Historical novel by Boleslaw Prus . The problem of the Polish population displacement from their land within the limits of the Prussian partition. Germans come to the village harassing a wealthy peasant Snail, leading to the tragedy. Slug's cottage burns, his wife dies. The peasant does not give up, defending his inheritance. He sticks on a patch of his Polish soil and protects it like a soldier his post.
Two young men from a town near Lodz attack and rob a taxi driver, hoping he will have a lot of cash. Wanted by the Militia, they run away through Poland.
