A cottage interior of an indeterminate period, with an old woman sitting with a spinning wheel by an open fire to the right, telling a story to a circle of spellbound listeners. She gestures with a pointed finger, rosary beads in her other hand, framed by a screen behind her, which is elaborately decorated with figures and a family crest. To her left are three young women, two seated by the fire, the third leaning against the wall in the shadow. A young man also sits next to the fire, leaning back on his right hand, a book lying open, face down on his knee. A dog lies on the ground next to him. On the left of the storyteller is a family with two young children. The father has an anxious expression, his right hand covering his mouth. His wife sits next to him, a child asleep on her lap, their other child seated between his father's legs on the floor.