 Carlos (based on Shakespeare's Cassio) is a young Spanish student searching for the renowned Senegalese poet Souli, who may be the last griot to possess the "Thiossan tale".Souli, based on Othello, is working as a fisherman and living with a young French woman Mona (based on Desdemona).Abela's version of the villainous Iago is French trader Yann, who, helped by his girlfriend Abi, plots to destroy the lives of Souli and Mona.