Ostap Bender, shortly after arriving in Stargorod, meets Ippolit "Kisa" Vorobyaninov, a Marshal of Nobility who's looking for a set of 12 chairs that belonged to his mother-in-law, who on her deathbed confesses of hiding diamonds in one of them. However, the confession is overheard by Father Fyodor, who is also looking for them. Ostap and Kisa decide to go on the search together, traveling all around Russia and having a series of misadventures.