Shortly before the establishment of the state of Israel, a mother and her two daughters are returning to Palestine from Australia, where they'd resided until the death of their husband/father. When they dock at Port Said, the mother's former lover meets them and hosts them at his home, where the guests are in awe of his Sudanese servants.
When the girls and their mother establish themselves in Jerusalem, where they run a guest house, they're surprised to receive a present from Port Said: a Sudanese servant, who proves to be not only an excellent worker, but loyal to a fault: Not only does he rescue the younger daughter when she gets attacked while shopping in the Old City, but he saves the family's arms cache from being discovered by the British.
The younger daughter, at first teased by the neighborhood girls for her fancy clothing, eventually becomes their friend. They spend hours at her house, fascinated by her glamorous older sister and the family's exotic servant.
Meanwhile the elder daughter spends her days working for the British police, her spare time sensually creating pots on her potter's wheel, and her nights dancing at elegant soirees. At one of the latter, she meets a man who proposes to her, propelling her into euphoria. But the engagement is broken after a visit to her grandfather in Tzfat, presumably to obtain his blessing.
After the broken engagement, we see her angrily punching the clay on her potter's wheel, destroying her creations.
The mother begins to hear rumors that the Sudanese servant has been seen selling pistachios in the Old City during his daily afternoon break. When the mother confirms the rumors, she sends him back to Port Said, to the grief of her younger daughter, who had become attached to him.
