Desire Named Anada

Fisherman Jánoš comes home with a medicine that he bought at the pharmacist in the town and which will possibly save his severely ill wife Zuzka. He dissolves several pills in water but the woman is not supposed to drink the medicine later than seven o'clock. Zuzka's old father, disturbed, announces to Jánoš that Anada left the house to drown herself. Jánoš runs to the river, earnestly calling out and trying to find the girl, but all in vain. On the riverbank, he meets three men who start questioning him. Jánoš begins to recall the past events when he with his father-in-law and his son Petr fished out a mysterious beautiful girl named Anada from the river and resuscitated her with the help of Zuzka. The girl remained with the family on the request of Jánoš's beloved wife, who often felt lonely. Jánoš, however, began to lust for the beautiful visitor and pressed her to leave. Although he tried to find out something about her past, all his efforts failed. Following the night when Anada became Jánoš's lover, Zuzka fell ill with typhoid. Jánoš, unable to solve his situation, hoped that her death would decide everything for him. The pharmacist, however, warned him to give Zuzka only one pill; in larger amounts, the medicine turns into deadly poison. When Jánoš learns from the men on the bank that Anada is dead, he recalls Zuzka and the dangerous medicine. He begins to run home, but the harder he runs, the more distant is his destination.