Manas is hired to work for master Tatos till the spring, "when the cuckoo will call". There is one condition of the contract: if anyone of them gets annoyed with another, he loses everything. Unable to stand the day-and-night work for stingy master, Manas leaves without a pense of salary for months work. Next servant who knocks at Tatos's door is Manas's small brother, smart Simon.

Nothing is easy for Torik, a shy orphan adopted by his aunt and uncle: he struggles to fit into village life, learn a craft, or find a wife. When Torik does fall in love – with Anjel, a local prostitute – he must face down the disapproval of his narrow-minded community and assert his right to happiness.

A village boy meets his tragic fate when he is sent to the city to work for a rich trader.

Screen version of Yervand Otyan's "Comrade Panjuni" is powerful satire on demagoguery and hypocrisy of the Armenian politicos and political party activists.

Despite the rumors circulating about the hero being an informer, the society around him, while condemning him behind his back, flatters and fawns over him to his face.