A young starving married couple leave their baby with mum to find better fortune. They stowaway on a train, but are caught by a guard. The husband kills the guard and is injured, then is shot by another railway employee. The couple find shelter and are helped by a young monk and hindered by his master. The young monk suggests that, in order to pay for medical treatment, that the woman follow the village custom and pawn herself. Presenting herself as having a sick brother instead of a husband, the woman is pawned to an ugly but sincere villager named Ox.