Witek runs after a train. Three variations follow on how such a seemingly banal incident could influence the rest of Witek's life.
Two young men from a town near Łódź attack and rob a taxi driver. Unsatisfied with the loot, they make their escape from the authorities across Poland.
The problem of the Polish population displacement from their land within the limits of the Prussian partition. Germans come to the village harassing a wealthy peasant Snail, leading to the tragedy. Slug's cottage burns, his wife dies. The peasant does not give up, defending his inheritance. He sticks on a patch of his Polish soil and protects it like a soldier his post.
