A certain Mr. Mlácen is brought to the asylum, wanting to sell two church bells. He first offers them to merchants in an inn. He claims that he received them as an inheritance from his uncle, but he doesn't know what to do with them. But no one wants to buy them. Because of this, he first finds himself in a commissary and is eventually sent to an asylum. The professor (L. Kopřiva), who believes that Mr. Mlácen suffers from some kind of fixed idea and is mentally ill, promises him that he will buy his two bells back...