Ryszard Malewicz, a young inventor, is out of work. He had been waiting for months for a response from the ministry to which he had sent plans for his invention, an explosive of extraordinary power. Desperate Ryszard is comforted by his mother and his fiancée Maria.
Getsel, a wandering Purim player, comes to a Galica village and gets a job with Reb Nuchem, the shoemaker. He falls in love with Esther, the shoemaker's daughter, but knows she is in love with a wandering circus player. However, Getzel is content in his work and dreams. Esther's father inherits a fortune and attempts to marry her to a man of his choice, but she flees with Getzel to Warsaw, where he meets and marries the circus player. Getzel returns to the village and is blamed for Esther's disappearance until she shows up and explains what happened. Getzel shoulders his pack and wanders on to another village.
