Following the death of his parents in Turkey, a young orphan arrives in the Russian town of Batum via boat in search of his great-aunt, who he has never met before. A woman and two boys approach him, and he learns that the woman is a friend of his mother. She tells him that his great-aunt is on a trip to a resort and will be back in a month, and he tells her that the Turks have killed his parents and drowned his Uncle Leon in the sea. After thinking to himself that his mother’s friend does not appear to be well-off, the orphan tells her that he will go to the orphanage, but the woman invites him to stay with her for the night and buys him a new pair of shoes before bringing him around town to visit people who knew his mother.  Afterward, the young orphan goes to the orphanage, which happens to be a villa on the beach. The orphan plays with the other boys, learns to swim, and gains weight. In a month, however, his great-aunt, Mariam Hanum, returns, and the orphan begins living with her and helps around the house, carrying her shopping bag when they go to the bazaar. The orphan learns to speak Russian and thinks to himself that he is growing more like the people of Batum, except for the cap that he wears on his head, which he has brought from home. The orphan begins to lead a colorful life, playing with the Russian boys at school and even falling in love with a young girl named Shushik from a nearby family.  One day in the bazaar, the orphan sees a Russian cap like the one that all schoolboys wear, and although it is soiled and has holes in it, he is ecstatic and brings it home with him. His great-aunt’s son, Sarkis, however, is disgusted by the cap and throws it away. When Sarkis sees the orphan trying to fish his cap back out of the trash, he yells at him to never bring it back inside. Heartbroken, the orphan runs away and decides to live at the orphanage again but gets scared on the way there. He returns to his great-aunt but begins to cry, thinking about how he cannot explain why the Russian cap is so magical and important to him.