QUAKER-ROOTS-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: Genealogy Relevant Humor
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 18:07:48 EST

Fellow Quaker Researchers:

I am attaching what I consider a very funny little story that appeared on
another list, with the genealogy relevance obvious.

Janet Hunter

In an ancient monastery, a new monk arrived to dedicate his life to
subservient solitude and to join the others copying ancient records. The
first thing he noticed was that other monks were copying, by hand, books
that had already been copied by hand. The new monk had to speak up.

"Forgive me, Brother Mark, but copying other copies by hand allows many
chances for error. How do we know we aren't copying someone else's
mistakes? Are they ever checked against the originals?"

Brother Mark was startled! No one had ever suggested that before. "Well,
that is a good point, my son. I will take one of these latest books down to
the vault and study it against its original document." He went deep into the
vault where no one else was allowed to enter and started to study.

The day passed and it was getting late in the evening. The monks were getting
worried about Brother Mark. Finally, the new monk started making his way
through the old vault and after he searched for a while, he heard sobbing.
"Brother Mark?" he called. The sobbing was louder as he came nearer. He
finally found the old monk sitting at a table with both the new copy and the
original ancient book in front of him. It was obvious that Brother Mark had
been crying for a long time. "What is the matter?" asked the concerned new
monk.

"Oh, my Lord," sobbed Brother Mark, "the word is 'CELEBRATE' !!"

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