Jean Passera-Monoyer, the son of a wealthy businessman, killed a man. Restless, outcast and subconsciously convinced that his execution was only delayed, he leaves prison and is literally picked up on the road by an imperious, tight-fisted widow farmer. She needs an employee, and even more needs a warm friend. Jean is submissive and indifferent. The appearance of young Felicia turns a languid idyll into a tragedy, the ending of which Jean had foreseen from the very beginning. Published in Russian for the first time.