An old king wants to save his life by making a pact with death: Death will grant him one year of life for every youth the old king sends him. The king promises his daughter to the young man who can visit the »fiend« in the stone quarry and come back alive. The young sculptor who works in the castle has long since been in love with the princess and wants to be the first to try his luck... A fairy story about love which cannot be impeded by an old man's wickedness, and about death from which no one can buy their freedom.