Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As soon as she was born, Stana had both hands bit off by a pig, but she still grows to be good embroiderer. Her beloved brother Toma went into the city, where he's trying to make money by working in the circus. Toma comes to take Stana, promising her a better life in the city. However, she find herself left to the fate of circus act, and her brother eventually sells her to a doctor working on prostheses for disabled. At the same time, with the help of his uncle from the States, Toma tries to pull his cousin Ilija out from jail, a miner imprisoned for his leftist inclinations.