Oraz, a schoolboy from a remote Turkmen village, loves to draw. At an exhibition of children's drawings in India, his portrait of his mother wins a prize. Teacher Lebedev, who came to the village from the Ashgabat Art College, advises the boy to study.

Old Ashir has a beautiful young daughter and a whole line of dzhigits who want to take her as their wife. But who will be her chosen one will be decided by the cunning Ashir.