{"id":"01KG16PR52Z5XF7307RDR7V3GP","cid":"bafkreidjtf6pki4ayk3pj2txttizcks2fqr2eth7wmsddfecgn6g6l2sem","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":157,"extracted_at":"2026-01-28T02:25:17.172Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG0K71QM71M0G20X5B9DHB1X","start_line":98,"text":"at your desk, talking down at your subordinates from up there,\r\nespecially when you have to go right up close because the boss is hard\r\nof hearing. Well, there’s still some hope; once I’ve got the money\r\ntogether to pay off my parents’ debt to him—another five or six years I\r\nsuppose—that’s definitely what I’ll do. That’s when I’ll make the big\r\nchange. First of all though, I’ve got to get up, my train leaves at\r\nfive.”\r\n\r\nAnd he looked over at the alarm clock, ticking on the chest of drawers.\r\n“God in Heaven!” he thought. It was half past six and the hands were\r\nquietly moving forwards, it was even later than half past, more like\r\nquarter to seven. Had the alarm clock not rung? He could see from the\r\nbed that it had been set for four o’clock as it should have been; it\r\ncertainly must have rung. Yes, but was it possible to quietly sleep\r\nthrough that furniture-rattling noise? True, he had not slept\r\npeacefully, but probably all the more deeply because of that. What\r\nshould he do now? The next train went at seven; if he were to catch\r\nthat he would have to rush like mad and the collection of samples was\r\nstill not packed, and he did not at all feel particularly fresh and\r\nlively. And even if he did catch the train he would not avoid his\r\nboss’s anger as the office assistant would have been there to see the\r\nfive o’clock train go, he would have put in his report about Gregor’s\r\nnot being there a long time ago. The office assistant was the boss’s\r\nman, spineless, and with no understanding. What about if he reported\r\nsick? But that would be extremely strained and suspicious as in five\r\nyears of service Gregor had never once yet been ill. His boss would\r\ncertainly come round with the doctor from the medical insurance\r\ncompany, accuse his parents of having a lazy son, and accept the\r\ndoctor’s recommendation not to make any claim as the doctor believed\r\nthat no-one was ever ill but that many were workshy. And what’s more,\r\nwould he have been entirely wrong in this case? Gregor did in fact,\r\napart from excessive sleepiness after sleeping for so long, feel\r\ncompletely well and even felt much hungrier than usual.\r\n\r\nHe was still hurriedly thinking all this through, unable to decide to\r\nget out of the bed, when the clock struck quarter to seven. There was a\r\ncautious knock at the door near his head. “Gregor”, somebody called—it\r\nwas his mother—“it’s quarter to seven. Didn’t you want to go\r\nsomewhere?” That gentle voice! Gregor was shocked when he heard his own\r\nvoice answering, it could hardly be recognised as the voice he had had\r\nbefore. As if from deep inside him, there was a painful and\r\nuncontrollable squeaking mixed in with it, the words could be made out\r\nat first but then there was a sort of echo which made them unclear,\r\nleaving the hearer unsure whether he had heard properly or not. Gregor\r\nhad wanted to give a full answer and explain everything, but in the\r\ncircumstances contented himself with saying: “Yes, mother, yes,\r\nthank-you, I’m getting up now.” The change in Gregor’s voice probably\r\ncould not be noticed outside through the wooden door, as his mother was\r\nsatisfied with this explanation and shuffled away. But this short\r\nconversation made the other members of the family aware that Gregor,\r\nagainst their expectations was still at home, and soon his father came\r\nknocking at one of the side doors, gently, but with his fist. “Gregor,\r\nGregor”, he called, “what’s wrong?” And after a short while he called\r\nagain with a warning deepness in his voice: “Gregor! Gregor!” At the\r\nother side door his sister came plaintively: “Gregor? Aren’t you well?\r\nDo you need anything?” Gregor answered to both sides: “I’m ready, now”,\r\nmaking an effort to remove all the strangeness from his voice by\r\nenunciating very carefully and putting long pauses between each,\r\nindividual word. His father went back to his breakfast, but his sister\r\nwhispered: “Gregor, open the door, I beg of you.” Gregor, however, had\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"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":"01KG16PR54RN57MXQK03HHFGB8","peer_label":"Chunk 1","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG16PR4M8HSR82GVSCRKH0QT","peer_label":"Chunk 3","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-28T02:25:17.665Z","ts":"2026-01-28T02:25:18.830Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}