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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. Can I stay here for a night?" The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and 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 again accept him, feed him, and even fix his car. That night, he hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier.
The next morning, he enquires about the noise, 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 to find out about the noise is to become a monk, I want to become a monk. Now tell me, 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. Some forty-five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, "I have travelled 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 say, "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 tells him that the sound is right behind that door. The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He asks for 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 goes on until the man goes through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, and amethyst.
Finally, the monks say, "This is the last key to the last door!" The man is relieved to know the end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound.
. . .But it can't be told to you because you're not a monk!!!
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