The Old Monk

A novice monk is appointed to one of the older monasteries.
After settling in, he is assigned the task of assisting the other monks in copying old texts.
This has to be done by hand and is very tedious and mind numbing.
No corrections are allowed. Any mistakes mean starting the text again, from the beginning.

He works studiously for several days, but notices that they are copying the texts from copies, not the original books. This is a bit worrying... So the new monk goes to discuss this with the head monk.
He explains carefully that if there had been a mistake made in the first copy, that error would be then copied into all of the subsequent copies.

The head monk is thoughtful.. "We have been copying this way from the copies for centuries. And you make a good point, my son."
The head monk then leaves and descends into the cellar with one of the copies to check it against the original.

Hours later, nobody has seen him.
They become worried, and one of the monks goes downstairs to look for him.
As he descends, he hears a sobbing coming from the back of the cellar, and there he finds the old monk leaning over one of the original books crying.
He asks what's wrong.

The old monk sobs, "The word is celebrate."