Letters to Milena

  fn3 A children’s game (Czech).

  fn4 Here, for the first time, Kafka employs the familiar Du, a form he adopts and uses consistently beginning with the subsequent letter.

  fn5 Viennese for elegant, dapper.

  fn6 Beloved, or sweetheart.

  fn7 Nutno: (it is) necessary; abych: so that I (Czech).

  fn8 Blockhead (Czech).

  fn9 Tajemník: secretary; tajemné: secret (Czech).

  fn10 Wardrobe (German).

  fn11 Trotzdem: nevertheless, in spite of that; trotz: defiance, spite (German).

  fn12 Jasné: clear; nezapletené: uncomplicated (Czech).

  fn13 The signature reads: “Franz wrong, F wrong, Yours wrong / nothing more, calm, deep forest.”

  fn14 Strach: fear; toucha: longing (Czech).

  fn15 Written the day before Kafka left Prague to meet Milena in Gmünd.

  fn16 Sofort: at once (German).

  fn17 Schody: staircase (Czech).

  fn18 Czech: ‘You mean she doesn’t know what movies are? They’re flicks.’ Presumably a caption from a newspaper cartoon.

  fn19 Bolí … : pain inside the forehead and temples; potírajíce se: struggling with one another; volné místo: free seat; náměstí: place; pronásledujte jen: just go ahead and persecute (Czech).

  fn20 Here Kafka has reverted to the formal Sie.

  fn21 A punishment involving imprisonment, hard labor, and exile (Russian).

  fn22 In this letter Kafka again uses the familiar Du.