Duparquet is the controller of Les Halles, and plays matchmaker between the young farm-girl Ciboulette and Antonin, a young spoiled aristocrat.

The tale of a rich, flaky poet and his servant who both join the army and wind up in the same barracks.

François Chotard, wholesale grocer, gives his daughter in marriage to Julien Collinet, a writer who prefers dreaming to working, a situation conducive to quarrels between the son and the father- in-law. Until the day when Julien receives the Prix Goncourt, prestigious literary award. Chotard has a sudden change of heart.