An emancipated restorer restores rare castle frescoes in an ancient village with figures of ancient heroines - and one of them, Penelope, resembles an old woman who has been waiting for the return of her husband and son for forty years, who have supposedly gone to work in America.

A girl is transformed into a maple tree by her impulsive and angry mother. Three poor wandering musicians come by the tree and create instruments from it. Walking around the country instead of happiness they bring death everywhere with their cursed instruments. However they cannot get rid of them, unless they bury the wooden instruments at the place of the tree. The three are anything but harmonious, each taking in their disputes various stances.

A dramatic story of the emotional, moral and political maturation of two young people during the Slovak National Uprising.