A miniature film set to classical music. Porcelain figurines of a shepherdess, a chimney sweep, a mandarin, and a satyr stand on a mahogany cabinet. When the figurines come to life, it turns out that both the young chimney sweep and the satyr are in love with the shepherdess. When night falls, the chimney sweep and the shepherdess decide to run away. Wandering around a huge room, they come across a Chinese shadow play performed for characters from a deck of cards. In the play, the young lovers are forcibly separated by their families. Terrified by the meaning of the play, they run out of the room. The noise wakes up the satyr, who tries to prevent them from escaping. Satyr throws magical lightning bolts and destroys the mandarin's magic ball. The shepherdess and chimney sweep decide to leave their safe world.