BLUMFELD, AN ELDERLY BACHELOR
99
assistants a little errand to do. Once one of them had had to carry
something just a couple of steps, and running along over-eagerly, had
struck his knee against the desk. The room had been full of seam–
stresses and the desk piled high with goods, but Blumfeld had had to
drop everything, lead the weeping assistant into his office, and make a
little bandage for him. Even this eagerness, however, was only super–
ficial. Like true children, they sometimes wanted to distinguish them–
selves; but much more often-or rather, almost alwayr-they simply
wanted to escape the attention of their superior and deceive him.
Once during the height of the busy season Blumfeld, dripping with
perspiration, had rushed by them, noticing, as he passed, how they
were exchanging postage stamps, hidden between the bales of goods.
He would have liked to beat them over the head with his fists; it
would have been the only possible punishment for such behavior. But
they were children, and Blumfeld could hardly go about killing child–
ren. So he continued to be tormented by them. Originally he had
im~gined
that the assistants would help him in the direct distributions,
which at the time of apportioning the goods requires so much effort
and vigilance. He had thought he would stand behind his desk some–
where near the middle of things, overseeing everything and taking care
of the entries, while the assistants would run back and forth at his
orders making the distributions. He had thought that his supervision,
which, sharp as it was, could hardly suffice for such a crowd, would be
supplemented by the watchfulness of the assistants, who would grad–
ually gain experience, and instead of having to be instructed in every
detail, would finally themselves learn how to discriminate among the
seamstresses as to their requirements and trustworthiness. Judged by
these assistants, however, his hopes had been utterly vain. Blumfeld
mn
saw that he could not even let them talk to the seamstresses.
From
the very beginning they would not so much as go near some of
the women because they had taken a dislike to them or were afraid of
them; but others, to whom they were partial, they would run to the
door to meet. They would bring them whatever they wanted and
press
it into their hands with a kind of secrecy, even though the seam–
stresses
were entitled to it, and for these favorites would gather to–
gether in a box various snippings, worthless left-overs, as well as a few
useful odds and ends, and then, already blissful, would beckon to them
&om
a little distance behind Blumfeld's back and in return get bon–
bon$
popped into their mouths. To be sure, Blumfeld soon put an end
to
this
disgraceful state of affairs, and whenever the seamstresses ar–
rived,
drove the assistants into the cubicle. For a long time they con–
idered this a great injustice, and in defiance deliberately broke their
