After four years of the occupation, everything seems to be “working” (154) apart from the looming possibility of the Austrians recruiting townspeople into their army. The Turkish community, in particular, worries about this. Without the means to revolt, they agree on a policy of passive resistance. This works for two years, until “the recruitment of young men, irrespective of faith and class” (156) is put into force. In Eastern Herzegovina, Turks and Serbs both rebel. In Višegrad, though there is no uprising, the military presence is felt once again; checks are instituted on the bridge.

Among the guards is a young man named Gregor Fedun, from Eastern Galicia. He is “of gigantic structure but childlike mind” (157). He spends months guarding the bridge; eventually, word is sent that a notorious brigand named Jakov Čekrlija is hiding near the town. Gregor guards the bridge as spring arrives and has the feeling that he is waiting for some unknown person. One day, he is distracted by a young Turkish girl and worries that he has missed someone passing over the bridge.

Each day the girl passes again and Gregor becomes obsessed with her. As the days pass, they begin to talk.