Yakut Stepan Beresekov periodically falls into a lethargic sleep. Only a Russian, the son of a priest, Ivan Popov, can distinguish his condition from real death. But Popov is going on a long ethnographic expedition. Stepan decides to follow his savior so as not to be buried alive.
1917, Yakutia. 9-year-old Mikita is growing up beyond his years, as he, along with adults, learns the difficult life of a Yakut cattle breeder, where every day is a struggle for survival. New challenges await the boy, as the events of the revolutionary, rebellious time violently invade the...