>
>----- Subject: FW: The Monk
>
>
>A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to
>the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, My car broke down. Do you think
>I could stay the night?
>
>
>The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As
>the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound; a sound like no
>other that he has ever heard. The next morning, he asks the monks what the
>sound was, but they say, We can't tell you because you're not a monk.
>
>
>
>The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way.
>Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery.
>
>
>
>The monks again accept him, feed him, and even fix his car..
>
>
>That night, he hears the same strange mesmerizing sound that he had heard
>years
earlier.
>
>
>The next morning, he asks what the sound was, but the monks reply,
>
>We can't tell you because you're not a monk.
>
>
>
>The man says, all right, all right. I'm dying to know.
>
>If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to become a monk, how
>do I become a monk?
>
>The monks reply, you must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of
>grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these
>numbers, you will become a monk.
>
>
>The man sets about his task. Some forty-five years later, he returns and
>knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, I have travelled the earth and
>devoted my life to the task demanded and have found what you had asked for.
>There are 371,145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382
>sand pebbles on the earth.
>
>
>
>The monks reply, "Congratulations, you are correct, and you are now
>considered a
monk.
>We shall now show you the way to the sound."
>
>The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, the sound
>is behind that door.
>
>
>The man reach for the knob, but the door is locked. He asks "May I have the
>key?"
>
>
>The monks give him the key, and he opens the door.
>
>
>Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone... The man requests the
>key to the stone door.
>
>The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of
>ruby. He demands another key from the monks, who provide it. Behind that
>door is another door, this one made of sapphire. And so it went on until the
>man had gone through doors of emerald,...
>
>
>...silver, topaz, and amethyst.
>
>.
>.
>.
>Finally, the monks say, This is the key to the last door.
>
>
>The man is relieved to be at the end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob,
>and behind that door he is astonished to
find the source of that strange
>sound. It is truly an amazing and unbelievable sight.
>
>
>.. But I can't tell you what it is because you're not a monk.
>
>
>
>
>DON'T SWEAR AT ME;
>I'M STILL HUNTING FOR THE IDIOT WHO STARTED THIS !
>
>
>
>
>
>
