The Sound of Despair
A man was in despair.
Desperate for someone to notice him, he shouted and repeatedly banged on the surfaces around him.
After a while, he heard knocking from the other side, as though someone were answering him.
Thinking he was saved, he called for help even louder.
But a conversation he heard between the knocks plunged him into even deeper despair.
The knocking continued afterwards.
Why?
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Hints
Use as many hints as you need, one at a time.
Hint 1
The man was trapped in a cramped space and could not get out by himself.
Hint 2
The people on the other side were working on the thing that confined him.
Hint 3
The man thought that if they knew he was alive, they would help him.
Check the Answer
Answer
The man was trapped inside a coffin.
Believing that he had been mistaken for dead, he desperately shouted and banged on the coffin to let people know he was alive.
The noise outside was the sound of nails being hammered into the coffin lid. He thought someone had noticed him and was trying to help, but between the blows he heard a conversation.
“He’s awake.”
“That’s why I told you to bury him while he was still asleep.”
The people outside had known all along that he was alive. They intended to bury him alive anyway.
The man lost even his last hope—that letting them know he was alive would save him—and sank into deeper despair.
Explanation
When the man woke up, he was inside a cramped coffin. The lid would not open, and he could not get out by himself.
He thought he had been mistaken for dead and was about to be buried.
It was terrifying, but surely someone outside would let him out if they realised he was alive. He shouted desperately and repeatedly banged on the inside of the coffin.
Then he heard knocking from outside.
At last, someone had noticed. Someone was trying to open the lid for him.
Believing this, he called for help even louder. But a conversation he heard during pauses in the work shattered his hope.
“He’s awake.”
“That’s why I told you to bury him while he was still asleep.”
They had put him in the coffin while he was unconscious and intended to bury him alive. They had made no mistake about whether he was alive or dead.
The noise that had made him think help had arrived was the sound of nails being hammered into the coffin lid.
His voice had reached them.
They knew he was alive.
And still, the hammering did not stop.
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