{"id":"01KG16PR4H7XZ6RTNNY8Q5ZRQV","cid":"bafkreifxzqatysv6x2g3finju5zyyr7y7mo66ujlvnnuu22uubtd2yv2uq","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":568,"extracted_at":"2026-01-28T02:25:17.182Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 11","source_file":"01KG0K71QM71M0G20X5B9DHB1X","start_line":512,"text":"and chance and groundless complaints, and it’s almost impossible to\r\ndefend yourself from that sort of thing, we don’t usually even hear\r\nabout them, or if at all it’s when we arrive back home exhausted from a\r\ntrip, and that’s when we feel the harmful effects of what’s been going\r\non without even knowing what caused them. Please, don’t go away, at\r\nleast first say something to show that you grant that I’m at least\r\npartly right!”\r\n\r\nBut the chief clerk had turned away as soon as Gregor had started to\r\nspeak, and, with protruding lips, only stared back at him over his\r\ntrembling shoulders as he left. He did not keep still for a moment\r\nwhile Gregor was speaking, but moved steadily towards the door without\r\ntaking his eyes off him. He moved very gradually, as if there had been\r\nsome secret prohibition on leaving the room. It was only when he had\r\nreached the entrance hall that he made a sudden movement, drew his foot\r\nfrom the living room, and rushed forward in a panic. In the hall, he\r\nstretched his right hand far out towards the stairway as if out there,\r\nthere were some supernatural force waiting to save him.\r\n\r\nGregor realised that it was out of the question to let the chief clerk\r\ngo away in this mood if his position in the firm was not to be put into\r\nextreme danger. That was something his parents did not understand very\r\nwell; over the years, they had become convinced that this job would\r\nprovide for Gregor for his entire life, and besides, they had so much\r\nto worry about at present that they had lost sight of any thought for\r\nthe future. Gregor, though, did think about the future. The chief clerk\r\nhad to be held back, calmed down, convinced and finally won over; the\r\nfuture of Gregor and his family depended on it! If only his sister were\r\nhere! She was clever; she was already in tears while Gregor was still\r\nlying peacefully on his back. And the chief clerk was a lover of women,\r\nsurely she could persuade him; she would close the front door in the\r\nentrance hall and talk him out of his shocked state. But his sister was\r\nnot there, Gregor would have to do the job himself. And without\r\nconsidering that he still was not familiar with how well he could move\r\nabout in his present state, or that his speech still might not—or\r\nprobably would not—be understood, he let go of the door; pushed himself\r\nthrough the opening; tried to reach the chief clerk on the landing who,\r\nridiculously, was holding on to the banister with both hands; but\r\nGregor fell immediately over and, with a little scream as he sought\r\nsomething to hold onto, landed on his numerous little legs. Hardly had\r\nthat happened than, for the first time that day, he began to feel\r\nalright with his body; the little legs had the solid ground under them;\r\nto his pleasure, they did exactly as he told them; they were even\r\nmaking the effort to carry him where he wanted to go; and he was soon\r\nbelieving that all his sorrows would soon be finally at an end. He held\r\nback the urge to move but swayed from side to side as he crouched there\r\non the floor. His mother was not far away in front of him and seemed,\r\nat first, quite engrossed in herself, but then she suddenly jumped up\r\nwith her arms outstretched and her fingers spread shouting: “Help, for\r\npity’s sake, Help!” The way she held her head suggested she wanted to\r\nsee Gregor better, but the unthinking way she was hurrying backwards\r\nshowed that she did not; she had forgotten that the table was behind\r\nher with all the breakfast things on it; when she reached the table she\r\nsat quickly down on it without knowing what she was doing; without even\r\nseeming to notice that the coffee pot had been knocked over and a gush\r\nof coffee was pouring down onto the carpet.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 11"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG16NYWC39TXGGYV7QX3CSQ0","peer_label":"I","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":"01KG16PR527GC1887C04TDVA1X","peer_label":"Chunk 10","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG16PR4JH8NEHX2CN9ZKDGWE","peer_label":"Chunk 12","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-28T02:25:17.636Z","ts":"2026-01-28T02:25:18.820Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}