Adam Krt, a village farmer and shoemaker, lives in a happy marriage with his wife Eva. He is only afraid of her when he gets drunk and does something stupid. One day Adam successfully sells all the shoes he has made at a fair and uses the money to buy a heifer on his way home, directly from his neighbour Trnka (I. Rajniak). While the two of them are having a lavish "old-mash" in the pub, the heifer disappears. The trouble is that Adam has paid for the animal at the pub but has not yet taken possession of it. The two neighbours can neither find the heifer, nor can they agree who actually owned the lost animal....

anthology film

A dramatic story from the end of WW II and a remarkable contemplation of the value of true friendship, meaning and purpose of life or the possibility to be human even in inhumane conditions. In a frosty mountain setting a cruel struggle for life takes place. After a fight, two partisans return to their brigade carrying along a young German soldier as a captive. But suddenly, amidst the hopelessness of barren mountains, all protagonists find themselves in a liminal existencial situation.