A fairy casts a spell on the farm boy Zaches. From then on, the misshapen boy is regarded by everyone as the most beautiful and clever, while his repulsive nature rubs off on others. This makes it easy for him to win the heart of a beauty and become a minister at the court of the prince who wants to have all fairies banished. E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776 - 1822) wrote the fairy tale a...