A nine-year-old boy is in desperate need to convince his grandfather, his only relative (a wayward character, who seems to be totally indifferent to the boy's fate), to take him back to his country home. Stealthily, he writes a letter to describe the unbearable life he leads in the house of the shoemaker Aliakhin, whom he serves as an apprentice for, suffering from hunger, abuse and humiliation. Finally, very pleased with his effort, he puts it into an envelope, inscribes the address: "The village, to my grandfather, Konstantin Makarych" and drops it into a post-box, well aware that it is on this precious item that his whole life now totally depends upon.