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.
A satirical comedy with elements of metaphysical horror about religion in rural 1960s Soviet Russia. Notable for using first-person pseudo-documentary "found footage" technique framing the movie as the creation of the protagonist, who is returns to his home village from the city to discover that a local drunk has formed a doomsday cult.