Hans Giebenrath lives in a sleepy Black Forest village not in the habit of producing prodigies. When the local community discovers that he is beyond doubt a gifted child, they map his future out for him. Pressed toward a path of serious scholarship, Hans is successful in the academic system, but he finds its relentless uniformity crushing, & eventually breaks down in the middle of class. Diagnosed with a "nervous condition," he is sent home by the school - never to return. Back in his simple village, he is finally able to recover when he experiences the delights of both nature & romance, from which his ceaseless studies had always kept him.