The legendary József Pelikán, now a retired dam keeper, is made witness again to the new democracy in the making, the emerging capitalist economy. Pelikán is an immaculate man of good faith, his past is as clean as a laundry, which is why various power groups want to use him for their own ends. They want to make him mayor of Oroszvár, a small but precious island in the Danube. And once again, Pelikán's bitter and amusing adventures begin, the international situation escalates, and he once again realizes the immortal truth: life is not a whipped cream cake.