Princess Sleeping Beauty is cursed by Tuonettare and falls into a hundred-year sleep, from which she can only be awakened by a kiss from the prince.

Jalmari, who does odd jobs at the harbor, rescues little Risto from being beaten up by older boys. The child is afraid of his violent foster parents and runs away to kind-hearted Jalmari. His foster mother Miina reports the escape to the Salvation Army, whose lieutenant Sirkka finds the boy in Jalmari's shabby cottage. Risto runs away again when they try to return him to his foster parents.

Two children get involved in the adventure as the bustling caretaker Mrs. Aaltoska and crime reporter "Hawkeye" Lipponen start chasing the mysterious criminal league.

Little Matti, who has been living in the countryside with his grandmother, leaves for Helsinki to search for his missing mother, Kerttu. In the city, he is helped by Taneli, a homeless alcoholic artist, and Salme, a girl who lives with her alcoholic aunt.

The story of Pekka Aalto, who lives with his aunt and to whom district judge Anders bequeaths a large estate. No one knows who this young Pekka Aalto is, and the whole truth will not be revealed until six months later in the supplementary will. Anders' sisters do everything they can to prevent Pekka from getting the estate promised to him in the will.