He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript.
So, the new monk goes to the Old 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."
He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held as
archives, 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 down to look for him.
He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing.
"We missed the 'R'! We missed the 'R'! We missed the bloody 'R'!"
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 was... CELEB-R-ATE!" #humour
I once read a book that was well documented saying that there are more changes in the bible than there are words in the bible. most from copying errors and many from changes due to the monk not liking what the text said as it differed from his beliefs. magnify that thousands of times and we now have the Great Book of Mythology called bible.
I'm sure there were lots of other errors, all just reinforced over centuries.
The monks have been monkeying with the text for centuries.....always improving the story.
@EarnestEccentric Maybe both ways depending on the times.