Manor in the Carpathian mountains. Here, getting married and deciding to settle down and do the housework, a certain magician settled. He is in love with his wife and promises her to live “like everyone else”, but the soul asks for something magical, and the owner of the estate is unable to resist “pranks”. So now the Mistress realizes that her husband started new miracles. It turns out that difficult guests are about to arrive at the house.
The young man appears first. To the question of the Mistress, what is his name, he answers: Bear. The magician, informing his wife that it is precisely because of the young man that amazing events will begin, admits that seven years ago he turned a young bear he met in the forest into a man. The hostess cannot stand it when “they torture animals for the sake of her own fun” and begs her husband to make the young man a bear again and set him free. It turns out that this is possible, but only if some princess loves the young man and kisses him, the Mistress is sorry for the unknown girl, she is afraid of the dangerous game that her husband started.
Meanwhile, a trumpet sounds announcing the arrival of new guests. This King, passing by, suddenly wanted to turn into a manor. The owner warns that now they will see the rude and the ugliness. However, the King who came in was at first polite and amiable. True, soon he confessed that he was a despot, vindictive and capricious. But twelve generations of ancestors are to blame for this (“all fiends, one to one!”), Because of them he, by nature, is kind and clever, sometimes does such that he even cries!
After an unsuccessful attempt to treat the owners with poisoned wine, the King, declaring the deceased uncle the culprit, says that the Princess, his daughter, did not inherit the villainous family inclinations, she is kind and even softens his own cruel disposition. The owner escorts the guest to the rooms intended for him.
The Princess enters the house and at the door collides with the Bear. Sympathy immediately arises between young people. The princess is not used to simple and cordial treatment; she likes to talk with the Bear.
The sounds of trumpets are heard - the royal retinue is approaching. Boy and girl run away holding hands. “Well, a hurricane has come up, love has come!” - says the Mistress who heard their conversation.
Courtiers appear. All of them: both the First Minister, and the First Cavalry Lady, and the maids of honor are intimidated by the Minister-Administrator, who, knowing how to please the King in everything, completely subjugated him, and keeps his retinue in a black body. The administrator who entered, looking in the notebook, calculates the income. Winking at the Mistress, he without preface appoints her a love date, but when he finds out that her husband is a wizard and can turn him into a rat, he apologizes, and anger breaks down on the courtiers who appeared.
Meanwhile, the King and the Master enter the room first, then the Princess and the Bear. Seeing the joy on his daughter's face, the King realizes that the reason for this is a new acquaintance. He is prepared to welcome the young man the title and take it with him on a journey. The princess admits that the young man became her best friend, she is ready to kiss him. But, realizing who she is, the Bear runs away in horror and despair. Princess is at a loss. She leaves the room. The king is going to execute the courtiers, if none of them will be able to give him advice on how to help the Princess. The executioner is ready. Suddenly the door swings open, the Princess appears in the doorway in a man’s dress, with a sword and pistols. She orders a horse to be saddled, says goodbye to her father and disappears. The sound of a horse is heard. The king rushes after him, ordering the retinue to follow him. “Well, are you satisfied?” - the mistress asks her husband. "Very!" - he answers.
On a bad winter evening, the owner of the Emilia inn recalls with sadness the girl whom he once loved and in whose honor he named his establishment. He still dreams of meeting her. They knock on the door. The innkeeper lets in the snow-covered travelers - this is the King and his retinue who is looking for his daughter.
Meanwhile, the Princess is in this house. Dressed as a boy, she went to the apprentice to the hunter living here.
While the Innkeeper arranges for the rest of his guests, the Bear is. A little later he meets the Princess, but does not recognize her in a men's suit. He says that he escaped from a love for a girl who is very similar to a new acquaintance and, as he thinks, also in love with him. Princess makes fun of the Bear. The erupted dispute ends with a sword battle. Making a lunge, the young man knocks off his hat from the opponent - the braids fall, the masquerade is over. The girl is offended by the Bear and is ready to die, but to prove to him that he is indifferent to her. The bear wants to run again. But the house is covered with snow on the roof, it is impossible to get out.
Meanwhile, the Innkeeper discovers that the First Cavalry Lady is Emilia lost by him. There is an explanation and reconciliation. The king is happy that the daughter was found, but, seeing her sad, he demands that one of the courtiers go to console her. The lot falls to the Administrator, who is terribly afraid that the Princess will simply shoot him. However, he returns alive and in addition with unexpected news - the royal daughter decided to marry him! Enraged Bear immediately makes an offer to two maids of honor at once. Princess appears in a wedding dress: the wedding in an hour! The young man seeks permission to speak privately with her and reveals his secret to her: by the will of the wizard, he will turn into a bear as soon as he kisses her - this is the reason for his flight. The princess desperately leaves.
Suddenly, music is heard, windows open, behind them is not snow, but flowering glades. A cheerful Master bursts in, but his joy quickly fades: the expected miracle did not happen. “How dare you not kiss her ?! He asks the Bear. “You did not love the girl!”
The owner leaves. Outside the windows it is snowing again. Completely depressed, the Bear turns to the hunter who came in with the question of whether he has a desire to kill the hundredth bear (he boasted that he had 99 killed bears), because he would still find the Princess, kiss her and turn into a beast. After hesitating, the hunter agrees to take advantage of the "courtesy" of the young man.
A year has passed. The innkeeper got married to his beloved Emilia. The bear disappeared to an unknown place: the wizard's spell does not allow him to go to the Princess. And the girl, due to unhappy love, fell ill and was about to die. All the courtiers are in deep sorrow. Only the Administrator, although his wedding did not take place, became richer and bolder, and did not believe in death from love.
The princess wants to say goodbye to friends and asks to brighten her last minutes. Among those present and the Master with the Mistress. Footsteps are heard deep in the garden - the Bear nevertheless got here! The princess is glad and admits that she loves and forgives him, let him turn into a bear, if only he would not leave. She hugs and kisses the young man. (“Glory to the brave men who dare to love, knowing that this will come to an end,” the wizard said a little earlier.) A thunderclap is heard, darkness reigns for a moment, then the light flashes, and everyone sees that the Bear remains a human being. The wizard is delighted: a miracle happened! To celebrate, he turns the Administrator, who is tired of everything, into a rat and is ready to create new miracles, "so as not to burst from an excess of strength."
