The action takes place in the not-too-distant future.

Prologue
The man - I (‘Ich’) - sits alone in his house, trying to remember why the floor is covered in blood and his wife is lying on the floor...

First Scene: Party
I and his wife are throwing a party: many friends have come to congratulate the couple. This is because I has received an unexpectedly lenient sentence for offences which remain unexplained: he has to take an ‘idiot’ into his home. In times like these, that is not so much punishment as indulgence! I and his wife are very happy about it, and have a good time.

But as soon as the tipsy guests have dispersed, it becomes clear that I and his wife were only pretending to be happy and cheerful for the sake of the guests: their marriage is far from perfect. I barely notices his wife; it is as if he is unaware of her presence. Instead, he hears a strange voice that keeps repeating something... is it ‘ech’? Or ‘ich’?

And for some reason his wife keeps saying that she has been cruelly murdered...

Intermedia
Scenes from I's past pass before his eyes: his childhood, his youth, his first love... They are superseded by scenes from his future, his old age, his death.

Second Scene: In the Gallery
I arrives at a gallery - the Asylum Gallery - run by a gallery owner whom I calls ‘the warden’. The gallery is full of performers doing bizarre things. The meaning of these actions is not clear to I - to him, they are all just ‘idiots’, one of whom he has to choose to take home with him. His gaze falls on a blond man in his thirties with a high forehead, who looks as if he has been enlightened by a dream. I calls him Darling, and takes him home, despite the protests and reproaches of his wife. The gallery owner is happy with the deal.

I has a premonition of his new life.

Intermezzo
His wife, who hated Darling at first, suddenly realises that she is interested in him in a strange way. I realises this and becomes very upset.

Third Scene: The Circles of Life
Darling settles into the house of I and his wife. At first, things are relatively peaceful: Darling only eats a little too much sometimes, wears the clothes of both I and his wife, and frightens passers-by. But soon he starts getting up to mischief: he throws food from the fridge on the floor, smears it everywhere, smashes furniture, and tears up books - even his wife's beloved Proust. Then he suddenly defecates on the floor... I and his wife try to barricade themselves into the kitchen, but Darling breaks down the door with a knife and rapes the wife.

Fourth Scene: Tili Bom!
Over time, Darling has become much tidier and cleaner, and has even given I a bunch of violets... ‘Life is getting back on track.’

But then the wife discovers that she is pregnant. I is certain that she has cheated on him, and that the child cannot be his. A heated argument ensues between them. The woman tells I that there is no idiot - except himself.

Later she has the child aborted. I and Darling beat her up.

I is sad about what is happening, but Darling’s affection comforts him. Darling's beauty helps I to overcome his shame and fear, and he surrenders to him. With him, he feels like a woman!

Fifth Scene: The Patience of the Gods 
I is completely enchanted with his new life, living together with Darling like a son with his father. For the first time in many years, he feels happy. They shut themselves away from his wife, who calls them degenerates and keeps making a scene; she also constantly reminds I that she was cruelly killed. And although I and Darling try to ignore the wife, her accusations become increasingly unbearable. ‘Because even the gods lose their patience sometimes!’

The shears close with a snap...

Sixth Scene: Autumn
I sits in his house, realising now why there is blood everywhere. He has killed his wife. There is no idiot, and there never was. I is arrested...