: The soldier receives deception Woe-Happiness. Having experienced a lot of grief, he returns the Woe-Happiness and finds his happiness.
The old Lumberjack cuts firewood in the forest and all the time he remembers grief and misfortune. His niece Nastya brings him lunch. The lumberjack reproaches the girl for waiting for her beloved soldier Ivan Tarabanov, who is naked as a falcon, and rejects the rich miller.
The lumberjack continues to cut the forest, remembering the misfortune of misfortune, and his ax breaks. In front of the Lumberjack appears a little old woman - Woe-Happiness. It was all the time with his family, from there and all the misfortunes. Tired of Grief-Happiness with the family of the Lumberjack to live, to listen to his oh-sighs, she wants to wander around the world. To do this, someone needs to sell something and say: "Take my good, but grief-misfortune in addition."
The lumberjack is trying to sell something to Hunter and the Shepherd, who are running past, but they dismiss it. Finally, he manages to sell a rope to Kupts for altyn, whose construction was cut short.
The robbers attack the Merchant. He cries, remembering the Mountain of Happiness. Woe tells the Merchant how he can get rid of him.
King Dormidont comes to the forest to hunt with his army and with his future son-in-law, the Overseas Royal. They want to roast game, but they have nothing to kindle fire. The Merchant appears and offers to buy flint and flint from him.Together with the goods, the Merchant imposes on the Tsar the Mountain of Happiness.
The daughter of Tsar Anfisa asks her father to buy a casket for her, but there is no money in the treasury. The overseas prince refuses to marry a poor bride, Anfisa also leaves her ruined father and leaves for her rich aunt. Several states declare war on the king at once, but there is nothing to pay for the army, and it fled. Only one soldier, Ivan Tarabanov, remains in the service. The king commemorates Grief of Misfortune. Grief responds and tells the king how to get rid of him.
The king offers the soldier to buy a ring, a saber, a crown from him, but the soldier refuses - he does not need it. The king treats the soldier with tobacco from his golden snuffbox. A soldier likes tobacco, and he agrees to buy a snuffbox from the king, but he has no money except for a nickle. So that he is not accused of theft, a soldier requires a receipt from the king. Together with the snuffbox, the king gives the soldier Grief-Happiness.
Grief is afraid of the difficulties of a soldier's life and asks the soldier to sell it to someone, but the soldier does not want to destroy people. The grief frightens the soldier with various troubles, but the soldier is not afraid of them. Seeing tears in his eyes, Grief is gloating, but the soldier says he is crying from tobacco. Grief asks him to sniff, climbs into the snuff-box, and the soldier closes it there.
A soldier comes to Nastya, who now lives in a rich house. She says that since his uncle got rid of Grief-Miserableness, things went well with him. But Grief now lives with the soldier in a snuff-box - his mother died, the house is destroyed, and Nastya is married out against her will.
Guests are gathering in the house, the groom arrives - the Merchant.But Nastya, who came to the guests, announces that her fiancé is a soldier. When the soldier saw an expensive snuffbox, the guests accused him of theft. The soldier is bound and taken to the palace to the king.
The king, Anfisa, the Overseas Royal and the courtiers sit in the richly decorated palace. The guard lets in the Merchant, Lumberjack and the arrested Soldier. The soldier shows the receipt, and the king confirms that for the sake of laughter he sold the soldier a snuffbox for a nickel.
So that the Soldier would not tell anyone about Grief-Happiness, the tsar agrees to let him go, but tells him to leave the snuffbox in the palace. A soldier demands his nickel back. The Tsar and the Merchant give a penny, the Lumberjack is an altyn, and the Soldier gives them all the Mountain of Happiness.
Grief takes the Merchant, Lumberjack and Tsar in tartarara, and the Soldier and Nastya celebrate the wedding.
