3 July

3 July is the date of the fire-brigade festival at which the castle official Sortini first set eyes on Amalia, an encounter that led to his insulting letter and the subsequent ostracism of the Barnabas family. This single day marks the turning point in the family's fortunes, transforming them from respected villagers into outcasts and setting in motion the long chain of suffering, petitioning, and decline that Olga recounts to K. The date is fixed in the narrative as the moment when the family's fate was sealed, and it is remembered with painful precision by Olga, who describes it as the beginning of their downfall.

The Festival and the First Encounter

The festival was held on a meadow outside the village, by the stream, and the castle had donated a new fire engine to mark the occasion. Sortini, a small, puny, thoughtful gentleman with a distinctive frown whose lines fanned out over his forehead to the bridge of his nose, was said to be partly involved in the affairs of the fire brigade, or perhaps he was only deputizing for someone else. He kept right in the background, leaning against a lever on the fire engine, and took no notice of the crowd. The Barnabas family was highly respected at the time; their father was Trainer Number Three with the fire brigade, and the party could not very well have begun without them. Amalia and Olga had looked forward to the festival for weeks, freshening up their Sunday best, with Amalia's dress particularly fine, her white blouse ruffled in front with row upon row of lace, and their mother lending her all her own lace. Olga, envious at first, had cried half the night before the party, but when the landlady of the Bridge Inn came to look them over in the morning and lent Olga her Bohemian garnet necklace, Olga's envy subsided. When they were ready to go out, their father said, "Amalia will find a sweetheart today, you mark my words," and Olga, no longer envious, took off the necklace and put it round Amalia's neck. Everyone noticed Amalia's dark glance, which passed right over them, and they instinctively felt like bowing to her.

Sortini's Notice and the Letter

Sortini noticed Amalia only after the family had bowed to him. He glanced wearily from one to another, until his eyes lingered on her, and he had to look up at her because she was much taller than he was. Then he gave a start of surprise and climbed over the shafts of the fire engine to get closer to her, raising a hand to fend off the family and waving them away. The family misunderstood this at first and teased Amalia, saying she really had found a sweetheart, but she was more silent than ever. The next morning, Amalia was woken by a cry; a man had handed in a letter from Sortini, addressed to "the girl with the garnet necklace." The letter was written in the most vulgar language, commanding her to go to him at the Castle Inn at once, because he would have to leave again in half an hour. It was not a love letter; there was not an affectionate word in it, and Sortini was obviously angry to think that the sight of Amalia had affected him so much and had taken his mind off his business. Amalia tore the letter up and threw the pieces into the face of the messenger, then closed the window.

The Turning Point and Its Consequences

Olga calls that crucial morning the turning point, but she notes that every moment of the afternoon before had been just as crucial. The crucial point, as Olga explains, was that Amalia did not go to the Castle Inn. In itself, the way she treated the messenger might have been glossed over, but because she refused to obey, the family was doomed. The villagers, who had been waiting to see what would happen, began to ostracize them. Friends and enemies called to see them, but no one stayed long; Lasemann came in as if to examine the size of the room and left; Brunswick told the father he wanted to set up in business for himself; customers took away their boots; and finally Seemann, the captain of the fire brigade, came to dismiss the father from the Association and ask for his diploma back. The father, too tired and despairing to help Seemann out, handed over the diploma without even taking it out of the frame, and then sat in a corner, speaking to no one. The family was forced to leave their house, moving to a hovel with a handcart, and the general disdain for them grew until they were known only as "the family of Barnabas."

The Aftermath and the Family's Decline

The aftermath of 3 July saw the family's gradual ruin. The father began paying pointless visits to the village mayor, the secretaries, the attorneys, and the clerks, seeking forgiveness, but was always sent packing. He then took to standing on the road near the castle, hoping to present his petition to officials as they drove by, but this too was futile. He sat day after day on the stone base of the fence of Bertuch's market garden, in rain and snow, until his legs gave out and he could no longer leave his bed. The mother, who had accompanied him, also fell ill and now lies near death. Amalia took over the care of the parents, tending them with superhuman efforts, while Olga, in a desperate attempt to make amends, began spending nights with the servants at the Castle Inn, hoping to find Sortini's messenger and reconcile with him, but without success. Barnabas, the youngest, was drawn into the family's fate and eventually became a messenger to the castle, a role that brought both hope and further doubt. The date 3 July thus stands as the origin of the family's exclusion, their suffering, and their long, fruitless efforts to regain their former standing, a day that Olga recalls with painful clarity as she tells K. the story of their downfall.