As the Austro-Hungarian empire comes closer to defeat in the Great War, a young lieutenant tries to rescue the standards of his Maria Isabell regiment from falling into enemy hands.

Pedro, a shepherd, is sleeping in his Pyrenean mountain hut when his herd is attacked by a lone wolf. He awakens to defend his sheep, and strangles the wolf. In the Catalan lowlands, the construction of a canal is completed and diverts water from the farms and fields of the peasants to support the prized bulls of the landowner, Don Sebastian, marquis of Roccabruno. The request of the peasants for water is arrogantly rejected. He has, however, significant debts and needs money. The rich Amelia plans to marry him, but he offends her. Martha, a “beggar dancer”, has come to the village, and entertains the people. Sebastian sees her and takes her to his castle, enchanted by her beauty and grace. He keeps her as his mistress in a "golden cage"...

Nuremberg durting the time of Albrecht Durer and the famous geographer Martin Behaim: the locksmith Peter Henlein is looking for a way to make bullets more accurate by designing a new form. Just as he welds together two round balls into an elongated shape, he believes he's discovered that his assistant Konrad is trying to alienate his wife from him. There is a struggle, during which Henlein's new kind of bullet strikes him in the chest. The doctor, unaware that there are two bullets lodged in his body, because there was only one shot, only removes one.