It's 1913. The same as every year, tramp Kalous returns to the little provincial town to spend the winter in the local jail. But the young judge Zvonař has bad news for him. After many years, court counsel Štěpán has a chance to hang a white flag on the court building as a sign that the jail is empty. On Zvonař's advice, Kalous steals a rabbit but even this doesn't bring him closer to the desired lodging. Only after he steals the counsel's frock does it seam that Kalous can't miss the punishment. Štěpán is desperate, believing that his chance to fly the white flag is lost for ever. But at the last moment he remembers that Kalous went astray only after someone in the town did him wrong once. So he decides to help him become a decent citizen again. He speaks to the town chairman who offers Kalous work. Kalous accepts the deal and the white flag can now start fluttering on the prison building.
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