The conflict with the plant owner makes Tade and Gijua to leave the town and return to their home village. There, Gijua fells in love with Tade’s sister Tasya. A day before their wedding, Tasya is taken by the people of Prince Rostom. Two friends rescue her from the Prince’s estate and launch a resistance struggle against the local usurpers. Revolted peasants kill the prince while two friends escape to the city and become active in a revolutionary movement.

In order to eradicate malaria, endemic in the marshes of the Mingrelia region, the authorities plan to drain a large territory that according to legend is the realm of "Uzhmuri", the Queen of Frogs and a deadly deity for intruders.