Dite is a short man with an inferiority complex whose boisterous personality is a cover for his insecurities. He wants to be in the hotel business, so he takes a job as a busboy at a large hotel in Prague. In the evenings, he has his vices—he often spends his money on women, and he even frequents a brothel. Dite likes to throw flower petals on the naked women.
One day, though, Dite's boss finds out about his brothel habit, and tells him he must stop or he'll be fired. Ironically, though, many people use the large but empty hotel for much the same thing. They even see the president entering a hotel room with a lover. Then, one day, the emperor of Ethiopia visits, and Dite is asked to serve the emperor, which he does. He does a good job and the emperor gives him a medal. After the dinner, Dite is accused of stealing golden cutlery, and the make him so ashamed he tries to hang himself, but just before he dies, they find the spoon.
Dite has a girlfriend named Lise, a German girl who supports the Nazis and their occupation of Czechoslovakia. He doesn't approve of her beliefs, but he does wish she weren't so mistreated by the Czechs. In a rowdy, angry scene, Dite loses his job for defending his girlfriend's Nazi sympathies.
They are married and move together to a Nazi camp for pregnant Aryan women. He thinks he will be white enough for the Nazis, but they treat him with disdain. They make him apply for permission to impregnate his own wife, and the approval process requires an embarrassing physical exam with a mean doctor. Then, what's worse, when they do get pregnant, the baby is born with mental impairments, and we learn that this son's distinguishing behavior is that he hammers nails to the floor.
They move back to Prague where Dite finds a job as a waiter in a cafe. Lise works with the Nazis on the front lines of the fighting in Czechoslovakia, but one day, she is hit by a bomb and killed. In the aftermath, Dite finds a Jewish man's stamp collection, which he sells and uses to build a hotel in a rock quarry. John Steinbeck visits the quarry hotel. Then, in the aftermath of WWII, Dite must serve time for his Nazi sympathizing, but he is allowed to serve time in a lavish prison with his normal amenities. After his release, he works a few odd jobs before retiring to the wild. He lives among the mountains and their animals, and he explains his journey toward spiritual peace.
