This is really a great suspense...
Read it carefully to know what it is.
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 again 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,
u 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.
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 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.
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