A serious man joins a certain monastery, in which monks take a strict vow of silence. However, every 10 years, each is allowed to break his silence, and speak two words to the abbot.
Ten years pass, and it’s the monk’s first audience with, and opportunity to speak to, the abbot. After a moment he says, “Food bad.” The abbot blesses, and then dismisses him.
Ten years later the same monk says, “Bed hard.” The abbot blesses, and then dismisses him.
Yet another decade later—now thirty years after the monk’s first vows—he again has an audience with the abbot. He says to the abbot, “I quit.”
“I’m not surprised,” the head monk says. “You’ve been complaining ever since you got here.”