[wordup] Shouldn't we copy from the originals?

[Adam Shand]

Via: Mike <mikem at alaska.net>

A new young monk arrives at the monastery.  He is assigned to help the
other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. 
He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not
from the original manuscript.  So, the new monk goes to the abbot to
question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in
the first copy, it would never be picked up. In fact, that error would
be continued in all of the subsequent 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 dark
caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscript is held in
a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years.

Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot.  So, the young monk gets
worried and goes downstairs to look for him.  He sees him banging his
head against the wall. His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is
crying uncontrollably.

The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, father?"

With a choking voice, the old abbot replies, "The word is celebrate."