A census-taker is sent to investigate why a certain small town has had the same population -- 436 residents -- for the last 100 years.

When George and Martha let Harvey, an annoying census taker, into their home, they find themselves under a barrage of increasingly abusive questions. Furious at his intrusiveness, and at their wit's end, they kill the census taker and with the help of their friends Pete and Eva, must hide the body from a determined investigator.

The stooges get jobs as census takers and wind up in a fancy mansion looking for people to survey. Moe and Larry are recruited to join a bridge game, while Curly adds Alum to the lemonade. The resulting concoction is consumed by everyone, resulting in puckered lips and shrunken clothes. The boys next try to take the census at a football stadium. They disguise themselves as players and wind up in the middle of the game. Curly runs off with the ball and all the other players in pursuit.

In the Mossi culture, one of the rites attending the birth of a child and its induction as a new member of the community involves the burial of the placenta. The space in which the placenta is buried is called 'Zan Boko' - a phrase which connotes the religious, cultural and affective relations that bind the child to the land and that embraces the notions of 'rootedness' and 'belonging'. Kaboré tells the story of Tinga, who resists the encroaching urbanization of his native territory. The specific rhythms and vision of the rural community, including its values, social relationship, and individual & collective destinies, are altered when a city is planted on the edge of an ancient native village.