The film recounts the misadventures of a beautiful and temperamental Neapolitan village girl Isabella (Sophia Loren) and an ill-tempered Spanish prince, Rodrigo (Omar Sharif). The prince was a risk taker, avoiding his parents' wishes for him to marry. One day while riding a horse in the countryside, he becomes distracted by a noise and sees someone flying across the sky! This person predicts his future and gives him a donkey to take him in the right direction if he pats its back and feeds him flour. On the way back, he meets Isabella. He is very much attracted to her, but she rejects him.