Geld allein macht nicht glücklich. Das erfährt der frischgebackene Lottomillionär Kurt Basinski schmerzlich, als ihn seine Frau verlässt. Um den traurigen Glückspilz aufzumuntern, bucht seine resolute Mutter Edda einen gemeinsamen Urlaub in einem Luxus-Ferienhaus in Marrakesch. Zusammen mit ihrem zweiten Sohn Ottfried und dessen Frau Jutta will sie den Lottomillionär nebenbei dazu überreden, sein Geld in den Schusterbetrieb der Basinskis zu investieren. Kurt ist das alles völlig egal. Erst als er sich in die hübsche Köchin Mona verliebt, erwachen seine Lebensgeister.

When King Ansgar's doctors declare him terminal, devoted youngest son Prince Lennart sets out to find the legendary magical cure: the water of life. Being kind to ugly forest sorceress Salwa, who appeared as a beggar, he receives cryptic instructions that prove necessary when he reaches the enchanted castle of Princess Frederike, whose court and suitors are all petrified while she's a mere ghost. Lennart solves the riddles and earns the water and they fall in love, but he must rush home. Meanwhile, his big brother Prince Falk has also set out; he hasn't found anything but bumps into Lennart and manages to steal the water and pretend he brought the cure, to convince the king to appoint him successor to the throne. Lennart can only stop him with proof, which might arrive in the person of his beloved.