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.
     
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