Somewhere in Eastern Europe, towards the middle of the 19th century, Alexandre and Ulysses live happy, but reclusive lives at the edge of a marsh. Since childhood, Alexandre was always rejected, wandering from one city to another with his family of nomads, although it did not prevent him from becoming a scholar and a man of great dignity. He took in and educated Ulysses who, because of his physical deformities, also lived the life of a pariah. They live a peaceful existence until the day a strange murder occurs in the nearby village. The superstitious peasants soon accuse Ulysses and Alexandre, because they are convinced that the marsh is the refuge of monsters and evil spirits.