This story tells about the times and customs in Russia during the times of Alexei Mikhailovich and Peter.
A comet flies over Moscow, and a detachment led by Pentecostal Fyodor Nazarov is sent to search for it. He meets people, as he thinks, of the Eastern tribe and receives from them a box with thirteen rings as a gift for the king. On the way home, robbers attack the detachment, the rings are lost, and Nazarov tries to find them.
One of the rings ends up in Moscow, and it becomes known to Fyodor Yuryevich Romodanovsky, Peter's closest associate, head of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, where matters of state importance are considered. He was brought here by the surviving archer of Nazarov's detachment, who, during interrogation, suffered nonsense: he began to talk about what only Peter knew and what would happen in the near future. So, he pointed out exactly what awaits the Russian army in the Prut campaign and what will happen to the tsar himself...
It was a strange time. Moscow tried to live in the European manner, and only seven days away from it, mermaids still lived in the rivers, forest workers, and girls knew how to fly... Both Romodanovsky and Peter himself looked at this with a grin, condescendingly incident, who flew up the career ladder, began to fight zealously "with all the evil spirits that are burned at bonfires in Europe." He also became interested in the ring...
