The film tells about the origin of Slavic writing and the creation of chronicles. Winter forest in the afternoon, at sunset. Wooden house in the forest. Logs are burning in the stove. Icon of St. Nicholas in the "red" corner of the hut. Dramatization: a boy reads an old book by candlelight. The old man teaches the boy to read and write. Antique books in storage. One of the books - "The Gospel of John the Evangelist", "Alphabet". Fragment of a sermon by Father Pavel Svyatoilinsky in the Cathedral of Arkhangelsk. Father Pavel talks (synchronously) about the creation of the Slavic alphabet. Winter. View of Novgorod from the Volkhov River. Types of Novgorod churches. Birch bark letters, ancient birch bark products. Types of wooden churches in the Museum of Wooden Architecture. The interior of an old wooden house of Old Believers: benches, a table, an open Bible on the table, icons in the corner of the hut. Old books. Interiors of wooden huts from the Museum of Wooden Architecture. General view of the museum. View of the village cemetery. The old book is on fire.