In late nineteenth-century Tiflis, young teacher Sofia Sevikyan believes that wealthy Armenians cannot remain indifferent to compatriots suffering from persecution, hunger, and displacement. Her visit to the millionaire Pilaryan family puts this faith in human solidarity to the test. Against a background of public calamity, the story contrasts the suffering of the vulnerable with the trivial concerns of the privileged, exposing the distance between display of generosity and genuine compassion.