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, 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 accept him, feed him, 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. 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.” 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.” The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He asks the monks, and they said that he would have to use the key to open each door. The monks give him the first key, and he opens the door. Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man walks back a few seconds to get the stone key. The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He walks back to the monks for a few minutes, and they provide the key. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. So the man walked back for a few hours, and the monks gave him the key. Behind that door is another door, this one made of emerald. He walked back for hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. The monks give him the key and he walked hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He opened the door only to find a door of silver. It’s locked so he walked back for days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. The monks give him the key and he walks for days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He unlocked the door to find a door of topaz. He walked back for weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He then proceeded to walk back to the topaz door for weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He got to the door when he realized that he forgot the key. So he walked back for weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He received the key and walked to the door for weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He unlocked the door to find another door of amethyst locked. So the man walked for months and months and months, weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He got the key and walked back for months and months and months, weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He unlocked the door to find a pool and found that the sound seemed to be coming from it. He walked back to the monks for years and years and years, months and months and months, weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He asked the monks for a scuba diving set and they provide. He walks back for years and years and years, months and months and months, weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He dives under the water and sees a door. So he walks back to the monks for decades and decades and decades and decades, years and years and years, months and months and months, weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. Finally, the monks say, “This is the last key to the last door.” The man is relieved to no end. He walks back to the door for decades and decades and decades, years and years and years, months and months and months, weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He got to the door and realized that his oxygen tank is low. So he walked to the monks for decades and decades and decades, years and years and years, months and months and months, weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. The monks give him a new oxygen tank and he walks back for decades and decades and decades, years and years and years, months and months and months, weeks and weeks and weeks, days and days and days, hours and hours and hours, minutes and minutes and minutes, and seconds and seconds and seconds. He swims underwater, 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. Hello random stranger, I’m surprised you made it this far.
