This story is told against the setting of the Canal of Castille and traces the life led by Ismael¿s family- Julián, his grandfather and his parents, Jonás and Sancha. A Life that truth to be told is not very kind to them and in which earning one¿s daily bread is no easy task. The reader will learn just how the canal boatmen used to live, devoting themselves to their work in what was very austere and frugal existence. The story also affords a view of the equally harsh social reality of Castillian village.