The honest merchant Otec goes bankrupt when he loses the cargo of dowry for the wedding of his ambitious and envious older daughters Málinka and Gábinka with decadent earls. His only chance to raise money is selling the painting of his former wife and mother of the sweet and pure youngest daughter Julie. He travels through the Haunted Wood during the night, but his horse dies and he seeks shelter in the derelict castle of the Beast. He is well received by his host that buys his painting by a fair price. When he is leaving the castle, he takes a rose for Julie from the Beast's rosebush and his host tells that he must pay with his life for the theft of the rose. He asks for permission to return home to give the jewels for his daughters, but he would return to the castle since he is a man of honor. The Beast accepts and tells that his life would be spared whether one of his daughters agrees to come to the castle. When Julie learns the proposal, she travels to the castle to save the life of her father. She is forbidden by the Beast to look at him, but along the lonely days, she falls in love with his voice and kindness.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil