An adaptation of Machado de Assis' eponymous short story, preceded by a short telling of the author's life and works.

After his father's death, a prosperous banker, Fernando, takes over the bank with the support of his family and shareholders. But his actions lead to bankruptcy, and he faces the family's hardship. With his assets auctioned off, Fernando lives in a boarding house until he faces bankruptcy proceedings and is arrested.

João Ninguém is a humble composer who made the waltz "Sonhos Azuis" as a gift to his girlfriend on her birthday. To give it to her, he asked for help from a friend, but on the way, an accident happens and puts at risk not only the relationship, but also João's life and career.

A poor woman passes herself as singer that just arrives from Frances and becames a sensation on Rio de Janeiro's high society.

An Argentinian and a Brazilian fall in love and at the same time, their couples do the same thing between them.

As soon as Norma decides to get married, Sonia finds herself with only one option: to end her successful partnership with her friend who is about to get engaged. Saddened by the loss of the prestige she had earned over the years working alongside Norma, Sonia tries hard to raise any amount of money she can to put together a new musical number for herself.

A wealthy sugar mill owner, widowed and living with his only son, suffers from profound melancholy. To alleviate his suffering, he seeks entertainment in the form of any jerk willing to lend a hand. Among the many candidates his secretary presents to fill the "position", a certain "Penguin", who along with his sister "Picolé" lives on the favela hill under the protection of a kind Portuguese shopkeeper, completely pleases the "sovereign" of sugar. With "Penguin"'s entry into the court as the sugar king's "fool", great transformations take place in the home of the wealthy misanthrope.

A hard working man goes to São Paulo to look for his twin brother unaware that he's famous for his lazyness.

In a séance, Menezes' great-great-grandfather is brought back to life in present day (1936), over a century after his death at age 26. A free-spirited womanizer, he starts causing all sorts of trouble for the wealthy, respectable family of his descendants.

An orphan is sent to a reformatory where the inmates receive an extremely repressive education. While visiting the place, a teacher hears the orphan's indignant complaints about the mistreatment. Impressed, he adopts this 16-year-old girl, who at 24 graduated in Social Sciences. Now she has a name: Vitória dos Santos, and her concern is to help the girls who, like her, suffer in the city's asylums.