It occurred to him how the landlady had done her best to make him comply with the report, and how he had stood firm. Her effort had not been straightforward, of course; secretly she had at the same time been deterring him from the report, and in the end it was impossible to say whether he had stood firm or given in. She was scheming by nature, apparently working aimlessly like the wind, following some remote and alien bidding that could never be discerned.

The Castle by Franz Kafka