A Noble Intention

Amsterdam petty violin maker Vedder is convinced he and a trusting neighbor can extort a fortune for their homes from the company which bought the rest of the street to build in 1888: a luxury hotel near the new central rail station. Part of the proceeds should put his son through architecture studies, but Theo never had any interest in college. As Vedder considers how to invest the rest, his cousin, rural pharmacist Anijs, who is focused on a poor Jewish village, which turns to him for lack of an actual doctor, comes up with the idea to act as factor, advancing passage for emigrants to America. However the property deal expires, leaving Vedder destitute in crushing debt, while the unbooked passages torment Anijs, whose medical license is challenged for covering up his own emergency surgery inducing a miscarriage on on village chief Bennemin's wife, while his own leaves him hospital after a tragicomic accident with bees while circumcising himself as a tribute.