Once upon a time, there was a lazy man. He never had steady jobs and no useful skills, but he was always thinking about ways he could striking it rich. His wife kept telling him to learn a useful skill. He would always ask her to give him money for the tuition, but he would spend the money on food, drinks, gambling, and dubious investments.

One day, he saw hundreds of herons standing in a rice field. He thought, if I buy these beautiful birds and breed them at home, I'll no doubt make a lot of money!

He approached the farmer at work and asked if he could buy the herons. The farmer thought, what a fool! But the farmer played along and said, "I'll give you a good deal. I'll sell you all of these herons for merely 300 dollars. Give me the money and the herons are yours. These are smart birds. All you have to do is yell and they'll go home with you."

He gladly paid the farmer, and the farmer left. When he tried to round up the herons, they got frightened by his voice and all flew away.

He realized he was duped and got upset. On his way home, he saw a stray pig and wanted to take out his frustration on the animal. He kicked the pig. The pig fell into a ditch and was knocked unconscious.

He walked on. He saw a bunch of people frantically looking for a missing pig. Then, an idea came to him, and he became very cheerful and rushed home.

He told his wife, "I learned the most amazing skill today. It's worth every penny you gave me. I have learn this ancient art of smell seeking -- I can find any lost item by smelling."

His wife was skeptical, but said, "in that case, I heard that the neighbor's pig was missing, can you find it for them?"

He then walked in front of his worried neighbors and pretended to be smelling everywhere. He traced his path back to where the pig was and yelled, "I found it!"

Everyone was impressed, including his wife. He became an instant celebrity, and people started calling him Heo-pni-sai, or the Nose Master. Of course, Heo-pni-sai knew he had to do something to hold on to this fame. Otherwise, sooner or later people would find out that it was all a hoax.

In order to maintain his credibility of being able to find lost items by smelling, Heo-pni-sai tried to plot jobs for himself to solve. One day, he sneaked into a wealthy man's home, stole a precious silk robe and hid it at a place only he knew.

The silk robe was a treasure to the rich man, and when he could not find it, he became very anxious and would do anything if anyone could find it for him.

Out of desperation, he thought of asking Heo-pni-sai to solve this case. Heo-pni-sai pretended to be reluctant. He gave the reason that smell-seeking would be very draining on his energy.

The rich man then ordered his cook to prepare a feast. Heo-pni-sai ate it all, took a long nap, and finally said "OK! I'm ready!"

As expected, Heo-pni-sai pretended to be smelling around and found the silk robe. The rich man showed his gratitude by rewarding him with silver nuggets.

One day, the emperor's jade seal is missing. He mobilized everyone at the palace but no one could find it. When he heard stories about Heo-pni-sai ability to find missing items, he dispatched a sedan chair to summoned Heo-pni-sai to the palace.

Heo-pni-sai was very nervous. He did not plot the lost item this time. When the emperor finds out he's a fake, he could get his head chopped off! He had no choice but to get in the sedan chair. On the way to the palace, Heo-pni-sai looked out the window and saw a crab trying to eat a snail, and a farmer right behind was about to catch the crab. Thinking out loud, Heo-pni-sai made the comment,

"Stupid crab and snail! Don't you two know you are about to die?"

The sedan chair came to an abrupt halt. The two sedan carriers kneeled down in front of Heo-pni-sai and begged forgiveness,

"Please Sir! Please don't turn us in! We'll do anything, just don't turn us in!"

It turned out that the two carriers happened to be named crab and snail, and they had stolen the emperor's seal under some other politician's instruction. Both had heard of Heo-pni-sai's amazing stories and were nervous to begin with; Heo-pni-sai's words were enough to make them confess.

Heo-pni-sai was in luck again. He said, "I don't know if the emperor would pardon you two for such a big crime. But if you tell me where the seal is and spare me some time and energy looking for it, I just might let you two live." Upon arriving at the palace, Heo-pni-sai of course put on his act and found the seal hidden in a deep well, as the carriers had told him. The emperor was impressed and asked Heo-pni-sai to name his own reward.

Heopnisai named his prizes, including a chance to eat all kinds of royal sweets. But he was still not satisfied. Heo-pni-sai told the emperor that he wanted to go up to the heavenly world and eat the sweets there.

The emperor had no idea how to give such a prize. One of his senior advisors said that he had read ancient books and found out the well kept secret of how to climb up to the heavens. To do so, one need to make a long ladder by stringing together shrimp antennae. The emperor then ordered the whole country's fishermen to make such a ladder.

As soon as the ladder was about finished, one end magically rose up to the sky. Heo-pni-sai was very excited and climbed up. When he climbed to the top end, the ladder was a few steps short. He yelled down to the fishermen on the ground, "Add a few more steps! I'm almost there!"

The Thunder God heard him and mistook what he said to be "Burn the Sky!" The Thunder God was furious and struck Heo-pni-sai with thunder. Heo-pni-sai's body was shattered and fell from the sky. When the pieces hit the ground, they turned into ants -- always after sweets.

    

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