Dshurukuwaa, son of Schynykbaj, is the youngest child of a nomadic family. His home, the Altai Mountains in Mongolia, is characterized by archaic barrenness. Life there follows traditional paths. Into this world of life, a new era breaks in with disturbing violence: the political alignment of the Mongolian People's Republic with the Soviet Union. Schools are being established to impart modern knowledge to the children. Dshurukuwaa, the young first-person narrator, must also leave his parents in the steppe. His adult half-brother, the director of the district school, comes to pick him up. However, the boy feels called to be a shaman and thus repeatedly finds himself in conflict with the socialist education. Even in school, the superstitious adherence to the divine forces of nature and spirits is to be combated. Ultimately, a catastrophe ensues.