Factory owner Dvorský also faces his own share of life's troubles; the supply of kaolin for his factory is running dangerously low. Mayor Pivoňka’s wife is willing to sell her kaolin fields, but only on the condition that Dvorský marries her daughter, Táňa—who, however, has no desire to marry a widower with a four-year-old son. Mrs. Lexová also owns kaolin deposits. Dvorský organizes a puppet show at his villa for his ailing young son. During the night, little Mirek wakes up and goes to the theater to look for a princess puppet; tragically, he accidentally sets the curtain on fire with a candle, and the theater burns down.