"You are very unhappy, sir!" a gypsy woman prophesies to the young Russian revolutionary Tarabas. "I read in your hand that you are a murderer and a saint. There is no more unfortunate fate in this world." From Russia to New York and back again through the turmoil of the First World War and the Revolution, the path of the sinner and penitent Nikolaus Tarabas unfolds. The bitter legend of a son who goes astray and returns home.