What would you do if you found 20,000 Danish kroner? Just like that? In a woman's purse? And what if no one was looking for it? In other words, if you had the chance to pocket 20,000 Danish kroner, tax-free? Wouldn't you be tempted? The main character in this film is tempted. He is a taxi driver and has a happy family life, but he is struggling financially.

Composer John Berger is plagued by marital problems and struggling with a deadline for the music for an operetta. When he is visited by the muse of music, Polyhymnia, the melodies begin to flow, but she also causes a lot of complications in his earthly life. Like John's wife Irene, she falls in love with flight lieutenant Harry, while her father Zeus looks on disapprovingly and decides to intervene. Meanwhile, the premiere of the operetta is fast approaching.

The old doctor, Dr. Bonnesen, is a tired old man. He wants to sell his practice and has been corresponding with the young doctor Jens Winther. Jens arrives in Fjorslev to discuss a possible takeover of Bonnesen's practice and his patients. Bonnesen's beautiful young housekeeper, Anne Mette Krogh, welcomes him. Bonnesen takes a liking to Jens Winther and makes him an offer he cannot refuse.

Two young skippers, Hans Tønnesen and Poul Nielsen, have a small cargo ship that transports freight from Copenhagen to the provinces. Poul and Hans are in love with the same girl, Margit, who is the daughter of master baker Bonnekamp. However, Margit chooses Poul. On their wedding night, Hans cannot sleep. He sits in his boat and hears a splash in the water. He jumps into the water and rescues a young girl, Kristiane, from drowning. She is distraught because she is pregnant and does not dare tell her parents. Hans offers to marry her and acknowledge paternity, but on the way to his own wedding, his engine stalls.

We follow two randomly selected destinies: two young girls whose data could have been taken straight from the police files, which contain so many human documents—many sad, but also many joyful, because a large proportion of those who were initially weak and frivolous are saved from the temptations of the big city.

A lawyer has a wife and a mistress. He loves them both equally high and together, they're the perfect wife.

A train pulls into Copenhagen Central Station, and 16-year-old Dorte gets off. She needs to find some people on a road somewhere near Svanemøllen. Here, in a beautiful villa, lives Asger Haensen, a director who runs a large company in Copenhagen. He lives with his two children, Margot and Steen. Asger Haensen lives a superficial and overly expensive life—among other things, he has an expensive girlfriend. In the evening, the doorbell rings at the director's house. Outside stands Dorte with a letter that must be delivered to him personally. The letter reveals that Dorte is the result of a small youthful mistake on the part of the director. So Dorte stays in the house. Dorte does not quite fit into the elegant home. But she is feisty—and brings life to the house!

The young siblings at the Hejrenæs estate, Vibeke and Hans-Henrik, have always gotten along well, so Hans-Henrik decides to celebrate his sister's 21st birthday with a big party at the estate. During the party, the siblings' childhood friend, Ulla, provokes an engagement with Hans-Henrik, and at the same party, Vibeke learns that she is "only" an adopted child. From that day on, Vibeke realizes that she is in love with Hans-Henrik, and suddenly the stage is set for a sharp conflict between Ulla and Vibeke.

At Helene Dragstrup's 20th birthday, her grandmother Margrethe decides that it is time that Helene learns something about life outside the protective walls of the estate.