The Importance of Proofreading

A new monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to help the other monks in copying the old texts by hand. He notices, however, that they are copying copies, and not the original books.

So, the new monk goes to the abbot to ask him about this. He points out that if there was an error in the first copy, that error would be continued in all of the other copies. The abbot says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son."

The abbot goes down into the cellar with one of the copies to check it against the original. Hours later, nobody has seen him. So, one of the monks goes downstairs to look for the abbot. He hears sobbing coming from the back of the cellar and finds the abbot leaning over one of the original books crying. He asks the abbot what's wrong.

"The word is celebrate," says the abbot.