Bob was now Brother Robertus, and this was his first day at the monastery. He went out to the bean fields with 20 of the other Brothers at 5 AM, and weeded in the hot sun. At 8 AM a bell rang, all the field workerschanted, “morning,” and they filed off to breakfast. Then they toiled from 10 AM to 2 PM, and the bell sounded again. The monks chanted ”afternoon,” and went off to lunch. They worked from 4 PM to 7 PM when the bell sounded once more.
By this time Brother Robertus was sure he had caught on. He stood up and intoned, “evening.” Everyone else was silent. Finally, one Brother said, “Someone chanted, ‘evening.’ He must be a stranger.”