An American writer, Eugene Carter, rectums to Italy ten years after the end of World War II in order to conduct research for a book he is working on a collection of accounts of lives marked by hardship. Galtelli, a tiny Sardinian village tucked away among the mountains of the Nuorese region, is home to the protagonist of one such story, which takes place some thirty years earlier. At the age of eight, Gaetano Piras is accompanied by his father, a shepherd, into the mountains to learn the skills of his profession, After five years of training and acquired expertise, he is sold into the operation of Count Casula to become a shepherd servant. His grueling work consists of driving the owner’s livestock into the mountainous pasture land sleeping for months on end under the stars. In place of a wage, he is given ten or twelve sheep per year. By 1925, Gaetano, who has married and fathered a son in the meantime has accumulated a flock of around 100 sheep. He decides to set up his own farm. But one day, in a village not far from his, a flock belonging to a man named Tolla is stolen. One of Tolla’s workers informs the police that the theft was carried out under instructions from Count Casola, Gaetano’s former employer. The injustice of the accusation and his strong sense of loyalty to the Count arouses Gaetano’s indignation, compelling him to confess to the theft himself. When the authorities refuse to believe him, Gaetano hands over his own flock, the Count hires him again, forcing Gaetano to undergo another twenty years as a shepherd servant before finally obtaining his freedom.