The story follows a woman who is hired by a strange old man to be his servant. He introduces bizarre new names for everyday objects in his home, calling himself "Master of all Masters" and referring to his bed as a "barnacle", trousers as "squibs and crackers", the cat as "white-faced simmny", fire as "hot cockalorum", and water as "pondalorum". One night, the cat's tail catches fire, and the servant must wake her master, using the nonsensical names to warn that the house will burn down if he does not put out the fire.