Nicholas Laughlin's blog etc.

An unwritten story by Kafka

A man who cannot sleep goes for a long walk in the early morning. He rambles through the city, not paying attention to the neighbourhoods he passes through. Then he stumbles and sees at his feet a ladder. It is three times as long as he is tall. So he picks it up and continues until, entering a square, he sees a mark on the paving-stones indicating this is where he must start climbing. Balancing the ladder on the air he tries to climb, but each time it slips and he must leap off to avoid falling. He tries to climb faster and faster and even manages to ascend to the fifth or sixth rung, but each time the ladder slips. The sun is up by now; the square, which happens to be at the centre of the city, is filled with street-sweepers, schoolchildren, clerks, housewives, elderly strollers, citizens hurrying about their business. The man climbs faster and faster.