"The Departure" (German: "Der Aufbruch") is a short story by

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

. Precisely when it was written is unknown, but it was probably sometime between February 1920 and February 1921. It was published only posthumously, appearing in ''Beschreibung eines Kampfes: Novellen, Skizzen, Aphorismen aus dem Nachlaß'' in 1936. Max Brod edited the volume, and is credited with giving this piece its name.Richard T. Gray, Ruth V. Gross, Rolf J. Goebel ''A Franz Kafka Encyclopedia''.

Greenwood Publishing Group Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...

, 2005. 20. The piece takes the form of a conversation between a servant and his master. The master orders his servant to saddle his horse, but the servant fails to understand. The master then hears a trumpet sound, which his servant does not hear. The master sets about to leave, and the servant asks where he is going. The man's only answer is that his goal is to get away from his present location, rather than to seek out any particular destination.

References

Short stories by Franz Kafka 1920s short stories Short stories published posthumously {{1920s-story-stub