"It is better to beat stones on the pavement than to allow a woman to take at least a fingertip."

Two young men return to the province to their parents.

One of them is a hereditary nobleman, an attractive Arkady, and the other, an ugly Evgeny, a raznochinets, from a poor family.

Each of them is ready to criticize and condemn his parents from morning till night.

Arkady unpleasant that his forty-year-old father in the estate has a young mistress who gave birth to a child. Although his own mother died a long time ago.

Yes, and the farm father is in the old fashioned way, because the estate brings little income.

Eugene is ready to argue with everyone, from the landowner to the peasant. And he does not notice that they consider him "a buffoon peasant."

As a convinced nihilist, he condemns all the values ​​and ideals of past generations. Even with a passion rejects the need for a cordial relationship between a man and a woman.

But life makes its own adjustments. Eugene tried to look after a rich and beautiful widow.

I wanted to profit at her expense, but imperceptibly for myself was carried away by this woman. Therefore, it was a blow to him when she refused to continue the relationship.

Without love, even the life of a nihilist loses its meaning.