In ancient Korea lived two brothers: the elder, Nolbu, was greedy and selfish, while the younger, Heungbu, was kind-hearted and humble. When their father died, Nolbu seized the entire family fortune and threw his younger brother out of the house with nothing.

Heungbu and his family lived in great poverty, but he remained kind-hearted through every hardship. One spring, he found a baby swallow that had fallen from its nest with a broken leg. Moved with pity, he gently bandaged its wound and cared for it until it healed and flew back into the sky.

The following autumn, the swallow returned to Heungbu's house and dropped a strange gourd seed before him, as thanks for his kindness. Heungbu planted the seed, and it grew into enormous gourds. When he cut them open, he found gold, jewels, and countless treasures inside, and became wealthy overnight.

Hearing of this, the greedy Nolbu deliberately caught a swallow, broke its leg, and then bandaged it, hoping for a similar reward. Sure enough, a swallow brought him a gourd seed too — but when Nolbu cut open his gourds, out poured trouble and misfortune, and he lost everything he owned.

Heungbu did not rejoice at his brother's misfortune. Instead, he rushed to help him and generously shared his wealth. Nolbu repented, ashamed of his greed and selfishness, and the two brothers lived afterward in love and cooperation. This tale is still told across Korea to teach children the value of kindness and humility.