In an appeal to the reader, the author says that when creating his work he was guided by what he liked most in the works of Plutarch, Apuleius, Aesop, Homer or Barkley. Trying to combine such various properties in one text, Gracian begins his novel, consisting of chapters, "crises" as follows.
On the sea route from the Old World to the New, near the island of St. Helena, the Spaniard Kritilo desperately struggles for life, clinging to a board. A handsome young man helps him to get ashore, who, as it turned out, when trying to speak, does not understand any of the languages known by Kritilo and does not speak any language at all. In the process of communication, Critilo gradually teaches him Spanish and gives a name - Andrenio. It was criticized, according to Andrenio, that he was the first person he saw, and that, being raised by a female wild animal, he does not know where he came from, and once he felt completely alien among the animals, although the animals with him were always affectionate. Critilo tells Andrenio about the structure of the world. The Supreme Creator and the place of all things - the sun, moon, stars. One day they see ships approaching and Critilo begs Andrenio not to tell people his story, as this will bring him misfortune. They affected the sailors behind their squadron and set sail for Spain. On the ship, Critilo tells Andrenio that he was born on a ship, on the high seas, with wealthy Spanish parents. His youth was dissolute, than he very upset his parents and that accelerated their death. Critilo falls in love with the rich girl Felicinda, in the fight for the arm of which he kills an opponent. As a result of this, he loses a rich inheritance and Felicinda, which his parents take to Spain. Kritilo studies science and art and soon sets off by sea to seek his beloved. However, the captain of the ship, at the instigation of the enemies of Kritilo, pushes him into the sea - so he finds himself on the island.
Having gone ashore and set off inland, friends are attacked by the treacherous leader of the robbers, from whom they were recaptured by another female leader. On the way, they meet the centaur Chiron, who brings friends to the village, where thousands of animals walk. The amazed Critilo and Andrenio see a lot of astonishing things: persons walking in their arms and backwards; riding a fox; the blind who lead the sighted, and much more. Then, seated in an unexpectedly appeared carriage with a monster, they become witnesses of even greater miracles: a source, having drunk from which people are turned inside out; a quack feeding people an abomination, and many other fantastic visions.
Andrenio, seduced by miracles, solicits ranks at the court of the local ruler, and Critilo escapes from the palace in the possession of Queen Artemia. Presenting himself to Artemia, he asks to release his second "I" - Andrenio from the authority of Falsemir. The queen sends the chief minister to rescue Andrenio, finding whom the minister, revealing the surrounding deception, convinces him to leave the false kingdom. In the kingdom of Artemia, friends enjoy a conversation with the queen, while Falshemir sends Flattery, Anger and Envy to their domain. The rebellious mob besieges the palace, which Artemia saves with spells. Artemia decides to relocate to Toledo, and friends say goodbye to her and continue on their way to Madrid.
In Madrid, Andrenio is suddenly handed a note allegedly from his cousin Fadcirena, who welcomes his arrival in Madrid and invites him to come. Andrenio, without telling Critilo, goes to Falsirena, who tells him about her mother, who, in her words, is Critilo's lover. Critilo, busy searching for the lost lover, goes for a walk around the city, finds himself at the closed door of the cousin’s dwelling. Upon his questioning, the neighbors describe the dwelling as the home of the disgusting liar Circe. Since Critilo cannot understand anything and find Andrenio, he decides to go to Artemia.
On the way, he meets Ehenio, a man endowed with a sixth sense - Nevy, who agrees to help him. Having returned to the capital, they can’t find Andrenio for a long time and only at the place of the house where he was lost, they find the door to the dungeon, where they are looking for him to have changed a lot. Having extinguished the magic flame, they manage to awaken Andrenio to life and move on to Torzhische. The sellers of the shops are famous people: Thales of Miletus, Horace, the magnificent princes and barons.
Critilo and Andrenio head to Aragon, and along the way they meet a multi-eyed man - Argus, who explains to them the purpose of each eye. On the way, they pass through the "Customs of the Ages", under the influence of what they saw there, their "worldview and health is improving." The servant met on the road sends greetings from his master Salastano, a collector of miracles, and asks Argus one of his eyes for the Salastano collection. Critilo and Andrenio decide to inspect the collection and go with the servant. There they see a lot of unusual things: magnificent gardens of rare plants and insects, a bottle with the laughter of a joker, potions and antidotes, Brutus daggers and much more. Fascinated by the story of the charms of France, friends decide to visit her; overcome the high peaks of the Pyrenees and find themselves in the palace.
Inspecting the rich decoration of the palace, they are surprised to find the owner in a dark, poor room without light, in the decrepit clothes of the merchant. Having hardly escaped from the courtesies of the owner, friends unsuccessfully try to leave the palace, filled with all kinds of traps: pits, loops, nets. Only a chance encounter with a person whose wings grow instead of arms helps them avoid captivity or death. Continuing to move to France, friends meet a new monster with a retinue. This half-human half-snake quickly disappears, and with it Andrenio, carried away by curiosity. Critilo, along with Winged, rush after Andrenio to the palace shining in the distance.
The palace turns out to be built of salt, which people around it are happy to lick. In the first hall of the palace they see a beautiful woman musician playing alternately on a zither of pure gold and other unusually decorated instruments. A nymph sits in another hall of the palace, half of which is old, half is young, surrounded by writers and poets. In the next room was the nymph Antiquaria, surrounded by treasures. And this continues until Kritilo is seized by the desire to see Sofisbella herself, the mistress of the whole palace.
As for Andrenio, he finds himself on a huge area of artisans: cakes, potters, potters, shoemakers, filled with such an ugly crowd that Andrenio rushes headlong away.
Critilo, accompanied by satellites: a courtier, a student and a soldier, climbs up the mountain and unexpectedly meets the missing Andrenio at its very top. Rejoiced at the meeting, they tell their stories and move on. Along the way, they meet with Sofisbella Fortuna, the mistress of mortals, who has a strange appearance: instead of shoes - wheels, half of the dress is mourning, half - elegant. At the end of the conversation, she gives out gifts, and her friends get the Mirror of Insight. Meanwhile, a frantic crush begins, in which they remain alive only because the daughter of fortune - Luck manages to grab them by the hair and forward them to another peak. She shows them the way to the palace of Virtelia - Queen of Bliss.
The hermit who met Critilo and Andrenio leads them to a building similar to a monastery, in which the Hermit talks about the ways of gaining Happiness and shows the way to the Virtelia Palace. On the way, they find themselves in a house where they get acquainted with the weapons of all the heroes known in history and are armed with swords of truth, helmets of prudence and shields of patience. Friends have to enter the battle with three hundred monsters and defeat them. Finding themselves at the entrance to the magnificent palace, they meet a Satyr, showing them many monsters who intend to captivate them.
Having overcome many difficulties, friends reach the palace, where they see the friendly and beautiful queen, giving an audience to many who wish. Everyone receives the wise advice of Virtelia, and friends ask for directions to Felicinda. Having called four friends: Justice, Wisdom, Courage and Moderation, she tells them to help travelers find what they want. Critilo and Andrenio pick up the wind, and they find themselves on the road leading to the assistant of Virtelia - Gonogii. Their path turns out to be difficult and long, at the foot of the Alps Andrenio's head begins to turn white, and “the swan fluff Critilo to thin out”. If the Pyrenees they were sweating, then in the Alps - coughing. "How much sweating in youth, so much coughing in old age."
Moving slowly, friends find themselves at a half-collapsed, dilapidated building. The accompanying Janus, a man with two faces, introduced him as the palace of Old Age. At the entrance to the building, the gatekeeper removes his armor and dignity from many heroes: Alba, Caesar, Antonio de Leyva (inventor of the musket) and many others, and lets some go through the door of honors, and others through the door of sorrows. Critilo falls into the first and reaches the highest honor among his companions, where there was no mobile. Andrenio, who got into the second door, is tormented and, having reached the throne of Old Age, sees Critilo on the other side of the throne. The Secretary of Old Age reads a protocol on the rights of both.
After these adventures, friends find themselves in the Palace of Fun, filled with fun people. Andrenio falls asleep dead, and Critilo inspects the palace, where he discovers a lot of abominations associated with drunkenness and debauchery. Returning to Andrenio with a new companion - the Guesser, they set off for Italy. They see many miracles along the way, the meaning of life and death is increasingly revealed to them. The decoder, the charlatan and the deceiver whom they met each give their own explanation of the meaning of all things, the main conclusion from which is that "Seduction is at the entrance to the world, and enlightenment at the exit."
Andrenio, seduced along the way by the palace of the Invisible, disappears from the field of view of his companions, and they further go alone. The new companion Critilo - Clairvoyant reassures him and promises to find Andrenio. Indeed, Andrenio appears at one of the forks of the road, and the disappearing Clairvoyant inspires you to go to the "Capital of Crowned Knowledge," which lies in Italy.
They experienced a lot on the way to Rome, approaching the coveted Felicinda. Having separated the two fighters, Puffy and Lazy, friends move first for Puffy, and then for the Lazy. Finally, they find themselves in a flourishing area, among Italians having fun on the threshold of the Nothing Cave, where everyone who dared to cross its threshold failed. The lazy one is trying to push Andrenio into the cave, and the Ambitious one is trying to drag Critilo to the palace of Vanity. Friends, clutching hands, resisted this evil. and with the help of the pilgrims they came to the palace of the Spanish ambassador. From the palace, upset by the news of the death of Felicinda, they set off to inspect Rome and stop for the night in a hotel. At night, the Resident penetrates them and, warning of the trap that he has prepared for them, opens a secret hole that led them into terrible caves. In the caves, they see ghosts from the retinue of Death, which is ruled by the court in their eyes. Pilgrim, a never-aging man, leads them out of the cave and calls to visit the Island of Immortality. On the Island of Immortality, friends find themselves in front of the bronze gates, where the Merit - the guard of the gates asks the incoming letter “verified by Courage and confirmed by Rumor”. Seeing the signatures of Philosophy, Reason, Vigilance, Self-Consciousness, Toughness, Caution, Vigilance and so on, the guard passes Andrenio and Critilo into the abode of Eternity.
