Act I
Early evening in a landowner’s house. The steward, Yegor Mikhailovich, reports to the mistress. They discuss who should be sent into military service. Two recruits have already been chosen, but the third is still undecided: should it be Polikushka, a serf, or Ilya from the wealthy Dutlov family? The mistress wants the matter resolved without unpleasantness. Yet unless she pays for a substitute, someone will be sent away for many years. She refuses to part with Polikey, who is under her moral protection, and thus condemns Ilya to the draft. The mistress has another errand in town: she must collect over fifteen hundred rubles from the gardener. To everyone’s surprise, she entrusts the unreliable Polikushka with the letter and the task of delivering the money the next morning.
At dusk the village gathers to decide who will be the third recruit. Arguments flare, but the majority point to the Dutlov family. The mistress confirms her choice of Dutlov’s nephew, Ilya.
Late that evening, in the cramped corner where Polikushka’s family lives, the serf – excited by the mistress’s sudden trust – tells his wife Akulina about the serious errand. Fearing his weakness, she begs him to swear off drink.
That night in Dutlov’s house, Ilya’s wife Aksinya anxiously awaits her husband’s return from the meeting. He comes home angry and frightened with the news. She tries to comfort him, but she too is overwhelmed with grief. The couple spend a sleepless night; by morning they must part, perhaps forever.
The next day Polikushka sets out for town, while the three recruits are prepared for departure under Dutlov’s supervision.
Evening in a roadside tavern. Having received the money from the gardener, Polikey stops briefly. The three conscripts await their fate. Ilya, drunk and furious, ignores all pleas to stop drinking and grows ever more frenzied. A glass of vodka is offered to Polikey, but he refuses. His thoughts are fixed on the envelope of money, on his mistress’s praise and on the beginning of a new life. Terrified by what he sees around him, he resolves to return home quickly.
Meanwhile in the village Akulina and Aksinya cannot sleep. They pray for their husbands, hoping to ward off misfortune. On the way back Polikushka dozes in the cart and fails to notice the money slipping from a hole in his cap.
Act II
At noon Polikushka searches along the forest road for the lost money but in vain.
That evening, back in his corner, Akulina is restless. Suddenly Polikey appears. Soon after, a servant girl bursts in with an order for him to report at once to the mistress. While no one is watching, Polikey climbs to the attic. There he removes his cross, unties the rope belt from his shirt – the last of his protective talismans – and secures it to a beam. As he kicks away the stool, the cross falls to the floor.
That night Dutlov the elder returns home. Hastily, he hides the envelope of money he has found on the road. But sleep will not come. Haunted by visions, he sees a devil in Polikey’s guise, someone choking him, demanding the money back. In terror he resolves to return to town and use the cursed sum to ransom his nephew Ilya from conscription.
On Easter Sunday morning, villagers gather in the square. Some sing, others dance, rejoicing in the Resurrection.
Meanwhile in town Dutlov the elder, the steward Yegor Mikhailovich and Aksinya hurry to complete their business before the recruits depart: to redeem Ilya. In his place the peasant Alyokha will go “of his own will” and for money. Aksinya looks at him with pity and dread. Alyokha puts on a brave face, drinking and dancing in defiance. At times his rage bursts out, only to turn into reckless merriment. Supported by his new comrades, Alyokha grows calm and gazes pensively into the distance, as though searching for his future fate.
