A nearly invisible little Buddhist monk longs to escape his home in South Korea and explore the Western world, of which he has only a vague yet grand idea. He begins to secretly immerse himself in the canon of Western culture: art, literature, philosophy, theology - oh, what hasn't he studied! When he encounters a French tourist couple and accompanies them on a journey through the country, he is met with unwelcome surprises. A suicidal horse falling from the sky is just one remarkable incident in this whimsically phrased and highly witty philosophical novella filled with turning points and surprises.