Having helped his brother King Edward IV take the throne of England, the jealous hunchback Richard, Duke of Gloucester, plots to seize power for himself.
While her new husband is away looking for work, the wife loses the child she was expecting and uses another woman's baby as a substitute so she won't have to upset her spouse when he returns.
Krestan Serbin, a 64-year-old Sorbian farm-worker, considers himself non-political. He owns a few acres, a few pigs and a cow, and intends to pass all this on to his daughter Lena.
Since the capable landlady Maria bears a striking resemblance to the ruler of a miniature state, she is tasked with playing the role of princess during her absence.
A young woman welcomes a stranger into her home who pretends to have an accident. After a fleeting romance, the two marry and she immediately inherits a fortune due to the death of her uncle.