The Monk

[SIMMOIS200SE]

The Monk

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. A sound not Like anything he's ever heard

before. The Sirens that nearly seduced Odysseus

into crashing his ship comes to his mind.

He doesn't sleep that night. He tosses and turns

trying to figure out what could possibly be making

such a seductive 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."

Distraught, the man is forced to leave.

Years later, after never being able to forget that

sound, the man goes back to the monastery and pleads

for the answer again.

The monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a

monk."

The man says, "If the only way I can find out what is

making that beautiful sound is to become a monk, then please, make me

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 grains of sand. When you find these answers,

you will have become a monk."

The man sets about his task.

After years of searching he returns as a gray-haired

old man and knocks on the door of the monastery. A

monk answers. He is taken before a gathering of all

the monks.

"In my quest to find what makes that beautiful

sound, I traveled the earth and have found what you

asked for:

By design, the world is in a state of perpetual

change. Only *** knows what you ask. All a man can

know is himself, and only then if he is honest and

reflective and willing to strip away self deception."

The monks reply, "Congratulations. You have become a

monk. We shall now show you the way to the mystery of

the sacred sound."

The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the

head monk says, "The sound is beyond that door."

The monks give him the key, and he opens the door.

Behind the wooden door is another door made of

stone.

The man is given the key to the stone door and he

opens it, only to find a door made of ruby.

And so it went that he needed keys to doors of

emerald, pearl and diamond.

Finally, they come to a door made of solid gold. The

sound has become very clear and definite. The monks

say, "This is the last key to the last door."

The man is apprehensive to no end. His life's wish

is behind that door!

With trembling hands, he unlocks the door, turns the

knob, and slowly pushes the door open. Falling to his

knees, he is utterly amazed to discover the source of

that haunting and seductive sound......

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

[T7RY B]

At least we know he wasn't a Lexus owner. Cos' they don't break down :winky:

[aido]

Love it :D

[tdiplc]

You mean I have to start counting the grass ?

[aido]

No you plonker the world is in a state of perpetual change :P