A sick and penniless prostitute is constantly raped by the poor residents of a shanty town. She has several children of all ages, who are forced to scavenge for food amongst the trash heaps of the village. A man comes from the city and takes the oldest of the prostitute's children, a ten-year-old boy, to work for him.

In order to get the job, the boy has to participate in a contest with other poor children. The man will employ whoever can carry a crippled child - who lost his legs in war - to school on his back. A tough contest takes place and finally, the boy wins.

For one dollar a day, the prostitute's son carries the crippled boy to school and back. Like a horse. He races with donkeys in the street. He bathes his crippled charge; he plays with him, tends to him, takes bread to his family. But the crippled boy is never happy: he had asked his father to buy him a horse, not a boy.