Six years have passed since the dog Chang recognized his master, the captain of a huge ocean-going vessel. And then morning comes again, and old Chang is still asleep. On the Odessa streets hosted by an evil and gloomy winter. It is much worse than that Chinese winter, when the dog met with his captain.

On such rainy days, with the wind and thorny snow that painfully cuts off the face, the captain and Chang wake up late. During these six years, their life has changed a lot, they have turned into old men, although the captain is not yet forty years old. The captain no longer swims in the seas, but lives in a cold, scantily furnished room in the attic of a five-story house inhabited by Jews.

The captain has an old iron bed, but he sleeps on it very soundly.

Anyone living in the attics can easily imagine what this almost-crushed bed is and what is the mattress on it.

Previously, the captain didn’t even sleep like that, even though he had a wonderful bed - high, with drawers and thin linen. Now he is tired for a day, and he has nothing to worry about - the captain knows that the coming day will not make him happy.

Once upon a time there were two truths in the life of a captain. One said, "that life is incredibly beautiful," and the second - "that life is conceivable only for the crazy."Now, for the captain, there is only one truth: life does not bring joy.

In the mornings, the captain lies on the bed for a long time, Chang is also muddy and weak in the morning. He is napping and dreaming.

Changu dreamed that the "old, sour-eyed Chinese" sold him - a fox-like puppy - to the young captain of the ship. Three weeks after that, the dog was terribly “tormented by seasickness” and did not see either Singapore or Colombo. Autumn storms raged on the ocean, and Chang sat all this time in the "hot darkened corridor", where he was brought food once a day.

Chang wakes up from a loud popping door. The captain also rises, drinks vodka directly from the bottle, and pours the rest into a bowl of Chang. The dog drinks vodka, falls asleep and dreams about morning in the Red Sea.

The storm ceased, and Chang first stepped onto the deck of the ship. The captain grabbed him in his arms and carried him to the navigational cabin, fed him, and then for a long time he plotted the sea charts and told Chang about a little girl, his daughter, who lives in Odessa. The girl already knew about the puppy and was looking forward to it.

Then Chang put his paws at stake, for which he received the first slap in the face from the owner. Ignoring the dog’s resentment, the captain began to tell how happy he was, because he has a beautiful wife and a wonderful daughter. Then he began to talk about the Chinese faith in the Foremother, which points the way to all things. This path cannot be resisted, but the captain is too “greedy for happiness” and sometimes cannot understand whether his path is dark or bright.

When you love someone, no one will force you to believe that someone you love may not love you.

From hot Arabia, Chang is again transferred to a cold attic - he is called by the owner.For two years now, the captain and dog have been going around Odessa restaurants, pubs, and snack bars every day. Usually the captain drinks in silence, but sometimes he meets one of his former friends and begins to talk about the insignificance of life, treating himself, the interlocutor and Chang to alcohol.

Today they meet with one of these friends - an artist in a top hat. First they sit in a pub, among the red-faced Germans, then go to a coffee shop full of Jews and Greeks, and end the day in a restaurant full of scum. And the captain again assures the artist that "there is only one truth in the world, evil and low."

All this is a lie and nonsense, as if people live: they have no god, no conscience, no rational goal of existence, no love, no friendship, no honesty - there is not even simple pity.

The captain believes that "life is a boring, winter day in a dirty tavern." Chang does not know whether the owner is right or not. The restaurant is played by musicians. The dog "surrenders to his music with his whole being" and again sees himself as a puppy on a steamboat in the Red Sea.

Chang recalls how well he felt then. He and the owner sat in the wheelhouse, stood on the deck, dined, dined, and watched the sunset in the evening, and the captain already smelled of wine.

Chang also remembers the terrible night that followed, when huge waves glowing in the dark rolled onto the ship. The ship rocked hard, and the captain held the dog in his arms.

Then they went to the captain’s cabin, where there was a photograph of a capricious girl in ringlets and a young lady, slender, thin and charming, “like a Georgian princess”. The captain believed that this woman would not love Chang.

There are, brother, female souls who always languish with some kind of sad thirst for love, and who from this themselves never love anyone.

His wife dreamed of a scene, fame, wealth, "about her own car and picnics on a yacht." One day she returned home late at night, after a yacht club ball. Then the captain for the first time felt that this woman was not quite him. The captain was angry, wanted to kill her, but his wife asked him to unfasten her dress, and he again lost his head.

At night, the captain shouted plaintively in his sleep.

Suddenly Chang stuns the rumble. The dog does not understand what happened. Either this is again, as three years ago, through the fault of a drunken captain, the steamboat flew onto the rocks, or the captain again fired a pistol at his wife. But no, it’s the drunken master Chang who hit his desk with his fist, arguing with the artist - the captain curses women, and his friend does not agree with him.

Soon the restaurant is closed, and the captain with Chang leaves for home.

Again the day has passed - a dream or reality? - and again in the world of darkness, cold, fatigue ...

So the time of Chiang flows uniformly. But waking up one winter morning, the dog realizes that the captain is dead. Then the captain's friends come into the room, and Chang lies in the corner, closing his eyes so as not to see this world.

Chang comes to himself at the door of the church, sees the owner’s coffin above a black-clad crowd and hears unearthly chants. Dog's hair becomes on end with pain and delight. An artist emerges from the church and stares in amazement at Chang's eyes full of tears.

After the funeral, Chang moves to a new owner - an artist.He also lives in the attic, but his room is warm and well furnished. The dog lies quietly near the fireplace, the captain is still alive in his memory.

Only one truth should exist in this world, but only the last Master knows about it, and Chang will soon return to it.