Plot:

Mr. Grabachov is the head master of a high school in Moscow. The conditions under which he and his students as well as teachers are forced to operate are outrageous.
The classrooms are very small, the furniture is rusty and the students study in the hallways. It was proposed to then by the mayor to build themselves their own school which will meet their requirements and they did- working hard during the year.
When the job was done and the school was built the principal, on the verge of moving in, receives an invitation to a committee with the inspector. When he arrives, he is welcomed by the inspectors and five of his fellow ministry members who say: ”we have seen your splendid work building the new school. Due to curtain circumstances you will have to let go of it and build yourselves another one, for we will be using the building for something else. In the meantime you could be content with your old building. We have visited it and is quite pleasing”. From this point on the author scrutinizes the principal’s struggle in order to change the bureaucrat’s decision.
A main character:

Mr. Grabachov is a principal of a school. He is single and very lonely man who dedicate his life to the school he operates.
His relationships with his staff is very fragile-they don’t believe in him and he doesn’t trust them, as a result- the atmosphere around the school is tense.
Mr. Grabachov is a former soldier in the Russian army and fought in world war 2.During the war he was injured.