A story of the conflict between the old and new orders of living.

Arvo Raitamo, a surgeon from Helsinki, is focused on his career. At home, his wife, who suffers from loneliness with their young son, is kept company by Rolf Brenner, an engineer known as a ladies' man. When the family's son dies in an accident, Arvo, broken with grief, flees to the wilderness of Lapland, where he collapses in the snow. Arvo is saved by the folk healer Aslak and his niece Maaret. Maaret falls in love with Arvo, but Arvo cannot escape his past for long.

A young man arrives in the village. He becomes a miller and delights the girls in the village, which evokes bitterness in others. He is subject to moralistic criticism, even though he is in fact only in love with the tailor's daughter.