Udo Langhoff

The somewhat indolent father Traugott Wurster looks after his six sons while his wife works in a butcher's shop. One day, when Traugott falls into a mysterious prolonged sleep, mother Wurster is forced to give the children to relatives. Markus is sent to the stuffy Uncle Theodor, who turns into a childhood friend under his influence. Mother Wurster also "rents" the sleeping Traugott to a furniture store, which uses him to advertise mattresses in the shop window.

An Arab boy, Abdullah, loves his donkey, Bim, but another boy, Massoud, who also happens to be a prince, is jealous of Abdullah and his relationship with Bim, so Massoud steals the donkey and plays mean tricks on him, such as painting him and trying to cut his ears off. Abdullah tries to rescue Bim but is caught by palace guards and is imprisoned. Realizing Abdullah's love for his donkey, Massoud becomes ashamed of his meanness and frees Bim and Abdullah. However, the donkey eats Massoud's father's lunch and is taken to a butcher. Abdullah and Massoud try to rescue Bim from the butcher, but robbers get there first and steal the donkey along with the butcher's goods. The robbers escape to the sea, and Abdullah and Massoud stage one last rescue attempt with all of their friends to try to save Bim.