O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven.
It hath the primal eldest curse upon ‘it,
A brother’s murder.

– William Shakespeare

Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 3. Claudius confesses to being morally diseased and murdering his brother, the first and oldest "curse". This is a reference to the biblical story of Cain who killed his brother Abel. Using a metaphor, he compares his crime to something foul that smells all the way to heaven.