Though he is near death, blind Rene, an elderly Italian-French intellectual, continues to make his annual conference abroad accompanied by his self-centered loyal, beautiful assistant Sibilla who may or may not be his lover. Rene's domineering mother strongly disapproves of Sibilla and his continual galavanting, but Rene disregards her and goes anyway. While in Spain, Sibilla falls for a handsome young toreador who also captures the interest of Rene, though it is hard to say whether his feelings for the bullfighter are fatherly or more romantic. It is also unclear as to whether Sibilla and the bullfighter are lovers either. Thus an enigmatic romantic triangle forms until Rene and Sibilla suddenly decide to wed. The character of Rene seems to be closely patterned after Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.

René Kermadek - híres és gazdag költő - idős korára elveszíti a látását. Az agg férfi fiatal feleségén keresztül tartja a kapcsolatot a külvilággal, aki egykoron hallgatója volt az egyetemen. René megkeseredik, hisz vaksága akadályozza az írásban. Emellett azt gyanítja, hogy hitvese megcsalja őt egy spanyol matadorral. Igazából soha se hit a nő szerelmének őszinteségében. A férfi öngyilkos akar lenni.