Varya is in despair: her husband is in prison on a false charge, the landlady is kicking her out onto the street with two children, there’s no work, and there are no relatives who could help—because Varya was raised in an orphanage. All that’s left is to pray, hoping for a miracle and for good people. Who could have thought that help was so close—and that a good angel would turn out to be an unfamiliar old woman with a little dog.