In Bni Boublen, a tiny village perched in the mountains, life follows the rhythm of the seasons. Down on the plains stretch the vast estates of the colonists. Omar, the young hero of The Big House, is initiated into this rustic life thanks

to Comandar, a sort of god Pan. The child learns that the men are not happy. The fellahs unite and talk, rise against their miserable conditions, and decide to go on strike. The country is in turmoil. One night, the gourbis of agricultural workers catch fire. The strikers are accused of being arsonists.

The leaders are arrested... Mohammed Dib bears witness to the distress of the Arab peasantry, without forgetting that he is a writer for whom words matter and retain the meaning of a freedom that no one can confuse.