Belarus in the turmoil of the revolution of 1917/1918. The landowner's son Ihnat Abdsiralowitsch finds himself caught between all fronts. Should he commit himself to his beloved homeland or advocate for the cause of his social background? Or should he instead follow an undeniable voice within him that calls for a change in social conditions? As a small boy, Ihnat Abdsiralowitsch tragically loses his mother. From then on, the son of a wealthy landowner is raised by a village wet nurse who has a child of Ihnat's age, Wassil. Ihnat grows into a melancholic and sensitive man at school and university, while Wassil becomes a shepherd. During World War I, Ihnat rises to the rank of company commander in the military but is then transferred from the front to the medical authority.