Otto van Oudijck is a Dutch resident in Laboewangi, Java around 1900. His job is to keep the local regents in line, including one in particular from Ngadjiwa who suffers from gambling and drinking debts. Because he is so obsessed with his job, Van Oudijck fails to realize that his vain and self observed second wife Leonie is having an affair with Theo, his son from a previous marriage.