The film is set in one of the regions of Western Ukraine in the 1920s. A poor peasant, Vasyl, openly opposes the arbitrariness of the lord's authorities. While hunting in the lord's forest, he is captured by soldiers and imprisoned in a dungeon. His beloved girl Lesia, with the help of the villagers, opens the dam, and water begins to flood the manor. Amid the commotion, Vasyl escapes from his captivity.