{"id":"01KG0M2AB0831KD2XF11Z80ADY","cid":"bafkreigsyalie66hhiwm6hh7zkzxwvpbwjggo26irwe5hwbwfg3clpb2wy","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":830,"extracted_at":"2026-01-27T20:59:33.326Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG0K71QM71M0G20X5B9DHB1X","start_line":772,"text":"bulging eyes as his sister unselfconsciously took a broom and swept up\r\nthe left-overs, mixing them in with the food he had not even touched at\r\nall as if it could not be used any more. She quickly dropped it all\r\ninto a bin, closed it with its wooden lid, and carried everything out.\r\nShe had hardly turned her back before Gregor came out again from under\r\nthe couch and stretched himself.\r\n\r\nThis was how Gregor received his food each day now, once in the morning\r\nwhile his parents and the maid were still asleep, and the second time\r\nafter everyone had eaten their meal at midday as his parents would\r\nsleep for a little while then as well, and Gregor’s sister would send\r\nthe maid away on some errand. Gregor’s father and mother certainly did\r\nnot want him to starve either, but perhaps it would have been more than\r\nthey could stand to have any more experience of his feeding than being\r\ntold about it, and perhaps his sister wanted to spare them what\r\ndistress she could as they were indeed suffering enough.\r\n\r\nIt was impossible for Gregor to find out what they had told the doctor\r\nand the locksmith that first morning to get them out of the flat. As\r\nnobody could understand him, nobody, not even his sister, thought that\r\nhe could understand them, so he had to be content to hear his sister’s\r\nsighs and appeals to the saints as she moved about his room. It was\r\nonly later, when she had become a little more used to everything—there\r\nwas, of course, no question of her ever becoming fully used to the\r\nsituation—that Gregor would sometimes catch a friendly comment, or at\r\nleast a comment that could be construed as friendly. “He’s enjoyed his\r\ndinner today”, she might say when he had diligently cleared away all\r\nthe food left for him, or if he left most of it, which slowly became\r\nmore and more frequent, she would often say, sadly, “now everything’s\r\njust been left there again”.\r\n\r\nAlthough Gregor wasn’t able to hear any news directly he did listen to\r\nmuch of what was said in the next rooms, and whenever he heard anyone\r\nspeaking he would scurry straight to the appropriate door and press his\r\nwhole body against it. There was seldom any conversation, especially at\r\nfirst, that was not about him in some way, even if only in secret. For\r\ntwo whole days, all the talk at every mealtime was about what they\r\nshould do now; but even between meals they spoke about the same subject\r\nas there were always at least two members of the family at home—nobody\r\nwanted to be at home by themselves and it was out of the question to\r\nleave the flat entirely empty. And on the very first day the maid had\r\nfallen to her knees and begged Gregor’s mother to let her go without\r\ndelay. It was not very clear how much she knew of what had happened but\r\nshe left within a quarter of an hour, tearfully thanking Gregor’s\r\nmother for her dismissal as if she had done her an enormous service.\r\nShe even swore emphatically not to tell anyone the slightest about what\r\nhad happened, even though no-one had asked that of her.\r\n\r\nNow Gregor’s sister also had to help his mother with the cooking;\r\nalthough that was not so much bother as no-one ate very much. Gregor\r\noften heard how one of them would unsuccessfully urge another to eat,\r\nand receive no more answer than “no thanks, I’ve had enough” or\r\nsomething similar. No-one drank very much either. His sister would\r\nsometimes ask his father whether he would like a beer, hoping for the\r\nchance to go and fetch it herself. When his father then said nothing\r\nshe would add, so that he would not feel selfish, that she could send\r\nthe housekeeper for it, but then his father would close the matter with\r\na big, loud “No”, and no more would be said.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG0KZ67K50CQT3J3ZW1G4SAK","peer_label":"Chapter Content","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG0K71QM71M0G20X5B9DHB1X","peer_label":"metamorphoses.txt","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS","peer_label":"More Classics","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG0M2AAQWS96ZTM9MH5Z0JHF","peer_label":"Chunk 1","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG0M2AB1W348W9M3K66X36HM","peer_label":"Chunk 3","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-27T20:59:33.837Z","ts":"2026-01-27T20:59:34.948Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}