Summary

The small town of Kalyazin on the banks of the Volga is famous for its bell tower rising right out of the water. More than half a century ago, during the construction of the Uglich hydroelectric power station, half of the city was flooded. Quiet sleepy streets that go straight into the river make this place really special. Like a mermaid who has climbed ashore, Kalyazin anxiously breathes the half-heartedness of his earthly fate. But every day bread is baked, children are born, women bend over sewing machines, men work behind the machines, asserting the desperate struggle of life where it seems that everything is meaningless and fleeting. Like a river along which large elegant steamboats sail past the bell tower, saying that somewhere there is a completely different life.