شوشة السقا الذي يخاف من الموت خوفًا شديدًا لأنه بالنسبة له يسلب الأحبة، وقد أخذ منه زوجته، ويتقابل شوشة مع شحاتة الذي يعلم فيما بعد أنه مساعد تربي فيتشائم منه ويموت شحاتة ليحزن عليه شوشة حزنًا شديدًا وتنتابه حالة عصبية وهو يساعد في دفنه.

The story of the friendship that develops between two men with quite different world views. One, a water carrier whose wife has died twenty years before, spends his days thinking about her. The other, who works in the funeral business, spends his life in the pursuit of pleasure because he recognizes that death will bring an end to all enjoyment. They meet and become friends. Through this friendship the water carrier is encouraged to change his morbid way of thinking and to enjoy life.