In Mongolia. After the death of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, monks are looking for a replacement. A little boy, Monchetenger, would like to be this happy chosen one, in order to relieve his widowed and destitute mother. But the monks pass by without paying attention to him. He runs in pursuit of them and at the end of his strength, ends up collapsing and sinks into madness. Desperate, his mother decides to end her life and those of her son.