Jabuka

Contents:

An annual Apple Festival in the Serbian town of Ravica is an opportunity for the local young people to choose a partner. The girl bites an apple, gives it to her chosen boy, and if he also takes a bite, the match is made. To this festival is arriving a very varied company, which is gradually filling the local inn.

First to arrive are the impoverished noblemen from Gradinac, brothers Mirko and Vasil. To get out of their financial troubles, they hope to sell their dilapidated little castle to Bambora, a starch manufacturer. Further, Mirko is hoping to find himself a rich bride. Staklo, the innkeeper, is recommending him Jelka, the daughter of a rich farmer Misa. Mirko needs not be told twice, but at that moment enters Joschko, the Executor, who is after the two brothers to confiscate whatever is left of their property for nonpayment of debts. Finally, the rich Bambora arrives with his daughter Anita.

The plot uncoils from a little incident. The carriage, in which the farmer Misa is coming with his daughter Jelka, breaks down, and this gives Mirko the chance to offer Jelka help in return for a little payment, a kiss. This chance is spoiled by Joschko the Executor, who immediately confiscates Mirko’s carriage, which Jelka greatly ridicules. To get his revenge and to get the girl, Mirko talks the executor into coming with the carriage pretending to be a Hungarian magnate, and to take Jelka to Gradinac instead of Ravica.

The servants at the Gradinac castle are complaining that they cannot join the apple festival. Returning Mirko is pacifying them with the idea that he puts on the festival himself, and he invites them all as his guests. Only nobody may tell Jelka that she is not in Ravica. Meanwhile, Mirko’s brother Vasil found his chosen girl, he fell in love with Anita, Bambora’s daughter.

Jelka finally arrives, and again, there is an argument between her and Mirko. Vasil and Anita have no problem with their relationship, and mutually bite the apple during the festivities. On the other hand, Jelka throws the apple offered by Mirko back at his feet, and the conflict is culminating, when she finds out that the festival is not in Ravica. The conflict is finally settled and the festival ends with singing and dancing.

In high spirits, the Executor Joschko tells Bambora the whole truth, and of course Bambora wants to leave immediately and take his daughter with him. At the same time, Jelka and Mirko are trying to communicate their real mutual feelings to each other through intermediaries. When they succeed, Bambora comes to terms with his daughter Anita’s love for a poor nobleman, and the road to wedding for the two pairs is wide open.