The entire village and its surroundings are plagued by the greed of the local miller and the castle scribe. The scribe takes a liking to the beautiful Fanka, who works at the mill. But first, he must get rid of Fanka's beloved Kuba. So he decides to send him off to war. And because they want to fill their coffers with gold coins together with the miller, they confiscate Kuba's mother's cottage and fields and drive her out of the village. She curses the miller and the clerk. When Kuba finds out that he has lost everything, he no longer wants to live…