Scene 1
The kitchen of Bob and Mary's two-bedroom cottage adjoined to the filling station.

The opera is set in the present day at a gasoline filling station in a small town along a major American thoroughfare. It is from this filling station that Bob earns a living for himself and his wife Mary, charitably using the profits to educate his younger brother, Nate, according to the promise Bob had made to his mother on her deathbed. To do this, he and Mary have made many sacrifices. Now, Nate is about to graduate from college. Bob is going to attend the graduation while Mary (accompanied by an elderly neighbor, Aunt Lou) stays behind to take care of the business. Mary is joyful, believing that Nate's graduation means the end of their sacrifices and the beginning of a new life. She is taken aback when Bob tells her that they must continue to support Nate until he makes a place for himself in the world. After the church committee has come to felicitate Bob and has gone with him to the railroad station, Mary tells Aunt Lou of her hatred for Nate and all he has made them suffer and deny themselves. She vows to find a way to make Nate reveal himself as the ingrate he really is.

Scene 2
The kitchen, one year later.

After a year of laziness and scorn for the honest people around him, Nate has not yet found an outlet for his talents. He lives with Bob and Mary and contributes absolutely nothing to the welfare of the home. In fact, he sleeps while they work. Mary has chosen the method of being sweetly sarcastic to Nate. At the breakfast table, it is apparent that Bob has become aware of the truth behind her barbed remarks.

When Nate comes for his breakfast, he is revealed as an egotistical, neurotic, stupid individual who mistakes Mary's sarcasm for flattery and makes passionate love to her. She responds by laughing at him, scorns him for his weakness, and reaffirms her love for Bob. Enraged, Nate seizes a knife from the table and stabs her. When she screams, Bob and Aunt Lou rush in, the latter immediately going for the Sheriff and the Doctor. Bob, believing Mary dead and still trying to shield his brother, takes the blame. When the Sheriff is about to handcuff him, Mary regains consciousness and cries out that Nate is the culprit. As he is being taken away, Nate cravenly begs Bob to save him. Bob falls on his knees at Mary's side with the cry that at last, he understands and that the future will be brighter for both of them.

A sultan has sent a dwarf as a present to the Infanta (Spanish princess) Donna Clara on her birthday. The dwarf is unaware of his physical deformity and becomes infatuated with the Infanta. He sings her a love song and imagines himself her brave knight. She toys with him and gives him a white rose as a present. Left alone, he accidentally uncovers a mirror and sees his own reflection for the first time. In great agitation, he tries to obtain a kiss from the Infanta, but she spurns him and calls him a monster. His heart is broken, he dies clutching the white rose as the Infanta rejoins the party.