The wealthy slave trader Xanthus, who imagines himself to be a great poet and philosopher, buys the slave Aesop, a writer of fables. Soon Xanthus becomes famous, but everyone understands who the true author of his new works is.
Kronstadt, 1917. Sailors aboard the revolutionary cruiser Zarya prepare for a general armed uprising. Kerensky's government decides to disarm the ships. The ship's crew expels delegates from the Provisional Government, refusing to obey orders. The cruiser's commander, Bersenev, sides with the sailors. Bersenev's family members react differently to this decision. Thus, a collapse occurs in the family of an old Russian intellectual...
