Granny

I. part. Early spring. The fairy-tale. Jan, Vilém, Adélka and Barunka, the children of the lords' official Prošek, heartily welcome their granny. It is Barunka that loves kind granny most of all children and listens, fascinated, to her fairy-tales. Granny soon makes friends with the whole valley. Also the princess is pleased by granny and invites her and the children to the castle. The growing up Barunka experiences the first love to Orlík and perceives sensitively love between Jakub and Kristla. She also admires elemental nature and courage of Viktorka who bravely springs over May fires and refuses undesirable suitors. Spring and summer flow and comes autumn. – May fires. The romance. Spring is back. Nobility has returned to the castle. On a blooming meadow children and granny meet the joung countess Hortensie. Wise granny guesses that the girl is sad because she left in sunny Italy her love, a young painter. Love influences also the destiny of Viktorka who by all her nature falls in love with the black jaeger. After he leaves she loses her mind and runs away to live in the woods. Barunka shyly meets Orlík. – II. part. Late summer. The balad. Reapers mow grass, women throw it about. Among them is also the engaged couple – Jakub and Kristla. But the time of their happy love is soon coming to a end. Jakub bastes the scribe clerk, who molested his Kristla, which results in Jakub enlisting for seven years. While repeatedly visiting the castle, granny tells the princess the truth about Jakub, puts in a word for organ-grinder Kudrna, who leads a miserable existence out of work with great family, and eventually calls her attention to the cause of sadness of Hortensie. Summer ends, at the castle there is celebrated the harvest-home. Summer period goes with pleasure. It is the princess that takes care of it. She arranged that Jakub would come back from military service, Kudrna would recquire the permanent employment as a watchman and Hortensie would meet her painter. But the whole village regrets the tragic death of Viktorka. In coming autumn leave both Mr. Prošek and Barunka. – The great night. The elegy. It is autumn. Granny with children tend a cow, Kudrna gathers crop of apples. Granny quickly loses vital strength, every now and then she drowses. She recollects Viktorka, Barunka and her husband Jiří who was killed in Austrian-Prussian war. She is delighted by Kristla's little son and gives him a thaler she had received as a present from the Kaiser Joseph. At the walk there fades an old apple-tree and granny feels that she will follow it. She wishes she could see Barunka. Barunka turns up at granny´s death bed only at the moment when granny breathes her last. Then the girl grants granny's last request to announce her death to honey-bees.