A scrupulous spinster, who lives in a bare house with wild birds whom she often feeds, travels to her sister’s for a visit with her family. The spinster sister is envious of how her sister’s house feels lived and loved in, and that everything in the house has some collective purpose. As she doesn't want to wear out her welcome, the spinster sister returns to her own house. She later receives a letter from her sister which says that she’s sick, and asks her to return to watch after the children. Months later, with the sick sister dead, the spinster sister and her nieces and nephews return to her lonely house where she assures them that she will take care of them, that they will take care of each other. A man on an island vacation with his family deeply reflects on the waves in the ocean, and loses all concept of time, age, and responsibility. The man wakes up one morning and immediately heads to the beach to swim in the deep, rolling waters of the ocean. Before long, the vacation is over, and as the man and his family sail away from the island, the memories of the vacation slowly fade. A surly carpenter laments his characteristic trustworthiness; while the carpenter works, he is often interrupted by townspeople who want to share their secrets. The carpenter reflects on how he can stop people from sharing their secrets with him, and devises an experiment where he betrays a townsperson’s secret. His wife condemns his behavior, but the carpenter has already betrayed another secret. An old railroad crossing watchman is known for saying ‘rejoice’ to all passersby. While ‘rejoice’ is taken differently by different people, a woman at the train stop approaches the watchman in a chance encounter to engage him as to why she should ‘rejoice’ despite the hardships she’s experienced in the year. (He responds with an expected "rejoice") The watchman becomes enfeebled and is taken in by his overworked and exhausted daughter. In an especially stressful day for the daughter, she slaps her old and bedridden father for only being able to say 'rejoice.' Later, the woman from the train stop visits the old watchman where she again questions why she should rejoice when things aren’t any better, but worse, than they were. She sees that the man is dying and says that she’ll visit him soon.