The action takes place in a country town in Bohemia during the French revolution, in 1793.



Act I: The square in the middle of town, with a church on the periphery.



Bohuš of Harasov has returned from abroad to his home town. With him is his wife, Julie, a foreigner who is singing to her child a song that Bohuš's mother used to sing to him. When Bohuš hears the sound of singing from the nearby church, he becomes nostalgic and tells Julie that he misses the love of his father, Count Vilém of Harasov, and longs for a reconciliation. Bohuš's cousin, Adolf of Harasov, turned Bohuš's father against him by telling the old man that his son was a revolutionary—a Jacobin. At the time, Bohuš was simply campaigning for the rights of the people of the estate.

The townsfolk begin leaving the church and talking with one another. Filip, the count's steward, flatters the choirmaster, Benda, praising the morning's performance. What Filip really wants is the attention of Benda's daughter, Trelinka. When he tries, awkwardly, to woo her, Jiøí, a hunter, becomes furious, because he also is interested in Trelinka. Prompted by other young men in the square, Jiøí mocks Filip. As Trelinka tries to calm Jiøí, Filip responds by threatening to draft Jiøí and the other men into military service. In a duet we learn that Jiøí and Trelinka are in love with each other, while their declarations are rudely interrupted by the jealous Filip.

Bohuš and Julie enter the scene, introducing themselves as itinerant musicians. When they ask for an audience with Count Vilém, Filip suspects their motives. The Count enters unexpectedly, declaring that Bohuš has been disowned and Adolf is now heir to his fortune and station.





Act II: In a classroom at Benda's school.



Musicians rehearse a serenade for an upcoming performance in the manor. Trelinka reveals her fear that her father wants her to marry Filip instead of Jiøí. As Trelinka and Jiøí speak of love to one another, Benda enters, expresses his disappointment at finding the lovers together and orders Trelinka to marry Filip. Trelinka and Jiøí say they will disrupt the performance of Benda's serenade. As the three argue, girls from town enter with a report that soldiers have entered the town in search of revolutionaries. Bohuš and Julie arrive and ask Benda for safe lodging. They tell Benda that making music gave them courage as they "wandered in foreign lands." Quite taken with their love of music, Benda arranges for them to stay the night.

Filip arrives and again sets about wooing the uninterested Trelinka. When he sees Jiøí he starts conscription procedures, but Benda intervenes, saying he needs the young man to perform the solo tenor part in his piece. Adolf enters and presses Filip to go ahead and draft Jiøí, which infuriates Bohuš, who speaks out against his cousin. As a result, Adolf arrests Bohuš, accusing him of being a revolutionary.



Act III: A hall in the castle of Count Vilém.



When Jiøí tries to tell the Count that his son has been arrested, Adolf has him removed. The housekeeper, Lotinka, leads in Julie and Benda, who speak to the Count on behalf of Bohuš. Benda hopes that his pleasant serenade will soften the Count's heart and make him forgive his son, but this is not successful. The Count debates with himself on what he believes is the guilt of his son as Julie moves to another room. Shortly afterward, the Count hears, coming from the next room, the sound of the harp that belonged to his dead wife and Julie's voice singing the old lullaby his wife used to sing: "Synáèku mùj kvìte" (Little son, little flower). The Count, his heart softened, is now more receptive when Julie show him a leaflet distributed by the Jacobins calling for the death of Bohuš. Once he learns that his son is incarcerated in the castle, the Count decides he must see him and forgive him. After the two are reconciled, Bohuš announces that he will never again leave home, and the assembled company dance in celebration.



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