11 year old Amsterdam schoolboy Ciske, a scamp with a heart of gold, causes havoc in the classroom pouring ink over his teacher. Yet when a polio-crippled boy joins the class Ciske is one of the only children to befriend him and is bullied as a result. His mother works in a bar and Ciske helps out often late into the night - his father is at sea and his mother supplements her income with prostitution. Ciske also smolders with rage at life's injustices.