A young country boy leaves the rural home for the town and confronts the hardships of urban working life, itinerant labor, and precarious lodging. Through a sequence of episodes—apprenticeship, casual work, encounters with fellow migrants and older mentors—he endures hunger, exploitation, and moments of solidarity. The narrative traces his slow moral and social education as he acquires skills, forms bonds within laboring communities, and begins to question authority and social inequalities, presenting an intimate, episodic portrait of everyday struggles and the gradual shaping of an adult identity.