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, 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 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. Some 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."v
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."v
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,
and 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.
--Author unknown. Seleected from Net 153 Sunday Funnies Newsletter.
A Fun, Faith 'n Funny Bone Feature 
