A new young
monk arrives at
the monastery. He is assigned to help the other monks in copying the old canons
and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are
copying from copies, not from the original manuscript.
So, the new monk goes to the
head abbot to question this, pointing out that if
someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up.
In fact, that error would be continued in all subsequent
copies.
The head abbot replies, "We have been copying from the copies for
centuries, but you make a good point, my son."
So, the
head monk goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where
the original manuscript is held in a
locked vault that hasn't been opened for
hundreds of years. Hours go by, and nobody sees the old abbot.
So, the young new monk gets worried and goes downstairs to look for the elder
monk. He sees him banging his head against the
floor. His forehead is all bloody
and bruised, and he is crying uncontrollably.
The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, father?"
With a choking voice, the old abbot replies,
"The word is
celebrate."
monk arrives at
the monastery. He is assigned to help the other monks in copying the old canons
and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are
copying from copies, not from the original manuscript.
head abbot to question this, pointing out that if
someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up.
In fact, that error would be continued in all subsequent
copies.
locked vault that hasn't been opened for
hundreds of years. Hours go by, and nobody sees the old abbot.
banging his head against the
floor. His forehead is all bloody
and bruised, and he is crying uncontrollably.