The scene shows two men, A and B. A is the owner of the premises and sits reading a book, while B, A's parasitic lodger, never stops talking. The cold cruelty of A towards B, and that of B towards A, the more realistic, rises in intensity, until somebody rings the doorbell.

Two men try to talk to each other. The man sitting seems to be reading some kind of science book on the life of parasites. The man standing tries to tell the other of his profound discontentment in life, in vain hoping for some kind of compassionate response. He speaks of his fears, his hopes, his dreams, yet cannot break the other's cold façade. He tries to distance himself, to seek warmth in make-believe but the other quickly puts him down with a biting remark. All that is left is cruelty, unless a woman were to happen by...