Karel Bursík (Lukás Vaculík), as a child called Kajda, recalls his childhood spent in Prague - Zizkov. His father (Vladimír Mensík), a shoe-maker, moved there his wife and three children hoping they would escape a country poverty. He soon threw his daughter Vera (Zlata Adamovská) out of home; he did not like her relationship with a married man. The competition of Bata factory was unsurpassable for a minor craftsman Bursík and his neighbours owed him for minor services. The desperate Bursík sent Kajda to sell his mother’s dresses to get money for food. In a second-hand shop, Kajda met his first love.