The story begins when a magical flute falls near the Gnome’s house. He sets out across the cosmos to find where it came from, speaking to an engineer who builds him a toadstool rocket from parts scattered on his home planet.

Traveling from planet to planet, he meets creatures and helps them with their problems using the flute. He later finds two illustrated books and learns that the flute belongs to four monks.

The books tell of a giant orange space octopus, a mechanical knight, and a black orb used to fight the octopus. They also reveal that one monk turned to evil, stole the other flutes, and transformed the spaceship into a fire-breathing mechanical dragon.

The Gnome reaches the monks’ planet, steals back the black orb, and revives the knight, who destroys the dragon. He then plays music with the remaining three monks, gains the power to travel instantly between planets, and returns home to greet his dog.