It is evening, children are gathered around the fire, and the old miller begins to tell them a fairy tale. In his tale, Mykola, a bursak, goes to Mr. Adam to teach his daughter Khrystyna to read and write. But on the way to the manor, Mykola learns that the village has been invaded by evil spirits, werewolves, and air-breathers, and that Mr. Adam himself is in captivity. Mykola and Khrystyna decide to free the prisoners and the land from evil spirits, but they will have to go through many trials.
Love triangle revealed during a wedding is set to a backdrop of Ukrainian history and tradition, with questions of honor and faithfulness asked.
The plot is based on real events described by Ivan Franko in a series of criminal reports for the newspaper "Kurjer Lwowski" in 1889. The writer used the motives of these events in the story "The Foundations of Society".
