Ivan, Mikhail Boyarskiy, is a simple chimney sweep who falls in love with Zabava. The Tsar, Garri Bardin, intends to marry his daughter to the wealthy Polkan Rogvold Sukhoverko, but Zabava Tatyana Shabelnikova rejects him because Polkan is ugly, cruel, and emotionally distant, and neither of them loves the other. The old ruler cares only for status and wealth, while Zabava dreams of something more than a suffocating union built on convenience.
A simple chimney sweep named Ivan, known to his beloved as Vanya, dares to hope for a future with Zabava. Their bond grows as they secretly share their dreams, which starkly contrast with the Tsar’s and Polkan’s ambitions. Polkan’s self-serving motives become clear: he seeks to leverage the Tsar’s influence to climb higher in wealth and power, not to win Zabava’s heart. The court’s atmosphere brims with vanity, but the young lovers hold onto a vision that could defy their rigid social ladder.
To prove his worth, Ivan proposes an audacious plan: build a flying ship that could carry Zabava away from the palace and into a freer life. Zabava challenges the suitors to demonstrate their worth, and she declares she will marry only the one who can bring this dream to life. The Tsar puts Polkan to the test, asking him to build it, but Polkan evasively answers that he will simply purchase such a vessel instead of earning it.
As the tale unfolds, the characters sing about their deepest wishes, each song revealing how differently they view happiness. The dreams of the Tsar and Polkan diverge sharply from Zabava’s heartfelt longing, while Ivan’s own dream – to be with Zabava – aligns with hers. Ivan encounters Vodyanoy Anatoliy Papanov, the Merman, who sings about his joyless life and offers practical help. He provides Ivan with magical tools that are capable of acting on their own, as long as the holder can keep a firm grip on them, a detail that proves crucial to their plan.
Polkan then announces that he has built the flying ship and that Zabava will now be his wife. The Tsar, eager to claim the vessel, ascends toward it, and at the moment he begins to utter the first half of a spell, he finds himself suspended in midair—unable to fly, and unable to descend. Zabava stubbornly refuses to open the ship’s door to Polkan, denying him his prize.
Ivan and Zabava seize the chance to escape. They slip through a pipe, and then ascend via the palace stairs—stairs Polkan forgot to remove. The lovers reach the ship and begin their perilous ascent, leaving Polkan stranded below. Polkan scrambles to reach the ladder, but Ivan, with a final, teasing blessing, exclaims, “Good luck!” The ship’s engines of destiny carry Ivan and Zabava away, and the two lovers soar into the sky on their miraculous vessel, leaving Polkan to watch as they disappear into the horizon.
