[1][2][3] A poor wandering puppeteer gives a performance in a roadside inn to pay for a pint of beer and dinner.

Having defeated the witch, the soldier thereby breaks a spell which caused a good wizard to turn into a black cat.

Before him lies the path to the kingdom, where he immediately encounters a huge queue of princes - in a small state a princess is being given away for marriage despite her wishes.

The soldier summons a wizard who gives him a clue, but after a seemingly successful exam, the king still orders the execution of the serviceman.

At the trial the soldier asks to fulfill his last wish - to smoke, and using the flint summons the same magician who frees the hero.

The young man is promoted to general and is given a new uniform, but he intends to leave the inhospitable kingdom because the girl does not love him.

In the morning the daughter of the innkeeper informs the puppeteer about her decision to stay - she can not leave her father and her home.