Bohuš Rendl

May 1945. On the outskirts of Prague, ordinary people meet Soviet soldiers-liberators with tears of joy in their eyes. In the early days of the lull, someone sadly recalls a pre-war life; someone unexpectedly meets his love; someone is returning from enemy dungeons looking hopefully into the future; and someone, having moved from a tank into a Czech tram, warmly recalls his craft as a car driver... These days, all those who survived the Great War fire swear an oath to keep peace on Earth forever, honoring the memory of those who gave their lives for simple human happiness.

An anthology of three absurd, ironic tales inspired by Čapek’s “Tales from One Pocket” and “Fables and Side Stories,” each showing uncanny forces disrupting ordinary lives: in Krejčík’s “Glorie,” a gentle clerk is haunted by a sudden halo; the other two segments by Mach and Makovec similarly blend everyday routines with ironic, supernatural twists.

The rude and bitter mining engineer Štěrba strongly opposes the proposal of his colleague Ing. Vochoče to reopen mining in the old mine. Vochoč's plan is precisely prepared and could solve many problems. However, Štěrba does not want to explain anything to anyone, he does not want to talk to anyone, his only refuge is the pub and his only friend is a glass of alcohol. He has resigned himself to a relationship with his wife. No one knows that he has very good reasons to prevent Vochoč and the others from taking their meritorious initiative...

The bourgeois family does not forgive, from her point of view, inappropriate behavior - contempt overtakes both the girl who decides to dedicate her life to dancing and her sister, who takes in her child, passing it off as her own. The sinister lesson is that even the greatest career cannot compensate for lost maternal love...

The hero of the story is the writer Vladimír Tůma, who is invited to spend a month studying in a neighbouring country. There, the foreign office assigns him a guide, Irena Stepowska. The two young people are attracted to each other, but there is a catch - Vladimír is married, Irena is married. But as they say, opportunity makes the thief, so it's no wonder that Tůma has his work cut out for him, and Irena, too, sometimes recovers only at the last minute. And she doesn't even know that her husband is coming to visit her...