A
new monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to help the other monks in
copying the old texts by hand. He notices, however, that they are copying copies,
not the original books. So, the new monk goes to the head monk to ask him about
this. He points out that if there were an error in the first copy, that error
would be continued in all of the other copies.
The
head monk says "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but
you make a good point, my son." So, he goes down into the cellar with one
of the copies to check it against the original.
Hours
later, nobody has seen him. So, one of the monks goes downstairs to look for
him. He hears a sobbing coming from the back of the cellar, and finds the old
monk leaning over one of the original books crying. He asks what's wrong.
The
old monk sobs, "The word is celebrate."
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