A young actor with his backbone broken (he is crippled after a bad fall on the stage) is being treated in a hospital. He is invalidated for good and he wills not to live further on. He gets acquainted with a 10-year-old boy, Leonid, from the adjoining room. The boy is spending time in hospital with an arm in a plastic cast. They make friends. In fact, the actor intends to use the kid to provide him with poison. He starts telling a marvelous fairy tale. "Yo-ho-ho" - this old refrain of a pirate song is all too familiar. For the sake of the boy the Actor invents stories about the good buccaneer who is fighting the evil ruler Alvarez who must be punished for his crimes. Little by little the real people in hospital are transformed into the imaginary heroes of the pirate stories that the Actor and the child vanquished by goodness, honesty and self-denial. The boy is fascinated. Gradually, this pre-planned friendship develops into sincere devotion and affection. Leonid's attachment to his older friend, and his trustfulness and good heart make the Actor abandon his plan of suicide and restore his faith in life. He realizes that life is worth living it, even if paralyzed.