Raffaele, a Neapolitan student, get the news that his beloved grandmother Sabella is dying. He immediately goes to Pollena to be beside her.

Paris 1838, Prince Rodolphe vows on the deathbed of his friend Matilde to find Germain, the woman's son kidnapped by his father at birth. Disguised as a tramp, he wanders the city's slums encountering various characters who either help or hinder him.