Mynheer Willem van Dirck, a goldsmith in 16th Century Brussels, is driven into a fury when his daughter dies giving birth to a boy with dwarfism. The boy, Hugo, is shunned by both his father and grandfather; both refuse to care for him. His struggling great-aunt loses track of him when he is a baby.
Hugo is swept through the country as a troupe of players' spectacle on par with the dancing bear before he passes into the care of a Bishop. In the monastery, he grows up studying medicine and the Church's doctrines. His knowledge gains him entry to King Phillip's court; as a man of the King, he discovers his roots and leaves his abusive family behind forever.
Hugo eventually becomes the Spanish court's respected jester and dies well-regarded by those around him.
