He felt a slight itch up on his belly; pushed himself slowly up on his back towards the headboard so that he could lift his head better.

He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections.

One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.