Peppino Bardellotti, a widower, lives in Milan with his four daughters and ex sister-in-law Matilde, who urges girls to settle down by marrying a wealthy man.
Mr Pastry's social climbing daughter, president of a society for the rehabilitation for ex-convicts, hides the fact that her father is himself a prisoner.
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.
A member of the Bunco squad introduces the Case of the Gullible Woodpecker. It seems that Woody wins a pot full of dough that con man Buzz Buzzard notices and sets his sights on stealing.
Murders, with victims dying from spines broken by brute strength, erupt in the city and the killers, when encountered, walk away unharmed by police bullets which strike them.
When the great potato famine hits Ireland, the diaspora begins as thousands emigrate. Among those leaving the Emerald Isle is Katie O'Neill and her husband, who decide that the promised land is South Africa and make their way there.
A story about the passengers of the inland waterway Heinävesi. Salli, the daughter of the captain, dreams of an acting career and joins a performance by a theater company traveling on a ship.
Ghosts and premonitions; a married woman discovers the true love of her life while being plagued with supernatural phenomena relating to her imminent murder.