Hick, an unemployed chimney sweep from Munich, has an illegitimate child, Su, with the grumpy convent sister. Su adores her father and dreams of a life together in Tibet. After abolishing the church tax, drinking vast quantities of beer and symbolically separating from his wife, Hick is finally able to "rid the earth of himself": he is struck dead by lightning at the Viktualienmarkt and Su is stabbed to death by her jealous mother. Shortly thereafter, both are reborn in the Tibet of 1662 and find love for each other through Buddhist enlightenment and contemplation.