Based on the short story of the same name by Mika Waltari. One afternoon, Valter, a middle-aged bank employee, runs into an old acquaintance at Espalla, and a long, boozy evening ensues. Relations with his wife are strained, and there is a young, charming secretary working at the bank. Valter feels a longing for the adventures of his youth.

A story set in post-war Helsinki, where the last released prisoners of war arrive. They are accompanied by Captain Erkki Lahtinen, who returns to his home and back to his wife Jenni. However, during his four-year imprisonment, Erkki has been pronounced dead and Jenni has remarried to office manager Nevamaa.

After loosing his family in the war Paavo does not adapt to life in the city, but escapes to his homeland to the north and gets to work on a log site.