On a fine sunny morning in the year 1829 Peter Schlemeil who has set out from home in order to become rich, arrives in the town of Hay. He encounters a man by the name of Mr. X who talks him in to selling him his shadow in return for an exhaustible bag of gold that will last him an eternity. Peter Schlemeil cannot believe his luck until he discovers that a man without a shadow is a man to be shunned by the people in Hay. When he falls deeply and madly in love with Madeleine he wants to marry her but fears he can not stroll out with her arm in arm in the sun with her as the people of Hay would storm him. He sends his servant to search for Mr. X to see if he can have his shadow back. He finds Mr X. who sends him back to Peter Schlemeil to tell him that one year hence he shall have another little deal for him.