The Monks' Secret

A man is driving down the road and his car 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.