Blumfeld, an Elderly
Bachelor
(Concluded)
Franz Kafka
On his way to the clothing factory, where he is employed, thoughts
of
his
work prevail over everything else. He hastens his step and, de–
spite the delay the boy has caused him, he is the first to arrive at the
office. This office is a room enclosed in glass; it contains a writing
table for Blumfeld, and two reading desks for the assistants under him.
Although these reading desks are as small and narrow as if they were
meant for school children, it is still very crowded in the office, and the
assistants are not allowed to sit down, because then there would no
longer be any place for Blumfeld's chair. Certainly that is very in–
convenient for them, but it also makes it more difficult for Blumfeld
to watch them. Often they lean zealously over their desks, not, indeed,
in order to work, but simply to whisper to one another or even to fall
asleep. Blumfeld gets very annoyed with them, for they come nowhere
near helping him enough in the enormous amount of work he is bur–
dened with. This work consists in supervising the entire dealings in
goods and money with the girls working at home, who are employed
by the factory to produce the more delicate merchandise. To be able
to judge the scope of this work one must have a closer insight into the
whole situation. But since Blumfeld's predecessor has been dead for
several years, no one any longer has such an insight; hence Blumfeld
can not grant any one the right to pass judgment on his work. The
manufacturer, Herr Ottomar, for instance, obviously underestimates
Blumfeld's work; naturally he recognizes the credit Blumfeld has
earned during his twenty years in the factory, and he recognizes it not
only because he has to, but also because he esteems Blumfeld as a
loyal and trustworthy person. Nevertheless, he does undervalue his
work; that is, he thinks it can be organized more simply and hence,
in every respect, more profitably than Blumfeld has done. They say–
and it is not at all unlikely-that Ottomar shows himself so seldom in
Blumfeld's department simply in order to spare himself being annoyed
by the sight of Blumfeld's method of working. No doubt it is dismal
for Blumfeld to be so misunderstood, but there is no help for it; for
he can by no means force Ottomar to spend a month or so uninter-
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