Farmer Mårten Esbjörnsson has three adult sons who all want to find a wife to marry. However, all the young women of the neighborhood seem to be less than perfect.

The plot revolves around Edvar Månsson, a farmer living in Skåne, Sweden.

Kalle Jeppson is the joyful owner of a rural inn, "Spången" (The Footbridge). His only problems are all the bylaws that makes it difficult to have a quiet drink and the shrew of his wife who is always nagging on him. Kalle is afraid to tell her that Karin the maid is really his daughter from the days before their marriage.