K. moves to the school with Frieda and the assistants

K. moves to the school with Frieda and the assistants after a tense morning at the Bridge Inn. The landlady, furious that K. rejected her offer to arrange a conversation with Klamm and that he boasted of having a bed at Barnabas's house, gives him an ultimatum: leave the inn immediately, this very hour, and she will not take him back except by direct order of the authorities. Frieda, who has been told this by the landlady, is in despair. She brings the teacher back to the school attic, where K. is freezing in his underwear, and begs K. to accept the mayor's offer of the school janitor post. K. reluctantly agrees, saying only "Yes" to Frieda, not to the teacher. The teacher then outlines the duties: clean and heat both classrooms daily, do small repairs, clear the garden path of snow, run errands for him and Miss Gisa, and do all the gardening in warmer seasons. In return, K. and his household may live in one of the classrooms, but must move to the other if both are needed for lessons. They may not cook in the school building, but will be given board at the inn at the parish's expense. The teacher insists that K. must put his relationship with Frieda on a legal footing as soon as possible. When Frieda asks about a salary, the teacher says it will be considered only after a month's service on probation. K. is annoyed by the teacher's arrogant manner, but says nothing more. Frieda tells the teacher they will move in today. The teacher says he will check on them first thing tomorrow, and leaves, colliding with the maids who are returning to reclaim the room. K. dresses, and Frieda gives him a package of bread and sausage for his journey to the Castle Inn, reminding him to go to the school later and not come back to the inn. She goes down to the front door with him, her hand on his shoulder.

The New Quarters

The schoolhouse is a long, low building combining the character of something temporary and something very old, standing in a fenced garden covered with snow. The classroom they are given is large, also used as a gymnasium, with gymnastic apparatus standing around and hanging from the ceiling. It is cold; the stove has used up all the wood, and the woodshed is locked, the teacher keeping the key. There is no proper bed, only a single straw mattress neatly covered with a woollen shawl of Frieda's, and two stiff, coarse blankets that give hardly any warmth. The assistants look covetously at the mattress. Frieda, trying to smile through her tears, says the gymnastic apparatus is all they have to decorate the room. She promises to get beds and fuel the next day. K. does his best to seem to find it all tolerable, his mind on Barnabas and his message. Frieda makes coffee over a spirit-burner, spreads the inevitable white tablecloth on the teacher's desk, and sets out bread, bacon, and a can of sardines. The assistants sit on the podium at their feet, constantly rising to see if there is still plenty left on the table. K. covers Frieda's hand with his own and asks quietly why she lets them get away with so much. He suggests that stern treatment might make them dislike their position enough to run away. Frieda, caressing his arm, says he makes too much of their bad habits; they are young, cheerful, a little simple, taken into a stranger's service for the first time. She agrees it would be better to send them away, but says she doesn't know any means of doing so, and that K. himself had asked for his assistants and now must keep them. K. is not happy with this reply. After their meal, K. finds an axe, breaks into the woodshed, and the assistants carry wood into the classroom. The stove is lit, and everyone lies down around it. The lamp is put out, and K. and Frieda, happy to be warm and quiet, lie down to sleep.

The First Morning

In the night, K. is woken by a sound and, groping for Frieda, finds one of the assistants lying beside him instead. In a blind fury, he punches the assistant so hard that the man begins shedding tears. Frieda explains she was woken by a large animal—probably a cat—jumping on her breast, and had risen to search for it with a candle. The assistant had seized his chance to enjoy the straw mattress. Frieda finds nothing, and on her way back, she comfortingly strokes the whimpering assistant's hair. K. says nothing about that, but tells the assistant to stop putting fuel in the stove, as the room is now too hot. In the morning, they are woken by schoolchildren standing around them, full of curiosity. Miss Gisa, the assistant teacher, appears at the door and says she cannot have this, that it is not her duty to teach the children in their bedroom. K. and Frieda quickly push the parallel bars and vaulting-horse together and drape blankets over them to create a small room to get dressed. Miss Gisa is cross because there is no fresh water in the washbasin, and then she sweeps the remains of their supper off the teacher's desk with her ruler, breaking the coffee-pot. Frieda is most upset by the loss of the coffee-pot. K. assures her he will go to the village mayor and get a replacement. When they are dressed, K. shares out the tasks: the assistants are to fetch wood and heat the stoves, Frieda will clean the floor, and K. will fetch water and tidy up. Miss Gisa accuses K. of hurting her cat, and scratches his hand with the cat's claws, leaving bloody weals. Frieda screams at the sight of the blood. The teacher then arrives, holding an assistant by each collar, and thunders about who broke into the woodshed. Frieda claims she did it herself, but the assistants point to K. The teacher dismisses K. on the spot for this shameful dereliction of duty. K. refuses to go, saying he was appointed by the mayor and will accept notice only from him. The teacher and Miss Gisa clear the room, leaving K. alone with Frieda and the assistants.

Dismissing the Assistants

As soon as they have all left, K. tells the assistants to go away. Surprised, they obey, but when K. locks the door behind them, they try to get back in, whimpering and knocking. K. shouts that they are dismissed. The teacher, hearing the noise, tells K. to let them in, but K. refuses. The teacher then drives the assistants out of the house with a cane. They reappear outside the windows, knocking on the panes and shouting, then climb up on the fence around the school garden, running along its stone base and holding their clasped hands out pleadingly to K. K. draws the curtains to be rid of the sight of them. In the dim light, K. goes to Frieda, who rises, tidies her hair, and puts some coffee on to heat. K. tells her he has dismissed the assistants. She just nods. K. observes her weary movements, thinking that a few days of living with him have been enough to drain her beauty. He wonders if her removal from Klamm's sphere is the real reason for her decline. Frieda says she is not worthy to live with him, that he submits to the tyrannical teacher and accepts this miserable job all for her. K. consoles her, saying that before he met her he was absolutely lost. Frieda says she cannot endure this life any more and wants to emigrate, to the south of France, to Spain. K. says he cannot emigrate; he came to stay. Frieda then reveals that the assistants have been importunate and lecherous, that they are Klamm's envoys. K. is greatly surprised, but says that if they are Klamm's envoys, then who is going to free them from them? Frieda says she wants K. to let them in again, to protect him from denying Klamm himself access to him. K. refuses, saying the fact that he threw them out shows they have nothing to do with Klamm. He tells Frieda she is still more Klamm's lover than his wife, which sometimes makes him feel as if he had only just arrived in the village, aware that only disappointments await him. He adds that if she is going to ask him to choose between her and the assistants, the assistants have lost. He picks up the broom again.

The Teacher's Offer and the Landlady's Ultimatum

The teacher returns with a message from the village mayor: a provisional and generous decision within his own competence. The mayor offers K. the temporary post of school janitor. The teacher has put forward his own objections, saying that no school janitor had been necessary, and that the schoolhouse has only two large classrooms with no extra rooms, so the janitor and his family would have to live in one of them, which would hardly leave the place any cleaner. The mayor insisted, saying the position was a haven for K. in his time of need. K. declines the offer out of hand. The teacher leaves. Frieda then comes up, looking anxious, and tells K. that the landlady, angry that K. rejected her offer to arrange a conversation with Klamm, is determined not to have him in the house any longer. He must leave the inn today, this very hour. Frieda says she will follow him wherever he goes, but they are in a terrible situation. She has brought the teacher back, and begs K. to accept the offer. K. says it is a poor state of things, but agrees. He tells the teacher, "Yes." The teacher outlines the duties and says that whether or not any salary is paid will be considered only after a month's service on probation. K. says nothing. The teacher asks when they will move into the school. Frieda says today. The teacher says he will check on them first thing tomorrow, and leaves. K. then dresses, and Frieda gives him a package of bread and sausage, reminding him to go to the school later and not come back to the inn. She goes down to the front door with him, her hand on his shoulder.