Borbálka, a very young girl about to get married, has doubts about her love. As every villager knows, an easy way to find out is to go out in the woods at the end of the night, plant an axe at the edge of a clearing, and wait: if at the first light one sees seven deer crossing the clearing, then it is true love.

Her neighbour, the mysterious forest guard Safranics everyone fears in the village, and who is suspected to have magical powers, appears suddenly at her side and helps her with her query. Together, they find the clearing in the dark, and wait…