The young idealist Dmitry Andreich Olenin leaves Moscow, hoping to start a new life in the Caucasus.
During this time, young Cossack Luka kills a Chechen who is trying to come across the river towards the village to scout the Cossacks and in this way gains much.
He befriends the old Cossack Eroshka, who goes hunting with him and finds him a good fellow because of his propensity to drinking.
In the stanitsa, he slowly becomes enamored by the surroundings and despises his previous existence.
The young idealist Dmitry Andreich Olenin leaves Moscow, hoping to start a new life in the Caucasus