A husband, after several years of marriage, is a grave disappointment to his wife. He is a diminutive man and says things like "The new day will bring new humiliations". His wife takes on the physically largest person she can find as a lover. The lover -- with an eye on the childless couple's fortune -- asks if he can be adopted, and the wife is gaga over the idea. Sympathetic to his wife's recent unhappiness, the man accepts. The lover moves in, and soon the husband corrupts the physically large person with his artistic nature. One morning, at breakfast, the lover expresses himself with language reminiscent of the husband's, and the wife slaps her young lover across the face. Beside herself with frustration, she walks out on both men.