A dramatic story of the moral fall of a young African who has gone through a sad path from a sincere idealist with a brilliant European education to a cynical corrupt official and an inveterate conformist, and his uneasy love for a girl from a family of pagan priests. The novel immerses the reader in the bright and unusual world of Africa in the second half of the 20th century, where customs and rituals, preserved from truly immemorial times, either peacefully coexist, or enter into a tragic conflict with modernity and progress.* * * * A tragedy of a completely different time, in which the author addresses his favorite topic of the destructive influence of European culture on the traditional worldview of Africans. The hero of the novel, the high priest of an ancient pagan cult, believes devoutly, to the point of fanaticism, and sincerely considers himself the living embodiment of divine power. However, he will soon have to enter into a brutal confrontation not only with the colonial authorities and Christian missionaries, but also with his beloved son, who has rebelled against his father’s will and his father’s way of life...