I've never seen Klamm; but of course they know very well what he looks like in the village, some people have seen him, they've all heard of him, and from these glimpses and rumours, as well as some deliberately misleading reports, a picture of Klamm has emerged that is probably generally accurate. But only generally; otherwise it varies, and perhaps it doesn't even vary as much as Klamm's actual appearance. He is supposed to look quite different when he arrives at the village and when he leaves, different before and after he's been drinking beer, different when he's awake and when he's asleep, different when he's alone and when he's talking to someone - and then, as you can imagine, almost completely different up at the Castle. And even when he's in the village there are reports of quite substantial differences, differences in his height, his shape, his weight, his beard. Of course, all these differences are due to magic, they are quite understandable because they depend on the present mood, the level of excitement, the countless degrees of hope or despair on the part of the observer, who is in any case only able to catch a momentary glimpse of Klamm.

The Castle by Franz Kafka