Young Peter approaches a wealthy banker with a letter of introduction. Bidden to follow the banker and his friends, he notes a man in inconspicuous grey. Presently the man in grey takes Peter on one side and buys his shadow, giving in payment the inexhaustible purse of Fortunatus. But the shadowless Peter cannot enjoy his wealth; he is reviled and persecuted and loses the girl he loves. The man in grey reappears and offers to return the shadow if Peter will yield him his soul. Peter, after an inner struggle, rejects the offer and frees himself from the sinister man in grey by returning the magic purse to him. He eventually decides to devote himself to writing, and so compensates himself, by useful endeavour, for his loss.