thank you Paul, I can't wait to read this translation. I think this story is about the vermin son being a victim, cf the father hurling apples at Gregor and generally treating him like a thing.

I want to report #2 as the most unwittingly funny comment response ever.

If only Gregor(y) had worked from home, he would not feel like such a bug having to get up and go to work early.

And the burden of a carapace would not be so, when using a lightweight affordable tablet to telecommute.

When I lived in Berlin I learned that the missing piece for most readers of Kafka in English translation is the humor.

My girlfreind at the time thought he was hilarious.

He seems almost quaint in light of NSA revelations of late.

What a wonderful review of translations! Thank you, Paul. You inspired me to return to the story after some decades, and I read until the word in question: Vorahnung, calque "pre-idea," which online wikis translate as, in no particular order, foreboding, foreshadowing, hunch, misgiving, presentiment, apprehension. Whatever works best.
I was struck by the hints of slavery in Gregor's situation. He worked that job because his parents owed money to his boss. After five years, Gregor only had to work 5-6 years more before their debts were settled.

The sentence in German is "schon gestern abend hatte ich eine kleine Vorahnung". "Premonition" is the most direct literal translation of "Vorahnung" but "foreboding" arguably does a better job getting across the frenetic, deranged feeling of the whole paragraph.