The shepherd Goran and Sevdana are in love. Her father, Old Stanko, gets wind of this and decides to punish the shepherd. Kancho is also in love with Sevdana and looks for opportunity to get rid of Goran. Old Stanko is hurt in a quarrel for land with peasants from the neighboring village. Goran helps him. Kanco takes advantage of the general confusion and shoots at the shepherd. While the two men lie wounded on the ground Kancho surprises Sevdana, who is worried about her father, and drags her towards the vineyards. Aunt Strahila rushes to her help. Sevdana looks after Goran. Old Stanko curses his daughter believing that she is being disgraced. The peasants attribute the present drought to the sins of the young and their defiance of established customs and traditions. Everyone shuns Sevdana and she loses her mind. Kancho does not evade retribution and dies. Goran leaves the village.

Impersonating a knight is one of the favorite games of nine-year-old protagonist. Now as Don Quixote, now as D'Artagnan he is fighting evil, he is searching for justice and defending the weak. Together with his friends, packed in cardboard armor, they play all day long. As he is playing, however, he unwittingly witnesses the relation between his parents and gradually comes to understand that the world of the adults is far removed from the canons of knightly honor. His parents love him, but never seem to find the time to listen to his concerns. The deceit, corruption and lack of respect in his own family alienate the small boy. The only adult, whom the boy trusts, is his uncle to whom he is attached by a genuine, equal, man-to-man friendship. He takes him to the cinema and theater performances and talks to him like with his peer. Will this sensitive kid ever succeed in building an internal armor against selfishness and rudeness?