The novellas included in this book are connected: the same characters appear in them.
In “Mountain Wind,” the young ship’s messenger and sailor Kostya Barbin is only just taking his first steps along an independent path in life. Hot-blooded and honest, he falls under the influence of the crafty Il’ya Shakhvorostov and makes serious mistakes. His coworkers correct him. Near Kostya is his childhood friend, Masha Terskova.
In the novella “Don’t Give Up the Queen,” Kostya Barbin, now a caisson worker, appears as a man of firm will. Masha Terskova is now his wife. “Don’t give up the queen — fight to the end for a person” — this is Masha’s and Kostya’s life principle.
In the final novella “The Slow Gavotte,” Kostya Barbin becomes an external student of a construction institute, and in his struggle against dishonest people he already relies on the power of the printed word.