断了,K很快意识到弗丽达和另一位助手呆在家里,他赶紧回家了。
  
  到家里,K发现弗丽达不见了。原来她以为K跑去勾搭巴纳巴斯的姐妹,于是和另一个助手达成协议,背叛K。这时,巴纳巴斯又跑来找K,兴冲冲地通知他,克拉姆的主要秘书之一艾朗格要和K当面谈一谈。K和一群人等候在漆黑的旅馆门口,K被最先领了进去,但艾朗格却睡着了,K只好等着。在等待的时候,他又重新见到了弗丽达,他们激烈争论了忠实与不忠实的问题。弗丽达坦然地告诉K,她已经和那位助手同居了。K则十分平静地回敬她:自从你相继失去了克拉姆的情妇以及我的未婚妻这两种身份之后,你早已经没有了魅力。听完此话后,弗丽达似乎被触动了。但是她又见到助手时,马上就改变主意。她说:她再也不想回到K身边接受他的折磨。
  
  小说就在此处戛然而止,卡夫卡未写完它,他原来打算的结尾是K将精疲力竭而死。后世及研究者预计的结局是:K弥留之际,城堡终于来了通知,允许K留在村子里,但不许进入城堡,K永远不可能到达那里,一直到死。
  《城堡》-专家点评
  
  当一个作家不能被他同时代的人所理解时,他会怎样处理自己的作品。卡夫卡选择的是毁灭。他在遗书中委托好友布罗德将其所有作品“毫无保留地,读也不必读就统统予以焚毁”。万幸布罗德自作主张将卡夫卡的遗稿保存下来,整理出版,这一次明智的“背信弃义”使我们今天依旧能一睹卡夫卡这位文学大师一生勤奋的成果。
  
  人们提到卡夫卡,总是会提起他的《变形记》,里面的小公务员一早起来发现自己变成了一个大甲虫。西方文学中常常用《变形记》来指代现代化文明中人的异化。然而在这里所推荐的《城堡》,因其多义性更富于阅读的快乐。中篇小说《城堡》与《审判》及《美国》合称“卡夫卡三部曲”,它们都具有卡夫卡小说一贯的荒诞不经风格:异化现象,难以排遣的孤独和危机感,无法克服的荒诞和恐惧。卡夫卡的小说揭示了一种荒诞的充满非理性色彩的景象,个人式的、忧郁的、孤独的情绪,运用的是象征式的手法。其中《城堡》更富于“卡夫卡式”的构思和语言风格。
  
  和卡夫卡的其他小说一样,《城堡》没有惟一正确的解释,解释权授予了每个阅读者,这来源于这部作品的多义性。表面上,这作品的故事再简单不过了,一个土地测量员K来到一个村庄,想进入管辖附近地区的伯爵居住的城堡,他费了九牛二虎之力,摊上一切也没能达到目的。《城堡》所具有的荒谬、虚拟,无明确的时代地理背景的特征使它抹上很浓的寓言色彩,无论评论家还是普通读者都能够获得不同的结论,《城堡》究竟表达了怎样的主题,这终了还是一个难解之谜,有人说它表现的是“人试图进入天国而不得的痛苦”;有人则认为它集中反映了卡夫卡本人的精神世界的荒诞、孤独与恐惧;有人则结合写作年代背景,说明城堡实际上反映了奥匈帝国官僚体制与大众的鸿沟,更有论者以为,《城堡》和《审判》、《美国》的主题相同,即“人们所追求的真理,不管是自由、安定,还是法律,都是存在的,但这个荒诞的世界给人们设置了种种障碍,无论你怎么努力, 总是追求不到, 最后只能以失败告终。” 在《城堡》中,“城堡”是最大的谜团,它与主人公K的目标总是若即若离,也正因此,能够激起人们相当的阅读兴趣,其中的人物如CC伯爵,以至于克拉姆部长等都神秘莫测,足以见卡夫卡这位小说家的天才的智慧。
  
  《城堡》小说家卡夫卡
  阅读卡夫卡的小说,对每一个读者来说都是挑战。他喜欢长句子,字里行间充满了大量的暗喻,他用文字堆起了一个个迷宫。读者会在穿行文字时遇到极大的阻力。然而当你习惯他的文字风格后,你会发现,原先的阻力变成了动力,带给你阅读的快感。
  
  1913年8月15日,卡夫卡在自己的日记里写道:“我将不顾一切地与所有人隔绝,与所有人敌对,不同任何人讲话。”6天后他又这样写道:“现在我在我的家庭里,在那些最好的、最亲爱的人们中间,比一个陌生人还要陌生。近年来我和我的母亲平均每天说不上20句话;和我的父亲除了有时彼此寒暄几句几乎就没有更多的话可说;和我的已婚的妹妹和妹夫们除了跟他们生气我压根儿就不说话。理由很简单:我和他们没有任何一丁点儿的事情要说。一切不是文学的事情都使我无聊, 叫我憎恨”三年之后,这个不仅和整个世界格格不入,而且也和自己格格不入的犹太人,虽然尚未进入完全与世隔绝的城堡,却终于从家庭里逃出,为自己找到了一条窄得像西服袖子一样的幽深的死巷。这就是如今在布拉格颇为知名的黄金巷、又译为“炼金术士巷”。黄金巷22号的连栋屋中间,有座建于16世纪的、只有一个房间和一间小阁楼的小小蓝屋,墙壁很薄,房舍低矮得伸手便可触及天花板。这是被他的好友马克斯·布罗德称之为“一个真正的作家的修道士般的密室”的处所。卡夫卡在这里继续用谜一般的文字构筑着自己灵魂的城堡。
  
  《城堡》卡夫卡及家人
  在卡夫卡的世界里,噩梦永远没有醒来的时候,在荒诞的、不合逻辑的世界里描绘“人类生活的一切活动及其逼真的细节”,这正是作为小说家的卡夫卡的天赋所在,当我们读到《变形记》、《城堡》、《审判》等作品时,简直就像面对着一尊尊充满力量的雕塑,你能从那极度的变形与夸张里体会到生命的悸动与冲突。对于卡夫卡自己来说,生存就是一场必须“恰当运用自己的力量(因为我们的力量永远是有限的)”的抗争。虽然前途黯淡,但前途毕竟终会到来。通过写作这一形式卡夫卡为自己的抗争找到了存在的形象。从卡夫卡自己的书信与日记,我们也许能领会到那无穷无尽的力量源泉,他这样写道:“不要绝望,甚至对你并不感到绝望这一点也不要绝望。恰恰在似乎一切都完了的时候,新的力量毕竟来临,给你以帮助,而这正表明你是活着的。”“一场倾盆大雨。站立着面对这场大雨吧!让它的钢铁般的光芒刺穿你。你在那想把你冲走的雨水中飘浮,但你还是要坚持,昂首屹立,等待那即将来临的无穷无尽的阳光的照耀。”令人吃惊的是,它们竟然带着这样一些姿态:忧伤、理解、痛苦、谦卑,卡夫卡由此走向了无限深渊。最终他完成了对自己的塑造:他成为无限深渊中惟一裸行的思想者。卡夫卡的道路是对抗之路,他与存在于他身边的世界和秩序一直是抗争着的,艺术或者说文学写作是他对抗外部荒诞世界的惟一武器,他别无选择。虽然在此期间,他极度渴望实现艺术与现实的统一,甚至他个人与外部世界有过短暂的统一,但这种统一也是一瞬即逝的,表面和形式上的。他也渴望有自己的家庭,但他害怕家庭损害他的写作;他也像凡夫俗子一样,渴望有自己的孩子,做一名好父亲,但直到他有一个已长到7岁才夭折的孩子。
  
  卡夫卡生前默默无闻,孤独地奋斗,随着时间的流逝,他的价值才逐渐为人们所认识,作品引起了世界的震动,并在世界范围内形成一股“卡夫卡”热,经久不衰。他一生的作品并不多,但对后世文学的影响却是极为深远的。他与法国作家马赛尔·普鲁斯特、爱尔兰作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯并称为西方现代主义文学的先驱和大师。美国诗人奥登认为:“他与我们时代的关系最近似但丁、莎士比亚、歌德与他们时代的关系。”后世的许多现代主义文学流派如“荒诞派戏剧”、法国的“新小说”等都把卡夫卡奉为自己的鼻祖。
  
  关于卡夫卡,我们还可以说上很多很多。据说在现代文学的研究中,关于卡夫卡的论文数量之大,仅仅打印题目就需要几十页。但是,理解卡夫卡最好的方法,就是进入他的文字世界,安静地倾听他通过语言表达的内心。这不正是我们现在这个浮躁的现代文明所缺少的吗?
  《城堡》-妙语佳句
  
  他真要以为外面是灰色的天空与灰色的土地浑然一体的荒漠世界了。
  可是如果这一切的平静、舒适与满足都要想恐怖地告一段落,那该怎么办呢?


  The Castle (German: Das Schloß) is a novel by Franz Kafka. In it a protagonist, known only as K., struggles to gain access to the mysterious authorities of a castle who govern the village where he wants to work as a land surveyor. Kafka died before finishing the work, but suggested it would end with the Land Surveyor dying in the village; the castle notifying him on his death bed that his "legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was permitted to live and work there". Dark and at times surreal, The Castle is about alienation, bureaucracy, and the seemingly endless frustrations of man's attempts to stand against the system.
  
  History of the novel
  
  Kafka began writing The Castle on the evening of January 27, 1922, the day he arrived at the mountain resort of Spindlermühle (now in the Czech Republic). A picture taken of him upon his arrival shows him by a horse-drawn sleigh in the snow in a setting reminiscent of The Castle. Hence, the significance that the first few chapters of the handwritten manuscript were written in first person and at some point later changed by Kafka to a third person narrator, 'K.'
  Max Brod
  
  Kafka died prior to finishing The Castle and it is questionable whether Kafka intended on finishing it if he had survived his tuberculosis. On separate occasions he told his friend Max Brod of two different conditions: K., the book's protagonist, would continue to reside and die in the village; the castle notifying him on his death bed that his "legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was permitted to live and work there" , but then on September 11, 1922 in a letter to Max Brod, he said he was giving up on the book and would never return to it. As it is, the book ends mid-sentence.
  
  Although Brod was instructed by Kafka to destroy all his works on his death, he did not and set about publishing Kafka's writings. The Castle was originally published in German in 1926 by the publisher Kurt Wolff Verlag of Munich. This edition sold far less than the 1500 copies that were printed. It was republished in 1935 by Schocken Verlag in Berlin, and in 1946 by Schocken Books of New York.
  
  Brod had to heavily edit the work to ready it for publication. His goal was to gain acceptance of the work and the author, not to maintain the structure of Kafka's writing. This would play heavily in the future of the translations and continues to be the center of discussion on the text. Brod donated the manuscript to Oxford University.
  
  Brod placed a strong religious significance to the symbolism of the castle. This is one possible interpretation of the work based on numerous Judeo-Christian references as noted by many including Arnold Heidsieck.
  Malcolm Pasley
  
  The publisher, Salmen Schocken, soon realized the translations were "bad" and in 1940 desired a "completely different approach". In 1961 Malcolm Pasley got access to all of Kafka's works, except The Trial, and deposited them in Oxford's Bodleian library. Pasley and a team of scholars (Gerhard Neumann, Malcolm Pasley, Jost Schillemeit, and Jürgen Born) started publishing the works in 1982 through S. Fischer Verlag. Das Schloß was published that year as a two volume set — the novel in the first volume, and the fragments, deletions and editor's notes in a second volume. This team restored the original German text to its full, and incomplete state, including the unique Kafka punctuation considered critical to the style.
  Stroemfeld/Roter Stern
  
  Interpretations of Kafka's intent for the manuscript are ongoing. Stroemfeld/Roter Stern Verlag is working for the rights to publish another critical edition with manuscript and transcription side-by-side. But they have met with resistance from the Kafka heirs and Pasley. This edition is not yet available.
  Major editions
  
   * 1930 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir. Based on the First German edition, by Max Brod. Published By Secker & Warburg in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States.
   * 1941 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir. Edition include an Homage by Thomas Mann.
   * 1954 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir additional sections translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser. "Definitive edition". Based on the Schocken 1951 Definitive edition .
   * 1994 Translators: Muir, et al. Preface by Irving Howe.
   * 1997 Translator: J. A. Underwood, Introduction: Idris Parry. Based on Pasley Critical German Text.
   * 1998 Translator: Mark Harman Based on Pasley Critical German Text.
  
  The title
  
  The title, Das Schloß, may be translated as "the castle" or "the lock". It is also similar to Der Schluß (close or end). The castle is locked and closed to K and the townspeople; neither can gain access.
  Plot
  
  The narrator, K. arrives in the village, governed by the castle. When seeking shelter at the town inn, he gives himself out to be a land surveyor summoned by the castle authorities. He is quickly notified that his castle contact is an official named Klamm, who, in the introductory note, informs K. he will report to the Council Chairman.
  
  The Council Chairman informs K. that, through a mix up in communication between the castle and the village, he was erroneously requested but, trying to accommodate K., the Council Chairman offers him a position in the service of the school teacher as a janitor. Meanwhile, K., unfamiliar with the customs, bureaucracy and processes of the village, continues to attempt to reach the official Klamm, who is not accessible.
  
  The villagers hold the officials and the castle in the highest regard, justifying, quite elaborately at times, the actions of the officials, even though they do not appear to know what officials do or why they do it; they simply defend it. The number of assumptions and justifications about the functions of the officials and their dealings are enumerated through lengthy monologues of the villagers. Everyone appears to have an explanation for the official's actions that appear to be founded on assumptions and gossip. One of the more obvious contradictions between the "official word" and the village conception is the dissertation by the secretary Erlanger on Frieda's required return to service as a barmaid. K. is the only villager that knows that the request is being forced by the castle (even though Frieda may be the genesis), with no regard for anyone in the village, only Klamm. Pepi and Jeremiah quickly come to their conclusions and do not hesitate to state them.
  
  The castle is the ultimate bureaucracy with copious paperwork that the bureaucracy maintains is "flawless". This flawlessness is of course a lie; it is a flaw in the paperwork that has brought K. to the village. There are other failures of the system which are occasionally referred to. K. witnesses a flagrant misprocessing after his nighttime interrogation by Erlanger as a servant destroys paperwork when he cannot determine who the recipient should be.
  
  The castle's occupants appear to be all adult men and there is little reference to the castle other than to its bureaucratic functions. The two notable instances are the reference to a fire brigade and that Otto Brunswick's wife is self declared as from the castle. The latter builds the importance of Hans (Otto's son) in K's eyes, as a way to gain access to the castle officials.
  
  The functions of the officials are never mentioned. The officials that are discussed have one or more secretaries that do their work in their village. Although the officials come to the village they do not interact with the villagers unless they need female companionship, implied to be sexual.
  Characters
  
  Note: The Muir translations refer to the Herrenhof Inn where the Harman translations translate this to the Gentleman's Inn. Below all references to the inn where the officials stay in the village is the Herrenhof Inn since this was the first, and potentially more widely read, translation.
  Character Description
  K., the Land-Surveyor The protagonist of the story, recognized as a land surveyor, employed as the school janitor, and a stranger to the townspeople. He spends most of the novel trying to overcome the bureaucracy of the village and to contact the castle official Klamm.
  Frieda A former barmaid at the Herrenhof, who is K.'s fiancée for most of the novel. She often finds herself torn between her duty to K. and her fears regarding his over-zealousness. She eventually leaves K. and ends up in the arms of his former assistant, Jeremiah (who has since become a waitperson at the Herrenhof).
  Hans, landlord
  (Bridge Inn) Nephew of the original owner of the inn. According to his wife, Gardena, he is lazy and overly nice to K.
  Gardena, landlady
  (Bridge Inn) The self proclaimed firebrand of the Bridge Inn she is a former short-term mistress to Klamm and very distrustful of K.'s motives. She remains infatuated with Klamm.
  Barnabas, a messenger A messenger of the castle assigned to K. He is new to the service. K. is instructed to use him to communicate with the official Klamm. He is very immature and sensitive.
  Arthur and Jeremiah, K's assistants
  (Artur and Jeremias in Harman edition) Shortly after his arrival in the village, K. is given two assistants to help him with his various needs. They are a continual source of frustration for him, however, and he eventually drives them from his service through his brutal treatment. They have been assigned to K., to make him happy, by the official Galater who was deputizing for Klamm at the time.
  Mayor/Superintendent
  (Village Council Chairman in Harman edition) Assigned by Klamm to give K. his assignment and hence is his superior. He explains to K why he is not needed as a land surveyor. He offers K. the job of school janitor to the dismay of the Teacher.
  Mizzi, the mayor's wife The wife and assistant of the Mayor, Gardena refers to her as the one who does the work.
  Klamm An elusive castle official who is K.'s Castle Authority. Like the other Castle officials in the book, his actual area of expertise is never mentioned. K. spends a large portion of the novel trying to secure a meeting with Klamm. K., it seems, fixes many of his hopes for a successful resolution to his problems upon this meeting with Klamm. He has at least two secretaries—Erlanger (First Secretary) and Momus.
  
  In Czech (and Kafka was able to speak and read/write Czech) "klam" means "illusion."
  Momus, Klamm's secretary Handles all written work for and receives all petitions to Klamm. He is also secretary for Vallabne, who is not mentioned again in the novel.
  Erlanger, Klamm's secretary The First Secretary of Klamm who is sent to "interrogate" K, but only gives him a short message.
  Olga, Barnabas' sister The older sister of Amalia and Barnabas. She helps K. on his quest, partly by telling him the story of why her family is considered outcasts and by teaching him some of the village customs.
  Amalia, Barnabas' sister Younger sister of Barnabas and Olga. She was disgraced in the village after rudely turning down a summons from the castle official Sortini for sexual favors.
  Barnabas' Father The father of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas. Past village cobbler and notable fireman. After Amalia's disgraceful interactions with Sortini's messenger, his business is ruined and he is stripped of his fire credentials
  Barnabas' Mother The mother of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas.
  Otto Brunswick, son-in-law of Lasemann
  (brother-in-law of Lasemann in Harman edition) Hans Brunswick's father. Opportunistically takes over Barnabas' father's customers as the Barnabas family falls into disrepute from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger. According to the Mayor, Brunswick was the only person in the village that desired that a land surveyor be hired. No reason for this is given.
  Frau Brunswick Hans Brunswick's Mother. She refers to herself as "from the castle" and is the only reference to a female at the castle.
  Hans, a sympathetic Student A student at the school where K is a janitor. Offers to help K and K uses him to attempt to find ways to get to the castle through his mother.
  Herrenhof Landlord Landlord of the Herrenhof Inn.
  Herrenhof Landlady Well dressed landlady at the Herrenhof Inn. Seems to be the matriarch of the Inn (as is Gardena at the Bridge Inn). Is distrustful of K.
  Galater He is the castle official that assigned the assistants to K. He was also "rescued" by Barnabas' father in a minor fire at the Herrenhof Inn.
  Brügel
  (Bürgel in Harman edition) A Secretary of a castle official, Friedrich. Friedrich is not mentioned again in the book, but in deleted text is referred to as an official who is falling out of favor. Brügel is a long winded secretary who muses about Castle interrogations with K, when the latter errantly enters his room at the Herrenhof Inn.
  Sordini Castle secretary who exhaustively manages any transactions at the castle for his department and is suspicious of any potential error.
  Sortini Castle official associated with the village fire brigade who solicits Amalia with a sexually explicit and rude request to come to his room at the Herrenhof.
  Teacher When K. becomes the janitor at the school, the teacher becomes K.'s de facto superior. He does not approve of K. working at the school, but does not appear to have the authority to terminate K's appointment.
  Miss Gisa, the school mistress The assistant school teacher who is courted by Schwarzer and also dislikes K.
  Schwarzer An under-castellan's son who appears to have given up living in the castle to court Miss Gisa and become her student teacher.
  Pepi A former chamber maid who is promoted to Frieda's barmaid position when the latter leaves her position at the Herrenhoff to live with K. She was a chambermaid with Emilie and Hennriette
  Lasemann, a tanner, father-in-law of Otto Brunswick
  (brother-in-law of Otto Brunswick in Harman edition) The village tanner that offers a few hours shelter to K. during on his first full day in the village.
  Gerstacker, a Coachman Initially suspicious of K. but gives him a free sleigh back to the Bridge Inn after refusing to provide a ride to the castle. At the end of the book attempts to befriend K. since he believes K. has clout with Erlanger.
  Seemann, the Fire Company chief The fire chief that strips Barnabas' father of his fireman diploma after Barnabas' family falls into shame from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger.
  Major themes
  Theological
  
  It is well documented that Brod's original construction was based on religious themes and this was furthered by the Muirs in their translations. But it has not ended with the Critical Editions. Numerous interpretations have been made with a variety of theological angles.
  
  One interpretation of K.'s struggle to contact the castle is that it represents a man's search for salvation. According to Mark Harman, translator of a recent edition of The Castle, this was the interpretation favored by the original translators Willa and Edwin Muir, who produced the first English volume in 1925. Harman feels he has removed the bias in the translations toward this view, but many still feel this is the point of the book.
  
  Fueling the biblical interpretations of the novel are the various names and situations. For example, the official Galater (the German word for Galatians), one of the initial regions to develop a strong Christian following from the work of Apostle Paul and his assistant Barnabas. The name of the messenger, Barnabas, for the same reason. Even the Critical Editions naming of the beginning chapter, "Arrival", among other things liken K. to an Old Testament messiah.
  Abuse of power
  
  While in talking to Olga in (Chapter XVII, "Amalia's Secret") K. himself ridicules the officials, in general, based on Sortini's "abuse of power" in requesting Amalia to come to the Gentleman's Inn. K. caught, once again, in not understanding the customs of the village is shocked at the behavior of Sortini. Olga expresses the "heroic" actions of Amalia, but appears too understanding of the community's acceptance of the status quo when it comes to the solicitations by the officials.
  Bureaucracy
  
  The obvious thread throughout The Castle is bureaucracy. The extreme degree is nearly comical and the village residents' justifications of it are amazing. Hence it is no surprise that many feel that the work is a direct result of the political situation of the era in which it was written, which was shot through with anti-Semitism, remnants of the Habsburg bureaucracy, etc.
  
  But even in these analyses, the veiled references to more sensitive issues are pointed out. For instance, the treatment of the Barnabas family, with their requirement to first prove guilt before they could request a pardon from it and the way their fellow villagers desert them have been pointed out as a direct reference to the anti-Semitic climate at the time.
  Allusions to other works
  
  Critics often talk of The Castle and The Trial in concert, highlighting the struggle of the protagonist against a bureaucratic system and standing before the law's door unable to enter as in the parable of the priest in The Trial.
  
  In spite of motifs common with other works of Kafka, The Castle is quite different from The Trial. While K., the main hero of The Castle, faces similar uncertainty and difficulty in grasping the reality that suddenly surrounds him; Josef K., the protagonist of The Trial, seems to be more experienced and emotionally stronger. On the other hand, while Josef K.'s surroundings stay familiar even when strange events befall him, K. finds himself in a new world whose laws and rules are unfamiliar to him.
  Publication history
  Harman translation
  
  In 1926 Max Brod persuaded Kurt Wolff Verlag to publish the first German edition of The Castle. Due to its unfinished nature and his desire to get Kafka's work published, Max Brod took some editorial freedom.
  
  In 1961 Malcolm Pasley was able to gain control of the manuscript, along with most of the other Kafka writings (save The Trial) and had it placed in the Oxford's Bodleian library. There, Pasley headed a team of scholars and recompiled Kafka's works into the Critical Edition. The Castle Critical Edition, in German, consists of two volumes—the novel in one volume and the fragments, deletions and editor's notes in a second volume. They were published by S. Fischer Verlag in 1982, hence occasionally referred to as the "Fischer Editions".
  
  Mark Harman used the first volume of this set to create the 1998 edition of The Castle, often refer to as based on the "Restored Text" or the "English Critical Edition".
  
  The lack of the fragments and missing text would have little meaning to most readers if the Muir translation did not let one know that there was more to read. The casual reader may not find the additional text of value, which Harman mentions that he has not included the text. According to the Publisher's Note:
  
  "We decided to omit the variants and passages deleted by Kafka that are included in Pasley's second volume, even though variants can indeed shed light on the genesis of literary texts. The chief objective of this new edition, which is intended for the general public, is to present the text in a form that is as close as possible to the state in which the author left the manuscript."
  
  Harman has received general acceptance of his translation as being technically accurate and true to the original German. He has, though, received criticism for, at times not creating the prosaic form of Kafka. Some of this is due, as with Muir's translations, on accusations that Pasley compilations are also inaccurate, although better than Brod's.
  
  As noted in the Table of Contents above, Harman includes an eleven page discussion on his philosophy behind the translation. This section provides significant information about the method he used and his thought process. There are numerous examples of passages from Pasley, Muir's translation and his translation to provide the reader with a better feel for the work. As referenced above, some feel that his (and the publisher's) praise for his work and his "patronizing" of the Muirs goes a little too far.
  Muir translation
  
  In 1930 Willa and Edwin Muir translated the First German edition of The Castle as it was compiled by Max Brod. It was published by Secker & Warburg in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States. 1941 edition was the edition that fed the Kafka post-war craze. The 1941 edition included a homage by Thomas Mann.
  
  In 1954 the "Definitive" edition was published and included additional sections Brod had added to the Schocken Definitive German edition. The new sections were translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser. Some edits were made in the Muir text namely the changes were "Town Council" to "Village Council", "Superintendent" to "Mayor", "Clients" to "Applicants" .
  
  The 1994 edition, the current publication, contains a preface by Irving Howe.
  
  The Muir translations make use of wording that is often considered "spiritual" in nature. In one notable example, the Muirs translate the description of the castle as "soaring unfalteringly" where Harman uses "tapered decisively". Furthermore, the word "illusory" is used from the opening paragraph forward. Some critics note this as further evidence of the bias in the translation leaning toward a mystical interpretation.
  Underwood translation
  
  A translation by J. A. Underwood was published in 1997 and 2000 (ISBN 0-14-018504-6) by Penguin in the UK.
  Adaptations
  
  The book was adapted by German director Rudolf Noelte into a film released in 1968. It was also filmed by Austrian director Michael Haneke in 1997 under the original German title Das Schloß, starring Ulrich Mühe as K. There is a 1994 Russian movie adaptation, The Castle, directed by Aleksei Balabanov. Another less-well-known adaptation was also made in Russia in 1994, called The Land Surveyor (Землемер). It was a 46-minute-long animation created at Diogen Studio and directed by Dmitriy Naumov and Valentin Telegin. . A 120-minute-long French radio adaptation, written by Stephane Michaka and directed by Cedric Aussir, was aired by France Culture in 2010.
  Allusions to The Castle in other works
  
  A story similar to that of The Castle is told in the British television series The Prisoner. In the late 1970s, an unlicensed computer game spin-off of The Prisoner took things one step further by incorporating elements of The Castle into the game play.
  
  The novel Oficina Número 1 (Office Number 1) by Venezuelan writer Miguel Otero Silva has one character reading The Castle, and although never referred to by name, describes several parts of it.
  
  The Castle is also referred to in Lawrence Thornton's Imagining Argentina. A professor is arrested under suspicion of subversive activities. He tells the authorities he has been meeting Dostoevsky, Koestler and Camus at a place called "the Castle". The main character's cat is also named Kafka.
  
  Although not expressly stated as such, the Steven Soderbergh film Kafka from 1991, starring Jeremy Irons, incorporates the basic thematic elements of The Castle as well as allusions to Kafka's own life as a writer and his collected works. The title character, "Kafka", an insurance company clerk by day and a writer by night, lives and works in the shadow of the mysterious Castle, which rules over the life and death of the local citizenry through a seemingly incomprehensibly complex conspiracy of bureaucracy and cover-ups.
  
  Iain Banks's novel Walking on Glass has characters who find themselves in a situation similar to K.'s: trapped in a castle, subject to arbitrary and bizarre rules which they must obey in order to find a way of leaving, and surrounded by "servants" who comply entirely with the rules by which the castle is run. The allusion is made specific in one of the final chapters, where reading The Castle (along with The Trial and Titus Groan) is hinted at as a key to the characters' escape from their own castle.
  
  K., the protagonist of J.M. Coetzee's The Life and Times of Michael K, attempts to live simply outside the governing system of war torn South Africa.[citation needed]
  
  African-American author Richard Wright references The Castle in his autobiography Black Boy.
  
  Japanese game designer Suda51, creator of No More Heroes, is planning to make a game based on The Castle, titled Kuriyami
  
  A world in the children's Nintendo DS game Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, the Galactic Jungle, presents the player with a stubborn bureaucracy not unlike the one portrayed in the novel.
  
  Gene Wolfe's novel There Are Doors contains numerous references to The Castle throughout, including a high-placed official known as Klamm, several characters referred to as "Herr K.," and an actual copy of Das Schloss found nailed to a table within a dream.
  
  Argentinian writer Ernesto Sabato is said to be influenced by Kafka's existentialism. The main character in his novelle, "The Tunnel", is named Castel, presumably after Kafka's story title.
一-1
  K到村子的时候,已经是后半夜了。村子深深地陷在雪地里。城堡所在的那个 山冈笼罩在雾霭和夜色里看不见了,连一星儿显示出有一座城堡屹立在那儿的亮光 也看不见。K站在一座从大路通向村子的木桥上,对着他头上那一片空洞虚无的幻 景,凝视了好一会儿。
   接着他向前走去,寻找今晚投宿的地方。客栈倒还开着,客栈老板尽管已经没 法给他腾出一间房间来,而且时间这么晚,意想不到还有客人来,也使他感到恼火, 可他还是愿意让K睡在大厅里的草包上。K接受了他的建议。几个庄稼汉还坐在那 儿喝啤酒,但是他不想攀谈,他到阁楼上去给自己拿来了一个草包,便在火炉旁边 躺了下来。这里是一个很暖和的地方,那几个庄稼汉都静悄悄的不吱一声,于是他 抬起疲乏的眼睛在他们身上随便转了一圈以后,很快就睡熟了。
   可是不多一会儿,他给人叫醒了。一个年轻小伙子,穿得像城里人一样,长着 一张像演员似的脸儿,狭长的眼睛,浓密的眉毛,正跟客栈老板一起站在他的身边。 那几个庄稼汉还在屋子里,有几个人为了想看得清楚一些和听得仔细一些,都把椅 子转了过来。年轻小伙子因为惊醒了K,彬彬有礼地向他表示歉意,同时作自我介 绍,说自己是城守的儿子,接着说道:“这个村子是属于城堡所有的,谁要是住在 这儿或者在这儿过夜,也可以说就是住在城堡里。没有伯爵的许可,谁都不能在这 儿耽搁。可是你没有得到这种许可,或者起码你没有拿出一张这样的证件来。”
   K已经支起了半个身子,现在他理了理自己的头发,抬起头来望着这两个人, 他说:“我这是闯进了哪个村子啦?这儿有一座城堡吗?”
   “一点不错,”年轻小伙子慢条斯理地回答道,这时,满屋子的人都对K这句 问话摇头,“这儿是我的大人威斯特一威斯伯爵的城堡。”
   “难道一个人得有一张许可证才能在这儿过夜吗?”K问道,似乎想弄清楚自 己所听到的会不会是一场梦。
   “一个人必须有一张许可证,”那个小伙子伸出臂膀向那些在场的人说,他那 种手势带着鄙视K的嘲笑意味,“难道一个人不需要有许可证吗?”
   “唔,那么,我就得去搞一张来,”K说,打着哈欠推开毯子,像是准备起来 的样子。
   “请问你打算向谁去申请许可证?”小伙子问他。
   “从伯爵那儿呀,”K说,“只有这么办啦。”
   “深更半夜的,想从伯爵老爷那儿去搞一张许可证!”小伙子往后退了一步, 叫嚷了起来。
   “这样办不到吗?”K冷冷地问道。“那你干吗叫醒我?”
   这一下把小伙子惹恼了。“你少耍你这种流氓态度!”他嚷道。“我坚决要求 你尊重伯爵的权威!我叫醒你是通知你必须马上离开伯爵的领地。”
   “这种玩笑已经开够啦,”K用一种特别冷静的声调说着,重新躺下来,盖上 了毯子。“你未免有点儿过分啦,我的朋友,明天我得谈谈你这种态度,假如需要 的话,客栈老板和诸位先生会给我作证的。让我告诉你吧,我就是伯爵大人正在等 待着的那位土地测量员。我的助手们明天就会带着工具坐了马车来到这儿。我因为 不想错过在雪地里步行的机会,这才徒步走来的,可是不幸我一再迷失路途,所以 到得这么晚。在你想要来通知我以前,我早就知道上城堡去报到是太迟了。这就是 为什么我今晚权且在这样的床铺上过夜的缘故,可是你,不妨说得客气一点,却粗 鲁无礼地把我吵醒了。这就是我所要说的一切。先生们,晚安,”说罢,K就向火 炉转过身去。
   “土地测量员?”他听见背后这样犹豫不决地问着,接着是一阵沉默。但是那 个小伙子很快又恢复了自信,压低了自己的声音,充分表示他关心K的睡眠,但是 他的话还是能让人家听得很清楚。他对客栈老板说:“我得打电话去问一问。”这 么说,在这样一个村店里居然还有电话机?凡是应有的设备,他们全都有。眼前这 个例子就使K感到惊奇,但是总的说来,他也确实预料到的。电话机似乎就装在他 的头顶上面,当时他睡意正浓,没有注意到。假如那个小伙子非打电话不可的话, 那么,即使他心眼儿再好,也还是免不了要惊动K的,因此,惟一的问题是K是否 愿意让他这样干;他决定让他于。那么,在这样的情况下,装作睡觉就没有什么意 义了,所以他又翻转身来,仰天睡着。他看得见那些庄稼汉正在交头接耳,窃窃私 语;来了一位土地测量员,可不是一件小事。那扇通向厨房的门已经打开,整个门 框给客栈老板娘那副庞大的身子堵住了,客栈老板踮着脚尖向她走过去,告诉她发 生了什么事情。现在,电话机上的对话开始了。城堡的城守已经睡着了,可是一位 副城守——副城守之———名叫弗里兹的还在那儿。那个小伙子一面通报自己是希 伐若,一面报告说他发现了K,一个其貌不扬、三十岁左右的汉子,枕着一个小背 囊,正安静地睡在一只草包上,手边放着一根节节巴巴的手杖。他自然怀疑这个家 伙,由于客栈老板的显然失职,那么他,希伐若,就有责任来查究这件事情。他叫 醒了这个人,盘问了他,并且给了他正式的离境警告,可是K对待这一切的态度很 无礼,也许他有着什么正当的理由,因为临了他声称自己是伯爵大人雇来的土地测 量员。当然,这种说法至少总得要有官方的证实,所以,他,希伐若,请求弗里兹 先生问一问中央局,是否真的盼望过这么一个土地测量员来着,然后请立刻电话回 复。
   这样,当弗里兹在那边查询,小伙子在这边等候回音的时候,屋子里静悄悄的。 K没有挪动位置,甚至连身子也没有动一下,仿佛毫不在乎似的,只是望着空中。 希伐若这种混合着敌意和审慎的报告,使K想起了外交手段,而像希伐若这么一个 城堡的下级人员居然也精通此道。而且,他们还勤于职守,中央局在夜里还有人值 班呢。再说,他们显然很快就回答了问题,因为弗里兹已经打电话来了。他的答复 似乎够简单的,因为希伐若立刻放下了听筒,生气地叫了起来:“就跟我原先说的 一样!什么土地测量员,连一点影子都没有。一个普通的招摇撞骗的流浪汉,而且 说不定比这更坏。”K一时转念,希伐若、庄稼汉、客栈老板和老板娘也许会联合 起来对付他。为了至少能躲避他们第一阵袭击,于是他紧紧地缩在毯子里。但是电 话铃又响起来了,而且,在K听来,铃声似乎响得特别有力。他慢慢地探出头来。 尽管这回电话不可能也跟K有关系,但是他们都静了下来,希伐若再一次拿起听筒。 他谛听了对方相当长的一段话以后,便低声地说:“一个误会,是吗?我听了很遗 憾。部长本人是这么说的吗?怪极了,怪极了。教我怎么向土地测量员解释这一切 呢?”
   K竖起了耳朵。这么说,城堡已经承认他是一个土地测量员啦。从这一方面来 说,这样对他是不利的,因为这意味着,关于他的情况,城堡已经得到了详细的报 告,估计到了一切可能发生的情况,因此,含着微笑接受了这样的挑衅。可是从另 一方面说,这对他很有利,因为假使他的解释是对的,那么他们就是低估了他的力 量,他也就可以有比之于自己所敢于想望的更多的行动自由。可是假使他们打算用 承认他是土地测量员的这种高傲的上司对下属的态度把他吓跑,那他们就打错了主 意;这一切只不过使他身上感到有一点不好受,如此而已。
   希伐若怯怯地向他走过来,但是他挥了挥手把希伐若赶走了。客栈老板殷勤地 请他搬到自己的房间里去睡,他也拒绝了,只是从老板手里接受了一杯热茶,从老 板娘手里接受了一只脸盆、一块肥皂和一条毛巾。他甚至不用提出让大家离开这间 屋子的要求,因为所有的人都转过脸去一拥而出了,生怕他第二天认出他们是谁。 灯已经吹灭了,最后静静地留下他一个人。他沉沉地一直睡到第二天早晨,连老鼠 在他身边跑过一两次也没有把他惊醒。
   吃了早餐以后,客栈老板告诉他,早餐以及他所有的膳宿费用都由城堡负担。 他准备马上出门到村子里去,但是看到老板似乎为了昨天晚上怠慢了他,老是含着 沉默的哀求在他的身边打转,他对这个家伙感到有点怜悯起来,便请他坐一会儿。
   “我还没有见到伯爵,”K说,“可是他对活儿干得好的人,准会付给优厚的 酬报的,是不是?像我这样路远迢迢从家乡跑到这儿来,就得在口袋里装进一点东 西才能回去啊。”
   “体面的先生用不着为这种事情犯愁。在我们这儿,没有人会抱怨人家少给了 他工钱的。”
   “唔,”K说,“我可不是像你们这样胆小的人。即使对伯爵那样的人,我也 敢表示我的意见。但是当然啦,用不着费什么麻烦就把一切事情都解决,那就更好 了。”
   客栈老板坐在K对面的窗架边上,不敢找舒适一点的地方坐下来,他那对棕色 的大眼睛含着忧虑的神色直愣愣地望着K。起初他一心想跟K在一块儿聊聊,可是 现在他似乎又急于想溜走了。他是害怕K要向他盘问伯爵的情况,还是在这个他认 为是“绅士”的身上发现了什么破绽,因而害怕了呢?K必须转移他的注意力。他 望着挂钟说道:“我的助手们不久就要到了。你能给他们在这儿安排一个住处吗?”
   “当然,先生,”他说,“可是他们不会跟你一起住到城堡里去吗?”
   难道客栈老板真是这么乐意把大有希望的顾客,特别是K这样的人放走,毫无 条件地把他转让给城堡吗?
   “这现在还说不定,”K说。“我得先弄清楚人家要我干的是什么工作,要是 我必须在这下面村子里工作,比方这么说的话,那我在这儿住着也许更妥当一些。 再说,我怕城堡里的生活我过不惯,我是喜欢自由自在的人。”
   “你不了解城堡,”客栈老板悄悄地说。
   “当然,”K回答道,“一个人的判断不应该下得过早。我眼下只知道他们懂 得怎样挑选一个优秀的土地测量员。说不定也还有别的吸引人的东西吧。”说着, 他站起来想摆脱面前这个客栈老板,因为这家伙正心神不定地咬着嘴唇哩。想要赢 得他的信任是不容易的。
   K正要走出去,这时看见墙上一只暗淡无光的框架里有一幅黑黝黝的肖像。他 睡在靠近炉边的铺上时,早就打量过,可是从那么远的地方望过去,根本看不清是 什么,还以为是钉在木框上的一块普通底板呢。可是现在才看清楚,这原来是一幅 画,是一个五十光景的男人的半身像。他的头低低地搭拉在胸前,低得连眼睛也几 乎看不见了,又高又大的前额和结实的鹰勾界重得似乎使脑袋都抬不起来。由于这 样的姿势,他那满腮的大胡子就都给下巴颏压住了,而且还往下披散。他的左手掩 没在浓密的头发里,但是好像没法子把脑袋撑起来似的。“他是谁?”K问。“是 伯爵吗?”他站在画像前面朝客栈老板转过身去。“不,”客栈老板说,“他是城 守。”“这可真是一个漂亮的城守啊,”K说,“可惜他生了一个没有教养的儿子。” “不,不,”客栈老板说,他把K拉近一点,凑着他的耳朵低低地说道,“昨天希 伐若是吹牛,他的父亲只不过是一个副城守,而且是职位最低的一个。”在这会儿, K觉得客栈老板正像是一个小孩子似的。“这个坏蛋!”K笑了一笑说。可是客栈 老板没有笑,他接下去说道:“可就说他的父亲,势力也就不小呢。”“你给我站 远一点吧,”K说,“你以为谁都是有势力的,我,说不定也是有势力的,是吧?” “不,”他胆怯但又一本正经地回答说,“我可并不以为你有势力。”“你的眼睛 可真厉害,”K说,“说实话,我可真的不是一个有势力的人。所以我认为我尊敬 有势力的人并不比你差,只是我没有你那么老实,而且也不经常愿意承认这一点。” 说罢,K在他的面颊上轻轻打了一下,为的是使他高兴起来,唤起他的友谊。这居 然使他微微地笑了一下。他实在还很年轻哩,脸蛋儿挺嫩,几乎还没有长胡子;他 怎么会娶上那个身材那么庞大、年岁比他大的妻子呢?从一扇小窗口里就能望见她 赤露着胳膊肘儿在厨房里忙得直打转儿。K不想再勉强赢得他的信任了,再说也不 愿意把自己最后好容易把他逗出来的笑容吓跑。这样,他就仅仅向他做了个手势, 叫他把门打开,接着就跨进了晴朗的冬天的早晨。
   现在,他看得见那座城堡了。在光明闪耀的天空,它显得轮廓分明,再给一层 薄薄的积雪一盖,就显得更加清晰了。山上的积雪似乎比山下村子里的少得多。昨 天打村子里经过的时候,K觉得就跟在大路上一样难走。这儿,厚厚的积雪一直堆 到茅屋的窗口,再往上就又盖满了低矮的屋顶,可是在山上,一切都是那么轻盈。 那么自在地在空中飞翔,或者至少可以说,从下面看起来是这样。
   大体说来,这个城堡的远景是在K的预料之中的。它既不是一个古老的要塞, 也不是一座新颖的大厦,而是一堆杂乱无章的建筑群,由无数紧紧挤在一起的小型 建筑物组成,其中有一层的,也有两层的。倘使K原先不知道它是城堡,可能会把 它看作是一座小小的市镇呢。就目力所及,他望见那儿只有一座高塔,它究竟是属 于一所住宅的呢,还是属于教堂的,他没法肯定。一群群乌鸦正绕着高塔飞翔。
   K一面向前走,一面盯着城堡看,此外他就什么也不想。可是当他走近城堡的 时候,不禁大失所望;原来它不过是一座形状寒伦的市镇而已,一堆乱七八糟的村 舍,如果说有什么值得称道的地方,那么,惟一的优点就是它们都是石头建筑,可 是泥灰早已剥落殆尽,石头也似乎正在风化消蚀。霎时间K想起了他家乡的村镇。 它决不亚于这座所谓城堡,要是问题只是上这儿来观光一番的话,那么,跑这么远 的路就未免太不值得了,那还不如重访自己的故乡,他已经很久没有回故乡去看看 了。于是,他在心里就把家乡那座教堂的钟楼同这座在他头上的高塔作起比较来。 家乡那座钟楼线条挺拔,屹然矗立。从底部到顶端扶摇直上,顶上还有盖着红瓦的 宽阔屋顶,是一座人间的佳构——人们还能造出别的什么建筑来呢?——而且它具 有一种比之普通住房更为崇高的目的和比之纷坛繁杂的日常生活更为清晰的涵义。 而在他上面的这座高塔——惟一看得见的一座高塔——现在看起来显然是一所住宅, 或者是一座主建筑的塔楼,从上到下都是圆形的,一部分给常春藤亲切地覆盖着, 一扇扇小窗子,从常春藤里探出来,在阳光下闪闪发光,一种好像发着癫狂似的闪 光。塔顶盖着一种像阁楼似的东西,上面的雉谍参差不齐,断断续续十分难看,仿 佛是一个小孩子的哆哆嗦嗦或者漫不经心的手设计出来的,在蔚蓝的苍穹映衬之下, 显得轮廓分明。犹如一个患着忧郁狂的人,原来应该把他锁在家里最高一层的房间 里,结果却从屋顶钻了出来,高高地站立着,让世界众目睽睽地望着他。
   K重又立停下来,似乎立停了他才有更多的判断力。但是他却受到了干扰。他 立停的地方是乡村教堂,那后面就是学校。教堂实际上不过是一所礼拜堂和一些为 了供教区居民住用而扩建的像谷仓一样的附加建筑罢了。那学校是一所又长又矮的 房子,一副老态龙钟的神气,跟土里土气的模样触目地混合在一起。它坐落在如今 已经变成一片雪地的一座围着篱笆的花园后面。这当儿,孩子们正跟着他们的老师 走出来。他们围拥着他,都仰起头来盯着他看,同时像连珠炮似地叽叽喳喳谈着。 他们说得那么快,K简直没法子听懂他们在说些什么。那位老师是一个肩膀狭窄、 身材矮小的青年,走起路来身子直挺挺的,可是那样的姿态倒还并不显得怎么可笑。 他从远处就已经用眼睛紧紧盯住了K看了,这也是很自然的,因为眼前除了这些小 学生之外,再没有别人。作为一个外乡人,尤其因为对方是一个仪表威严的小伙子, 因此K便首先走上去,说道:“您早,先生。”孩子们仿佛约好了似的,一下子都 静了下来,也许他们的老师喜欢有这么一种突然的静默作为他斟酌词句的准备。 “你在看城堡吗?”他这句话问得比K所预料的温和,但是他说话的腔调流露出他 并不赞成K这样的行为。“是的,”K说,“我在这儿是一个外乡人,我昨天晚上 才来到这个村子。”“你不喜欢城堡吗?”教师很快又问他。“什么?”K反问道, 他感到有点惊奇,于是用缓和的口气又问了一遍。“我喜不喜欢城堡?为什么您认 为我不喜欢城堡呢?”“从来没有一个外乡人是喜欢城堡的,”教师说。为了免得 说错话,K便改变话题,说道:“我想您是认识伯爵的吧?”“不认识,”教师说, 把身子转了过去。可是K不愿意就这样给他摆脱掉,便又问道:“怎么,您不认识 伯爵?”“干吗我一定要认识伯爵?”教师低声地回答说,接着用法语高声添了一 句:“请不要忘记有天真烂漫的孩子们在场啊。”K抓住这句话作为一个正当的理 由,问道:“我改天能来拜访您吗,先生?我在这儿得呆一些时候,可我已经感到 有点寂寞了。我跟那些庄稼汉合不来,我想,我跟城堡恐怕也合不来呢。”“农民 和城堡没有什么区别,”教师说。“也许是吧,”K说,“可是这一点并不能改变 我的处境。改天我能去拜访您吗?”“我住在天鹅街一个屠夫家里。”这与其说是 邀请,实在还不如说是通知。可是K说:“好,我一定去看您。”教师点了点头, 便领着他那群孩子往前走去,孩子们立刻又叫嚷起来了。他们不久就在那陡峭直下 的小路里消失了。
   可是K对这次谈话感到又害怕又气。自从来到这里以后,他第一次真正感到疲 倦起来。他经过的那么一段漫长的旅程,起先似乎并没有使他觉得身子怎样疲乏— —在那些日子里,他是多么从容不迫地一步一步走过来的呵!——可是现在他感到 劳累的后果了,而且是在这样不合时宜的时刻。他感到自己有一种不可抗拒的渴望, 想结识一些新的朋友,可是每当结识一个朋友,似乎又只是增加他的厌倦。尽管如 此,在目前的情况下,假使他一定要叫自己继续往前走,至少走到城堡入口那儿, 那他的气力还是绰绰有余的。
   因此,他又走起来了,可是路实在很长。因为他走的这条村子的大街根本通不 到城堡的山冈,它只是向着城堡的山冈,接着仿佛是经过匠心设计似的,便巧妙地 转到另一个方向去了,虽然并没有离开城堡,可是也一步没有靠近它。每转一个弯, K就指望大路又会靠近城堡,也就因为这个缘故,他才继续向前走着。尽管他已经 筋疲力尽,他却决不愿意离开这条街道。再说这个村子居然这么长,也使他感到纳 罕,它仿佛没有个尽头似的。他走啊走的,只看到一幢接着一幢的式样相同的小房 子,冰霜封冻的窗玻璃,皑皑的白雪,没有一个人影儿——可是最后他到底挣脱了 这条迷宫似的大街,逃进了一条小巷。这儿雪积得更深,你得花很大的劲才能把脚 从雪地里拔出来,这是非常累人的,搞得浑身大汗。他猛地立停下来,再也走不动 了。
   好啦,他到底不是在一座荒岛上,在他的左右两边全是茅屋。他捏了一个雪球 朝一扇窗子扔过去。立刻有人把门打开了——这是他跑遍全村打开的第一扇门,— —门口出现了一个穿着褐色皮袄的老农夫,脑袋向一边歪着,显出一副衰弱而和善 的模样。“我可以在你家歇一会儿吗?”K问道。“我累极啦。”他没有听见老头 儿的答话,但是怀着感激的心情看着一块木板向他身边推过来,准备把他从雪里搭 救出来,于是他跨上几步,就走进了厨房。
   这是一间很大的厨房,屋子里光线很暗。从外面进来,起先什么也看不清。K 在一只洗衣桶上绊了一交,一只女人的手把他扶住了。一个角落里传来了孩子们的 大声号哭。另一个角落里涌出一阵阵水蒸气,把本来已经很暗的屋子变得更暗了。 K像是站在云端里一样。“他准是喝醉了,”有人在这样说。“你是谁?”有人吓 唬地大声喝问着,接着,显然是对老头儿说的:“你干吗让他进来?难道咱们要把 街上每一个游荡的人都带到家里来吗?”“我是伯爵的土地测量员,”K说,在这 个他仍旧看不见的人面前,他竭力给自己辩护着。“哦,这是土地测量员!”这是 一个女人的声音,接着是一片沉默。“那么。你认识我?”K问道。“当然,”还 是那个女人的声音简短地说道。但是,人家认识他,这似乎并不就是一种介绍。
一-2
  最后,水蒸气淡了一些,K渐渐地也看得清周围的情景了。这天似乎是一个大 扫除的日子,靠近门口的地方,有人在洗衣服。可是水蒸气正从另一个角落里冒出 来,那儿有一只大木桶,K从来没有见过有这么大的木桶,简直有两张床那么宽, 两个男人正在冒着热气的水里洗澡。但教他更惊奇(虽然说不出究竟是什么教他那 么惊奇)的是右边角落里的情景。后墙上有一个很大的窗洞,这是后墙上仅有的一 个窗洞,一道淡淡的雪一般的白光从窗洞外射进来,这显然是从院子里射进来的。 白光照在一个女人身上,使她身上的衣服闪耀着一种像丝绸般的光彩。这个女人几 乎斜卧在一张高高的靠椅里。她正抱着一个婴儿在喂奶,好几个孩子围在她的身边 玩耍,他们显然是农家的孩子。可是这个女人却似乎属于另一个阶级,当然,即使 是庄稼人,在生病或者疲倦的时候也会显出一副秀气的样子来的。
   “坐下来!”那两个男人中间有一个这样说。他长着满腮胡子,老是张开着嘴 巴呼哧呼哧地喘气。从澡桶边伸出一只湿淋淋的手,溅起了水,指着——这是一个 挺有趣的镜头——一张长椅,把K淋得满脸都是热腾腾的水珠。那个让K进来的老 头儿直愣愣地坐在那儿出神。K这才算是找到了一个坐位。从这以后,谁也不再去 注意他了。在洗衣桶旁边的那个女人年纪很轻,长得丰满可爱,她一面于着活儿, 一面低声地哼着歌儿。男人们在澡桶里踢腿蹬脚、翻来滚去地洗着澡。孩子们想挨 近去,总是给他们用水狠狠地泼了回来,水珠甚至溅到K的身上。那躺在靠椅上的 那个女人好像是一个没有生命的人,眼睛直勾勾地盯着屋顶,连怀里的婴儿也不瞧 一眼。
   她构成了一幅美丽、凄苦而凝然不动的画图,K准是看了她好大一会儿;在这 以后,他一定是睡熟了,因为当有人大声喊醒他的时候,他发现自己的头正靠在老 头儿的肩膀上。男人们已经从澡桶里出来——在澡桶里打滚的已经是在那个头发好 看的女人照料下的那些孩子了,——现在他们正衣冠端正地站在K的面前。看起来 那个长着满腮胡子、吓唬他的汉子,是这两个男人中间比较次要的一个。另外那个 是性子沉静而思路较慢的人,老是搭拉着脑袋,个儿并不比他的同伴高,胡子也很 少,但是肩膀却宽阔得多,而且还长着一张阔阔的脸膛。这会儿是他在说话:“你 不能呆在这儿,先生。请原谅我们的失礼。”“我不打算呆在这儿,”K说,“我 只是想在这儿休息一会儿。我已经休息好啦,这会儿我就要走了。”“我们这样怠 慢客人,你也许会感到奇怪,”这个男人说,‘可是好客不是我们这儿的风俗,对 我们来说,客人没有什么用处。”也许是因为打了个盹儿,K精神多少恢复了一点, 知觉也清醒了一点,对方的话说得这样坦率,倒使他高兴起来。他不再感到那么拘 束了,握着手杖指指点点的,走近那个躺在靠椅上的女人。他发现自己在这个房间 里是身材最高大的人。
   “的确,”K说,“你们要客人有什么用处呢?可是你们有时也还是需要一个 的,比方说,我这个土地测量员。”“我可不知道,”那人慢腾腾地回答说。“假 使说你是给请来的,那可能是我们需要你,那就又当别论了。可是我们这些小人物 是守着我们的老规矩办事的,你可不能因此责怪我们。”“不,不,”K说,“我 对你,对这儿的每一个人只有表示感激。”接着,乘他们不防,他猛地一个转身, 机灵地站到了那个躺着的女人面前。她睁着慵倦的蓝眼睛望着他,一条透明的丝头 巾直披到前额,婴儿已经在她怀里睡熟了。“你是谁呀?”K问道,女人轻蔑地— —不知道是瞧不起K呢,还是她自己的回答不清楚——回答说:“是从城堡里来的 一个姑娘。”
   这只不过是一两秒钟的事,可是那两个男人却已经来到他的身旁,把他推到门 口去,仿佛他们没有别的办法来说服他,只能一声不响地使出全身气力把他推出大 门了事。他们这样的行径,把那个老头儿逗得直乐,禁不住拍起手来。在洗衣桶旁 的那个女人也笑了。孩子们也像发了疯似地突然大叫大嚷起来。
   K不久就来到了外面的街上,那两个男人在门口打量着他。现在雪又下起来了, 可是天色却似乎亮了一点。那个满面胡子的汉子忍不住喊道:“你要上哪儿去?这 条是上城堡去的路,那条可是到村子里去的。”K没有答理他,另一个汉子虽说有 点腼腆,可是在K看来这两个人中间还是他比较可亲一些,因此转过身去,对他说: “你是谁?我该感谢谁收留了我这一会儿呢?”“我是制革匠雷斯曼,”这就是回 答,“可你不用向谁道谢。”“好吧,”K说,“或许咱们还会见面的。”“我可 不这样想,”那人说。在这当儿,那另一个汉子招着手叫喊起来:“阿瑟,你早啊; 杰里米亚!”K掉过头去;这么说,在这些村街上果然看得见人影啦!有两个年轻 人正从城堡那个方向走来,他们都是中等身材,细挑个儿,穿着一身紧身的衣服, 两个人模样儿挺相像,虽然他们的皮肤是暗褐色的,可是相形之下,他们黑黑的小 山羊胡子却显得分外触目。因为路上不好走,他们两个人的细长的腿合着整齐的步 伐,迈开了大步走着。“你们上哪儿去?”满脸胡子的汉子大声地问着。他们走得 很快,而且不愿意停下来,你非得对他们大声叫喊不可。“我们有公事,”他们一 面笑着一面大声回答。“在哪儿?”“在客栈里。”“我也要上那儿去,”K突然 大声叫了出来,那声音比其他的人都高。他产生了一种强烈的欲望,想跟他们结伴 同行,他并不怎么想跟他们交朋友,可是很明显,他们准是有说有笑的好同伴哩。 他们听到了他的喊声,但只是点了点头,接着就跑得没影儿了。
   K仍旧在雪地里站着,他简直不想把两只脚从雪里拔出米,因为这样不过是再 把脚陷进去罢了。制革匠和他的伙伴因为终于摆脱了他而感到心满意足,便慢腾腾 地侧着身子从那扇现在只是半开着的大门里走进屋去,他们回过头来看了他两眼, 接着便把他孤零零地撒在下着大雪的门外了。“假使我此刻站在这儿,并不是出于 人家有意的安排,而只是偶然碰上这种机遇的话,”他问起了这样的念头,“这倒 是扮演失望的一个绝妙的场面。”
   就在这当儿,在他左边的那所茅屋打开了一扇小窗子,也许因为雪光反射的缘 故,这扇窗子在关着的时候看起来似乎是深蓝色的,窗子小得很,打开了以后,你 连看一看窗子后面那个人的整个脸孔都看不到,只看得见两只眼睛,两只衰老的棕 色眼睛。“他在那儿呢,”K听见一个女人颤抖的声音在说话。“那是土地测量员,” 一个男人的声音回答着。接着,那个男人也走到窗口,问道:“你在这儿等着什么 人吗?”他的语调和神色倒并不使人难以亲近,可是仍旧好像深怕在自己家门口惹 起什么麻烦来似的。“想等着搭上一辆过路的雪橇,”K说。“这儿是不会有雪橇 经过的,”那人说,“这儿没有车辆来往。”“可这是上城堡去的大路呀,”K分 辨道。“那还是一样,那还是一样,”那人带着一种最后结论的口气说道,“这儿 没有车辆来往。”接着两人都不吱声了。但是那人显然在想着什么事情,因为他没 有把窗子关上。“这条路可真是糟透啦,”K说,想引他开口。他得到的惟一回答 是:“啊,是的。”但是过了一会儿,他自告奋勇地说道:“要是你愿意的话,我 可以用我的雪橇送你。”“那就请你送我走吧,”K欣喜地说,“你要多少钱?” “一个钱也不要,”那人说,这句话大大出于K的意料之外,“喏,你是土地测量 员,”那人解释说,“那你就是城堡的人。你要我把你送到哪儿去呢?”“上城堡 去,”K连忙回答说。“我不愿意送你上那儿去,”那人毫不犹豫地说。“可我是 城堡的人,”K重复着对方的原话这么说着。“也许是的吧,”那人简短地说道。 ‘啊,那么,就把我送到客栈去吧。”“好,”那人说,“我一会儿就拉着雪橇出 来。”从他所有这些言语行动看来,他并不是出于任何特殊友好的愿望,而是出于 一种自私,忧虑,而且几乎是装腔作势的固执,一心只想把K从自己家门口赶走。
   院子的大门打开了,跟着,一只孱弱的小马拉着一辆轻便的小雪橇出现了,雪 橇很简单,根本没有什么坐位,那个汉子一颠一瘸地在后面跟着,显出一副弯腰曲 背的衰弱样子。那张又瘦又红的脸膛,加上鼻子又伤了风,在紧紧裹着一条羊毛围 巾的脖子相比之下,显得格外小。显然这会儿他正害着病,只因为要送走K,这才 强打起精神出门。K鼓起勇气向他表示歉意,但是那个汉子挥了挥手把他岔开了。 K从他嘴里就只探听出来他是一个马车夫,名叫盖斯塔克,他之所以驾这辆简陋的 雪橇出来,是因为这辆雪橇正现成放着,要是驾别的雪橇,那就要花费很多时间了。 “坐上去吧,”他指着雪橇说。“我可以跟你并排着坐,”K说。“我要步行,” 盖斯塔克说。“干吗?”K问道。“我要步行,”盖斯塔克重复说了一遍,突然咳 嗽起来,咳得身子直摇晃,不得不把两条腿在雪地里又开站着,同时抓住了雪橇的 边沿。K不再多说,便坐上了雪橇。那人的咳嗽也慢慢地平复了下来。于是,他们 赶着雪橇走了。
   在他们上面的那座城堡——K原想当天就上那儿去——现在已经开始暗淡下来 了,而且又重新退向远处。但是仿佛要给他一个下次再见的告别信号,城堡上面开 始响起了一阵愉快的钟声,这阵钟声,至少在那一刹那间使他的心卜卜地跳动起来, 因为这钟声同样也含着吓唬他的音调,仿佛是因为他想实现他暧昧的欲望而向他表 示威胁似的。这洪亮的钟声不久就消逝了,继之而起的是一阵低微而单调的丁当声, 它可能来自城堡,但也可能是从村里什么地方传来的。这单调的丁当声,同这种慢 腾腾的旅行和那个形状可怕而又冷漠无情的车夫却是十分和谐一致。
   “我说,”K突然叫喊起来——他们已经走近教堂,离客栈不远了,因此K觉 得可以冒一点险了,——“你居然有这份心肠自愿地赶着雪橇送我,我觉得很奇怪; 人家容许你这样做吗?”盖斯塔克没有睬他,只是继续在那匹小马驹旁边默默地走 着。“嘘!”K叫道,同时从雪橇上刮了一些雪,捏成一个雪球往盖斯塔克扔去, 这一下正扔在他的耳朵上。他这才停下步子,回转身来;可是当他这样挨近了看他 的时候——雪橇向前滑了几步,——K看到他那副好像受过什么的弯腰曲背的 身躯,面颊一边平一边瘪进去的又瘦又乏的红脸膛,张开了嘴巴,露出只有几颗稀 疏的牙齿,站在那儿听他说话的时候,他这才发现自己刚才怀着恶意说的那句话, 应该用怜悯的口吻重说一遍,那意思就是说,他,盖斯塔克,会不会因为给他赶了 雪橇而受到处罚。“你说什么?”盖斯塔克迷惑不解地问道,可是不等到回答,他 就向小马驹吆喝了一声,接着又往前赶路了。
首页>> 旅游天下>> 哲理小说>> 卡夫卡 Franz Kafka   奥地利 Austria     (1883年7月3日1924年6月3日)