Two short stories by Karel Čintamani a ptáci An avid collector of carpets, MUDr. Vitásek discovers a unique piece in Mrs. Severýnová's junk shop - a Persian carpet with a pattern of birds. As a connoisseur, he knows that there are only three of these carpets in existence and they are all owned by different monarchs. Severyn has no idea how rare it is, but the carpet is not for sale. It was saved by the wealthy widow Zanelli, who travels all over the world and rarely visits Prague. Vitásek confides in his lawyer friend Bimbal and with his help tries to retrieve the rare piece. Tales of a marriage fraudster The police headquarters is on high alert as marriage frauds proliferate. The hallmark of the culprit is violin playing and gold teeth. Inspector Pigeon of the train service eventually apprehends the fraudster, Vincent Plichta. The serious criminal doesn't resist arrest, he just bills the costs and goes to serve his sentence. After a while, marriage fraud is reported again.

An anthology in three jazz-infused tales: an idealistic student’s romance with a pragmatic trumpeter; a vibraphonist’s urgent journey ending in tragedy; and drummer Honza’s moral dilemma as he confronts how far he’ll go to obtain his dream kit.

A man boards on a tram together with a naked boy. Somebody has stolen the boy's clothes when he was out bathing, leaving him with not even change for the tram. The man has taken care of him and is taking him home. At first nobody notices them but as soon as the people realize they are seeing something out of the ordinary they begin to react to the situation. Some are content with the simple explanation as to why the boy is naked. Others are agitated, for they see the whole situation as something unseemly. An ordinary incident, which might have been passed over in silence, results in a heated argument that turns into a fight. More and more people join in the fight until the police are forced to intervene.

It is the summer holiday and little Mísa Horák has taken a few animals from the school's so-called "Corner of Living Nature" home to care for. But when he brings home two Angora rabbits, a starling, a little monkey, a tortoise and a small crocodile, his parents order him to take them away. He is helped by Káta, who offers to place the animals in the child's room of her family's apartment. Mísa leaves for her friend where the animals will hopefully be able to stay. Káta goes shopping. In the meantime, Káta's younger sister Minka wakes up and begins to play with the animals, who gradually run off in disarray.

At the centre of the story is Miss Lenka Stříbrná. An attractive, but a little strange young woman. The gym teacher Vasek is shy and very clumsy with women. So he asks his friend, the editor Karel, for help. The experienced seducer willingly seizes the opportunity and tries to win Lenka for himself, but all his efforts fail due to her stubbornness. Gradually, this comedy-tinged love etude gives way to drama. It culminates at an editorial party at the Slap Dam, where all the characters in the story meet unexpectedly and editor Leden finally understands what Miss Silver's flirtation was all about.

An unemployed young man in the second half of the 1930s, he tries various ways of making a living and, under the influence of a group of communist youth, eventually goes to Spain as an inter-brigadista...

Tomáš, an unscrupulous Prague taxi driver who is involved in stealing antiques and smuggling them abroad, lives with his devoted mistress, but he is always thinking of his destined love, Kamila, who has emigrated to Switzerland. It is for her that he plans a robbery of a rare stamp, which he convinces his naive brothers to commit. The seemingly simple theft goes wrong and almost ends in the death of an innocent man. The planned escape across the border, in which a slick Swiss businessman plays a key role, also fails...

A group of union members, impressed by the First World Festival of Democratic Youth, held in Prague in 1947, decide to found a dance troupe. However, they are looking for someone who can teach them everything they need...

The happenings in a shoe factory serve as a not very thinly veiled examination of the pros and cons of both socialism and democracy.

The movie describes proletarian life in the Czech Lands after World War I.