: Winter of 1943. A boy from a small Kyrgyz village replaces his father, who has gone to the front, works hard, is experiencing his first love and engages in a fight with horse thieves and a hungry wolf.

School in a small Kyrgyz village. Cold, unheated class. The teacher tells the frozen and cold children about the warm island of Ceylon, where unprecedented fruits grow, amazing animals live and summer is all year round. But the thoughts of the Sultanmurat are far away. Many villagers have already died, his father is also at the front, and there are no letters from him for a long time. The boy recalls how they had a happy time. His father took him with him to the city, took him to the zoo and to the circus, taught him how to care for pets.

Now Sultanmurat has remained for the eldest in the family, where there are four children. Fathers also fought with all his friends. The boy’s thoughts are occupied not only with memories, but also with dreams of his classmate Myrzagul.

The collective farm chairman appeals to the students for help. Now, instead of studying, they will have to work alongside adults. Sultanmuratu instructed to prepare horses for arable land. Two horses are familiar to him - these are the horses of his father.

Sultanmurat becomes the commander of a working detachment sent to plow fields from the distant and uninhabited tract Aksakay. Now the boy is responsible for people, horses and equipment.

Finally, the horses are ready: well-fed and cured. Atynay, competing with Sultanmurat for the attention of the beautiful Myrzagul, flaunts in front of the girl, prancing on a horse. The horse falls on a steep slope, his joint swells, and the animal begins to limp. Seeing this, the foreman beats the Sultanmurat with a whip.

The mother of Sultanmurat is sick, so he has to be at home for the eldest. Fortunately, the mother’s brother soon arrives and the boy becomes better. Around him he sees female tears, but he cannot cry.

After leaving school, Sultanmurat does not see Myrzagul and asks his younger brother to convey a letter to the girl. He is impatiently waiting for an answer, but Myrzagul is silent and does not even react to the fact that Sultanmurat should leave soon. Once, having driven horses to a watering place, Sultanmurat sees Myrzagul, who is returning from school with her friends. How did he not realize before that to bring horses a little later and see her every day? Finally, the Sultanmurat manages to remain alone with her. Myrzagul gives him a scarf on which their names are embroidered. Sultanmurat understands that his feeling is mutual. Upon learning of this, Atynay rushes at Sultanmurat with his fists.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the collective farm very strictly asks Sultanmurat how he takes care of the horses.

The tragic news of the death of Father Atynay comes. All ail comes to support an unhappy family. Sultanmurat wants to give him the scarf that Myrzagul embroidered, but Atynay refuses.

In Aksakai, arable land is difficult. Winter has not yet reached its place, the weather is not spring, the main thing is that the horses withstand. And suddenly a wedge of early cranes flies over Aksakay. This is a sign of a good harvest. Longing for Myrzagul, Sultanmurat wants to find a crane feather and give it to her.

Finally, the first field is plowed. At night, some people come into the yurt, where the guys sleep, and bind them. These are horse thieves that lead four horses away. The children manage to free themselves, and Sultanmurat, sitting on his father’s horse, rides after them. But thieves kill the boy’s horse and he falls to the ground. Dreams and hopes of Sultanmurat about how he will meet his father on horseback and how Mirzagul admires him when he, having successfully finished arable land, returns home, now they will not come true, and the boy cries bitterly.

The wolf comes running to the smell of fresh blood, which has not seen meat all winter, and now there is a whole horse in front of it. The wolf comes close to the boy and freezes before the jump. Sultanmurat stands ready, crouching, with a bridle you wave ...