Spare Change

Monk-eying Around

Posted by Bryan

Another from the inbox:

The new young monk is assigned to help the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the order by hand. He notices that they are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript.

So, the new monk goes to the Abbot to ask him about it, pointing out that if a monk made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up, and would be continued in all future copies.

The Abbot replies, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son."

So, the Abbot goes down into the caverns under the monastery where the original manuscript has been in a locked vault, unopened for hundreds of years.

Hours go by, and nobody sees the old Abbot. The young monk gets worried and goes down to find him. He finally finds him banging his head against the floor. His forehead is bloody and bruised, and he is crying uncontrollably.

The young monk asks, "What's wrong, father?" In a choking voice, the old man replies, "The word is celebrate."