Bonace is a kind-hearted old tramp but whose honesty is not rewarded. For instance the day he finds a lost wallet and brings it to the gendarmerie, what does he get? A six month prison sentence for being a vagrant? And why? Because after giving the lost money to the gendarmes he had none with him? And when, after being released, he uses the money he earned at the prison workshop to buy a toy for the little girl of a farmer who gave him shelter and accommodation, what is his reward? Another prison sentence! And why? Because two gendarmes arrested him on his way back to the farm for vagrancy? And why? Because after giving all his money to the toy shopkeeper, he had no money left with him. The law is the law. But, as the Romans put it, it is "dura lex".