Kastanka is a red-haired, fox-faced dog that has lost its master. After spending a frightening night on the street, a kind man, who turns out to be a clown, takes the dog, renamed "Auntie", to a new home shared with a goose, a white cat and a piglet, all actors in a circus. Kastanka also begins to learn tricks and games, but the novelty of her new life is tempered by homesickness. On the night of Kastanka's debut, the dog's first owner shows in the audience and Kastanka has to choose her fate. From a story by Anton Chekhov, published in 1887.