Fleete, a relative newcomer to India, becomes extremely drunk on New Year's Eve and on the way home desecrates the temple of the monkey-god Hanuman, by stubbing out his cigar on the statue of the deity. A mysterious leper appears and bites Fleete on the chest, leaving a strange mark. Another priest warns Fleete that Hanuman has not yet finished with him.

During the next day, Fleete's behaviour becomes stranger and stranger. He gnaws ravenously on raw meat, grovels in the earth of the garden and begins to howl like a wolf. His companions resort to extreme and terrible measures to try to get the spell revoked.