After graduating from an Italian university a young Russian emigrant Lev finds it difficult to get a job in the field of architecture. He seems to have given up trying as he only sees disappointment in the skies of Milan and longs to return home - at least for a while. Lev visits his parents in the country house where he grew up. Victor, a family friend of his parents, and his son Yasha are also staying there. Lev remembered Yasha as a little boy, but now he was a 17-year-old young man who was also soon to leave for Europe in a hope for a happier future. With time Lev gets to know Yasha better and begins to see himself in him. He also learns that Sofia, Yasha's older sister, will be arriving soon. Having spent so much time with Sofia before the start of his new life in emigration, Lev becomes sentimental and begins to reminisce about her.