The action takes place in a Bulgarian country family during the 30's of the 20th century. Forced by the fear that after the death of her son, her daughter-in-law could marry somebody else and could take part in sharing the heritage, the main character Mariola decides to kill her daughter-in-law.
The rich villager Yuftalana discovers that someone has broken corn from the cornfield. By chance he sees the thief - a child of a poor man. Blinded by rage, Yuftalana kills him with a stone...
The poor and illiterate village worker Dimo is in love with his landlord's daughter and events take their course...
