The Tyrol, 1908. After a 20-year absence, Kasper comes home to see his father on his deathbed. He tells him about his life as a Swabian child torn from his home. Years earlier, when his mother's death had left the family in dire straits, his father had resolved to send Kaspar far from home to work as a farmhand. The child had left his region, in the company of many companions in woe.