Warning to others: this story takes several minutes to read, but ends abruptly and pointlessly without any sort of resolution.
Perhaps the page got truncated? For me, it ends with word "funny".
I don't believe I've reread it since its original appearance, and I refuse to do so now — for fear of discovering how little I have improved in almost four decades. Those who claim that it's their favorite story get a cooler and cooler reception over the passing years.
As CamperBob noted below, the last word is indeed "funny."
There are a lot of better SF stories that neither you nor I will live long enough to get around to, including many written by the same author at a more-mature stage in his career. This one can safely be skipped in favor of one of those.
It's obviously not the best Arthur C. Clarke story, but I don't think it's a waste of time to read it.
Exactly, and the ending is only one of several weak aspects. So why defend the story with a vague insult to another reader's acumen when they suggest, justifiably, that time spent reading it may be better spent elsewhere?
Someone unfamiliar with Clarke who reads this piece of junk may decide they don't want to waste even more time with The Nine Billion Names of God or The Sentinel or The Star, and I'm sure we agree that'd be a shame.