An author - a passive young man - enters the Soviet-controlled bureaucracy of Georgia attempting to get his novel published only to be neglected and compartmentalized at every turn.
Rachvelians, notables with their slowness tell awkward, partly unbelievable and very funny anecdotes they have gone through, while their countryman participates in long-distance race.
Two lovers – a young shepherd, Mzechabuka, and a peasant girl, Teona, - have endured all the trials falling to their lot and see the happy time when they can join their lives together.
