Endless ... Moral? {Insp}

From: Unicorn <unicorn_at_indenial.com>
Date: Sun Jan 23 2005 - 08:36:39 EST

"Endless ... Moral?"

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,
even fix his car.  As the man tries to fall asleep, he
hears a strange sound.  The next morning, he asks
the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We
can't tell you.  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 accept him, feed him, even fix his car.  That night,
he hears the same strange noise that he had heard
years earlier.

The next morning, he asks what it is, but the monks reply,
"We can't tell you.  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.  Forty-five years later, he
returns and knocks on the door of the monastery.  He says,
  "I have traveled the earth and have found what you have
asked for.  There are 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 now 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 right behind that door."

The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked.  He
says, "Real funny. 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 demands 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. So it went until the man had gone through
doors of emerald, silver, topaz, amethyst... Finally, the monks
say, "This is the last key to the last door."

The man is relieved to no end.  He unlocks the door, turns
the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the
source of that strange sound.

But I can't tell you what it is because you're not a monk.

Received on Sun Jan 23 08:36:47 2005