Janusz Bukowski

　　一个无辜的男人被控告攻击了一位老太太。他没有不在场证据，而唯一的证人也就是那位老太太在几天后死去。结果他被关进监狱，和一群职业罪犯住在一起。在经历了各种屈辱之后他能在这个恶劣的环境中生存下去吗？他会有哪些改变呢？

　　Set at the turn of the century, the story concerns a Polish poet living in Cracow who has decided to marry a peasant girl. The wedding is attended by a heterogenous group of people from all strata of Polish society, who dance, get drunk and lament Poland's 100-year-long division of Poland under Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The bridegroom, a painter friend, and a journalist each in turn is confronted with spectres of Polish past. In the end a call to arms is called but turns out to be a hoax.