The life of Leva Odoevtseva, a descendant of the princes Odoevtsev, proceeds without any particular upheaval. The thread of his life flows measuredly from someone's divine hands. He feels himself more like a surname than a descendant of his glorious ancestors. Lev’s grandfather was arrested and spent his life in camps and exiles. In infancy, Leva, conceived in the fateful 1937, also moved with her parents towards the “depth of Siberian ores”; however, everything worked out well, and after the war the family returned to Leningrad.

Levin's father heads the department at the university, where his grandfather once shone. Leva grows up in an academic environment and since childhood dreams of becoming a scientist - “like a father, but bigger”. After graduating from school, Leva enters the Faculty of Philology.

After ten years of absence, the former neighbor Dmitry Ivanovich Yuvashov, whom everyone calls Uncle Dickens, a man "clear, poisonous, waiting for nothing and free" returns to the Odoevtsev’s apartment. Everything in him seems attractive to Leo: his squeamishness, dryness, harshness, thieves' aristocracy, sobriety of his attitude to the world. Leva often goes to Uncle Dickens, and even the books that he takes from a neighbor become a supplement to childhood.

Shortly after the appearance of Uncle Dickens, the Odoevtsev family was allowed to recall their grandfather. For the first time, Leva learns that his grandfather is alive, examines his beautiful young face in the photographs - from those that “make us unquestionably different from us and indisputably belonging to man.” Finally, the news comes that the grandfather is returning from exile, and his father is going to meet him in Moscow. The next day, the father returns alone, pale and lost. From unfamiliar people, Leva gradually learns that in his youth, his father abandoned his father, and then completely criticized his work in order to get a “warm” chair. Returning from exile, the grandfather did not want to see his son.

Leva fulfills for herself the “grandfather hypothesis”. He begins to read grandfather's work on linguistics and even hopes to partially use the grandfather system for term paper. Thus, he derives some benefit from family drama and cherishes in his imagination a beautiful phrase: grandfather and grandson ...

Grandfather is given an apartment in a new house on the outskirts, and Leva goes to him "with a brand new beating heart." But instead of the person whom he created in his imagination, Leva is met by a disabled person with a red, sullen face, which strikes with his lack of inspiration. Grandfather drinks with friends, confused Leva joins the company. Senior Odoevtsev does not believe that he was imprisoned undeservedly. He was always serious and does not belong to those insignificant people who were first unjustly imprisoned and now deservedly released. He is offended by rehabilitation, he believes that "all this" began when the intellectual first entered the doorway in conversation with the boor, instead of driving him in the neck.

Grandfather immediately notices the main feature of his grandson: Leva sees from the world only that which suits his premature explanation; the unexplained world leads him into a panic, which Leva takes for the mental suffering peculiar only to a sentient person. When the intoxicated Leva tries to blame her father for something, the grandfather furiously kicks out his grandson - for "betrayal of the seed."

Since childhood, Leva Odoevtsev stopped celebrating the outside world to himself, that is, he learned the only way that allowed many Russian aristocrats to survive in the twentieth century. After graduating from philology, Leva enters graduate school, and then begins to work in the famous Pushkin House of the Academy of Sciences. Even in graduate school, he writes a talented article “Three Prophets”, which amazes everyone with inner freedom and a flying, soaring syllable. Leva has a certain reputation, the smooth fire of which he imperceptibly maintains. He deals only with the spotless antiquity and thus gains confidence in a liberal environment, without becoming a dissident. Only once does he find himself in a difficult situation. Levin, a close friend of “something is not right,” wrote, signed or said, and now there is a trial, during which Leva will not be able to remain silent. But here the confluence of all conceivable circumstances intervenes: Leva gets the flu, goes on vacation, urgently responds to Moscow, wins a trip to the lottery abroad, his grandfather dies, old love returns to him ... A friend is no longer at the institute for Levin's return, and this spoils Levin’s reputation somewhat. However, Leva soon discovers that the reputation in an unappreciated form is even more convenient, calm and safe.

Leva has three friends. One of them, Albina, a smart and subtle woman of the Levine circle and upbringing, loves him, abandons her husband for his sake - but remains unloved and unwanted, despite repeated meetings. The other, Lyubasha, is simple and straightforward, and Leva does not attach any importance to relations with her. He loves only Faina, whom he was introduced to by his classmate Mitishatiev on graduation day. The day after meeting Leva, she invites Faina to a restaurant, tremblingly decides to take her hand and kisses uncontrollably in the front door.

Faina is older and more experienced than Leva. They continue to meet. Leo constantly has to make money on restaurants and numerous trifles of women, often borrow from Uncle Dickens, secretly sell books. He is jealous of Faina, convicts of infidelity, but not in the strength to part with her. During one party, Leva discovers that Faina and Mitishatiev quietly disappeared from the room and the door to the bathroom was locked. Dumbfounded, he expects Faina, mechanically clicking the lock of her purse. Having finally looked into her purse, Leva discovers a ring there, which, according to Faina, is expensive. Thinking that he has no money, Leva puts the ring in her pocket.

When Faina discovers the loss, Leva does not admit her deed and promises to buy another ring, hoping to gain money for the stolen. But it turns out that the Fainino ring is too cheap. Then Leva simply returns the ring, assuring that he bought it from his hands for nothing. Faina cannot argue and is forced to accept the gift. Leva freezes from an unknown satisfaction. After this story comes the longest and most peaceful period in their relationship, after which they still break up.

On the November holidays of 196 ... Leva was left on duty in the building of the institute. An old enemy friend and colleague Mitishatyev comes to him. Leva understands that the impact on him of Mitishatyev is akin to the influence of Faina: they both feed on Leva, enjoy, humiliating him. Mitishatiev talks about Jews who "spoil our women." Leva easily refutes Mitishatyev’s statement about the talentedness of the Jews, arguing that Pushkin was a Semite. Mitishatiev says that he is going to spiritually crush Leva, and then turn the whole world upside down: “I feel the strength in me. There were "Christ - Mohammed - Napoleon" - and now I am. Everything has matured, and the world has matured, only a person is needed who feels the strength in himself. ”

Mitishatiev brings his graduate Gottich, warning Leo that he is an informer. Baron von Gottich writes poetry about martens or matren in patriotic newspapers, which gives Mitishatyev an occasion to mock the aristocratic fragments. To brighten Leva’s alleged loneliness, not knowing about his guests, Isaiah Borisovich Blank comes. This is a retired employee of the institute, one of the noblest people that Leva had to meet in life. The form is not only extremely neat in appearance - it cannot talk badly about people.

Blank, Mitishatyev, Gottikh and Leva drink together. They talk about the weather, about freedom, about poetry, about progress, about Jews, about people, about drinking, about ways to clean vodka, about cooperative apartments, about God, about women, about blacks, about currency, about the public nature of man and about that there is nowhere to go ... They argue about whether Natalya Nikolaevna Pushkina loved. Some girls of Natasha come. Mitishatiev sets out to Leva his philosophy of life, including the “Rule of the right hand of Mitishatiev”: “If a person seems to be shit, then he is shit.” From time to time, Leva feels drunk memory lapses. In one of these failures, Mitishatiev offends Blanc, and then assures that Leva smiled and nodded.

Mitishatiev says that he cannot live on earth while Leva is. He insults Faina, and this Leo can’t stand it anymore. They fight with Mitishatyev, and Mitishatyev breaks the death mask of Pushkin. This turns out to be the last straw - Leva challenges him to a duel on museum pistols. A shot sounds - Leva falls. Mitishatiev leaves, taking with him the inkwell of Grigorovich. Having regained consciousness, Leva with horror discovers what kind of rout was committed in the museum building. But it turns out that with the help of Albina, who works at the same institute, and Uncle Dickens, everything is very quickly put in order.

Grigorovich’s inkwell is found under the window, another copy of Pushkin’s mask is brought from the basement. The next day, Leva discovers that not a single person at the institute pays attention to fresh signs of cleaning and repair. The deputy director calls him only in order to entrust the American writer to accompany Leningrad.

Leva leads an American around Leningrad, shows him monuments and talks about Russian literature. And all this is Russian literature, Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia - the Pushkin House without its curly lodger.

Left alone, Leva stands over Neva against the backdrop of the Bronze Horseman, and it seems to him that, having described the dead loop of experience, having captured a lot of empty water with a long and heavy net, he returned to the starting point. So he stands at this point and feels that he is tired.