It was pitch dark in the middle of the night, when silence normally rules, except tonight the unrelenting tap-tap-tap of a hammer and chisel made sleep a distant and unachievable dream. A fearless thief, who had managed to dodge the authorities, was patiently digging a crawl space under a garden wall, trying to get access to the house within. The house's owner, who had been ill for some time, lay sleepless on his bed tossing and turning in pain. The constant tapping guaranteed that he would find no rest.
Frustrated and misty in the head because of his fever, the owner forced himself to creep out of bed with great difficulty. He was intent on finding out the source of the uninterrupted and annoying noise. He opened the window and leaned out to see if he could spot anything suspicious in the dark.
“Who's there in the dead of the night?” he screamed, indeed expecting a response.
The tapping stopped momentarily but resumed at a greater speed in no time. The owner, much to his dismay, couldn't figure out where the noise came from or what its source could be! Once again, he shouted into the darkness: “Who's there? What're you doing making such a racket? Digging a well?”
“No, my friend,” replied the sinister thief disdainfully, “I'm playing the drum for your pleasure!”
“But that's not the sound of a drum I hear!” replied the owner, confounded.
“You will tomorrow, when you hear the screaming and shouting of your household and that of your neighbors!” said the thief cunningly, implying that fools truly deserve what comes to them.