shruikanshade
12-16-2009, 02:11 PM
This is a short story inspired by Frans Kafka's Metmorphosis, I suppose it could even be partially considered a rewrite of it. The idea came to me in my frustration at being forced to write endlessly about Kafka's novella for my english lit course - writing this story proved far more entertaining.
Chapter 1:
Social Embetterment
It was not often that Herbert awoke from troubled dreams in quite such a lamentable state of perplexion. Little, however, could be said to be normal about Herbert, as anyone who knew him would testify. Indeed, this particular morning was one of tremendous peculiarity for Herbert, as we shall soon discover; for unbeknownst to him, it had long been decided by powers greater and more terrible than we can imagine, that the distastefully mortal human shell encasing his spirit was embarrassingly unremarkable – after all, when a being is barely distinguishable from five billion others, it becomes difficult to distinguish him or her. Thus it was, then, that, for his own very particular reasons of euphony, Herbert took it upon him to transcend the physical form of his lesser peers, and resolved instead to take the shape of a bumblebee. Sadly, though, there was a part of him rather accustomed to, and indeed content with, his human body, and which had up until now remained most extravagantly unprepared for any insidious plot to usurp it, which explains the confusion he experienced when he first beheld his fuzzy, striped abdomen and membrane-like wings. It must be said, however, that this dissenting fragment of Herbert bore the news rather well, and indeed found itself rather content with the unforeseen rise in social stature, for it cannot in good conscience be said that bees feature upon this Earth in greater number than humans, and thus by dint of his transformation, Herbert had become one-of-a-slightly-less-common-kind than he previously had been.
A moment must here be spared to explain the wider context of these peculiar occurrences: Herbert, for all his dreams of distinction, was in fact a disappointingly unremarkable Argentine, and his abode a humble flat situated unexcitingly within the confines of _____, a dull, grey colonial town which clung stubbornly to the Earth, proudly proclaiming its insipidity to Nobody. In accordance with its trivial standing, _____ had adopted the Spanish tongue for all its denizens. Hebert, however, like every respectable, God-fearing citizen of _____, spoke not one word of the language. And so it was that when his father (a venerable yet blind and deaf mute who, as it happened, spoke beautiful Spanish) came upon him in his altered state, there was much confusion between the two of them, as Herbert was unable to impress upon his father the immense luck by which he had been raised above the level of his former insignificance, whilst the old man himself, being at once blind, deaf and mute, remained as blissfully ignorant of the transformation as he was of his son’s very existence, which he believed to have long since ended by some tragic but respectable, orthodox means.
Herbert, however, was no fool, having retained his human intellect by arcane measures, and swiftly hit upon the notion of flying about the head of his father in a series of carefully choreographed patterns, each more profoundly beautiful than the last, as bees are wont to do whensoever the need to express their inner sentiments strikes them. In doing so, Herbert had hoped to convey the wonderful news of his transformation to his poor father, who sadly, being at once blind and deaf, failed tragically to bear witness to either the inspiring display before his sightless eyes, or the melodic droning of Herbert’s flight, which accompanied and enhanced the magnificent demonstration of interpretive dance. Instead, the old man stumbled blindly yet steadfastly on, mouth wide open in a yawn of truly Homeric proportions, and Herbert, still somewhat clumsy on his newfound wings, suddenly found himself unwittingly incarcerated in the elderly gentleman’s mouth. Perhaps understandably, this caused quite some measure of consternation amidst the two, and each resolved to escape their respective predicament in the most ruthless and efficient possible manner, in accordance with the scriptural teachings which all citizens of _____ hold dear in their hearts.
Now one might be forgiven for thinking this purely physical contest between man and insect rather unjustly balanced in the old man’s favour, but it was in fact Herbert, by dint of his youthful sprightliness and righteous level-headedness, who gained the upper hand, and smote his unfortunate father a terrible blow with his vicious sting, plunging it deep inside a fleshy cheek with nary a thought for the consequences of his actions, whilst the old man, mightily perplexed, stood debating the relative merits of crushing the pitiless intruder betwixt his jaws or with his great, flaccid tongue. The grandness of Herbert’s victory soon waned, however, as the treacherous venom within his sting flung itself gleefully through withered veins and into his father’s ailing heart and addled brain, and exacted the final, fatal blow upon the old man’s life. Thus it was then, that Herbert’s father was cruelly laid low, and his body brought crashing down upon the bed of his very own, long forgotten son, who in his profane ignorance, had plunged the lethal toxin into its final, fleshy dwelling. Herbert, momentarily stunned by the impact of the old man’s collapse (which for his new, fragile form might well have been fatal in itself), took a moment to regain his breath before allowing the enormity of his deed to register in his immensely disproportioned* human intellect, for it was clear even to him - alone, imprisoned and barely conscious inside the closed mouth of his now deceased father - that he had been the final catalyst in the poor man’s demise. Consequently, Herbert became dutifully and decorously horrified at himself for murdering a man so wholly innocent and humble that it might be said that all of Heaven and Earth was owed to him**, and who furthermore had been his father, and as such the wretched insect piously resolved to see to it that never again should such an atrocity be committed, inadvertently or otherwise, just as soon as he discovered a means to emancipate himself from the fleshy tomb wherein he now lay trapped by the very sting that had assisted his wicked deed, and which may yet have proved Herbert’s own demise, if indeed he had not discovered a singularly ingenious agency of escape.
* With regard to his comparatively meagre physical stature.
** Beatitudes. 5:3-5 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
Chapter 1:
Social Embetterment
It was not often that Herbert awoke from troubled dreams in quite such a lamentable state of perplexion. Little, however, could be said to be normal about Herbert, as anyone who knew him would testify. Indeed, this particular morning was one of tremendous peculiarity for Herbert, as we shall soon discover; for unbeknownst to him, it had long been decided by powers greater and more terrible than we can imagine, that the distastefully mortal human shell encasing his spirit was embarrassingly unremarkable – after all, when a being is barely distinguishable from five billion others, it becomes difficult to distinguish him or her. Thus it was, then, that, for his own very particular reasons of euphony, Herbert took it upon him to transcend the physical form of his lesser peers, and resolved instead to take the shape of a bumblebee. Sadly, though, there was a part of him rather accustomed to, and indeed content with, his human body, and which had up until now remained most extravagantly unprepared for any insidious plot to usurp it, which explains the confusion he experienced when he first beheld his fuzzy, striped abdomen and membrane-like wings. It must be said, however, that this dissenting fragment of Herbert bore the news rather well, and indeed found itself rather content with the unforeseen rise in social stature, for it cannot in good conscience be said that bees feature upon this Earth in greater number than humans, and thus by dint of his transformation, Herbert had become one-of-a-slightly-less-common-kind than he previously had been.
A moment must here be spared to explain the wider context of these peculiar occurrences: Herbert, for all his dreams of distinction, was in fact a disappointingly unremarkable Argentine, and his abode a humble flat situated unexcitingly within the confines of _____, a dull, grey colonial town which clung stubbornly to the Earth, proudly proclaiming its insipidity to Nobody. In accordance with its trivial standing, _____ had adopted the Spanish tongue for all its denizens. Hebert, however, like every respectable, God-fearing citizen of _____, spoke not one word of the language. And so it was that when his father (a venerable yet blind and deaf mute who, as it happened, spoke beautiful Spanish) came upon him in his altered state, there was much confusion between the two of them, as Herbert was unable to impress upon his father the immense luck by which he had been raised above the level of his former insignificance, whilst the old man himself, being at once blind, deaf and mute, remained as blissfully ignorant of the transformation as he was of his son’s very existence, which he believed to have long since ended by some tragic but respectable, orthodox means.
Herbert, however, was no fool, having retained his human intellect by arcane measures, and swiftly hit upon the notion of flying about the head of his father in a series of carefully choreographed patterns, each more profoundly beautiful than the last, as bees are wont to do whensoever the need to express their inner sentiments strikes them. In doing so, Herbert had hoped to convey the wonderful news of his transformation to his poor father, who sadly, being at once blind and deaf, failed tragically to bear witness to either the inspiring display before his sightless eyes, or the melodic droning of Herbert’s flight, which accompanied and enhanced the magnificent demonstration of interpretive dance. Instead, the old man stumbled blindly yet steadfastly on, mouth wide open in a yawn of truly Homeric proportions, and Herbert, still somewhat clumsy on his newfound wings, suddenly found himself unwittingly incarcerated in the elderly gentleman’s mouth. Perhaps understandably, this caused quite some measure of consternation amidst the two, and each resolved to escape their respective predicament in the most ruthless and efficient possible manner, in accordance with the scriptural teachings which all citizens of _____ hold dear in their hearts.
Now one might be forgiven for thinking this purely physical contest between man and insect rather unjustly balanced in the old man’s favour, but it was in fact Herbert, by dint of his youthful sprightliness and righteous level-headedness, who gained the upper hand, and smote his unfortunate father a terrible blow with his vicious sting, plunging it deep inside a fleshy cheek with nary a thought for the consequences of his actions, whilst the old man, mightily perplexed, stood debating the relative merits of crushing the pitiless intruder betwixt his jaws or with his great, flaccid tongue. The grandness of Herbert’s victory soon waned, however, as the treacherous venom within his sting flung itself gleefully through withered veins and into his father’s ailing heart and addled brain, and exacted the final, fatal blow upon the old man’s life. Thus it was then, that Herbert’s father was cruelly laid low, and his body brought crashing down upon the bed of his very own, long forgotten son, who in his profane ignorance, had plunged the lethal toxin into its final, fleshy dwelling. Herbert, momentarily stunned by the impact of the old man’s collapse (which for his new, fragile form might well have been fatal in itself), took a moment to regain his breath before allowing the enormity of his deed to register in his immensely disproportioned* human intellect, for it was clear even to him - alone, imprisoned and barely conscious inside the closed mouth of his now deceased father - that he had been the final catalyst in the poor man’s demise. Consequently, Herbert became dutifully and decorously horrified at himself for murdering a man so wholly innocent and humble that it might be said that all of Heaven and Earth was owed to him**, and who furthermore had been his father, and as such the wretched insect piously resolved to see to it that never again should such an atrocity be committed, inadvertently or otherwise, just as soon as he discovered a means to emancipate himself from the fleshy tomb wherein he now lay trapped by the very sting that had assisted his wicked deed, and which may yet have proved Herbert’s own demise, if indeed he had not discovered a singularly ingenious agency of escape.
* With regard to his comparatively meagre physical stature.
** Beatitudes. 5:3-5 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”