 Set in Sardinia, a barren and disconsolate land, where Rosalia, a poor young mother, entrusts her only son, Anania, to the natural father, who is well-off and already married. The years pass. Rosalia ages in misery, Anania becomes an adult and is about to marry. He returns to the country in order to find his mother and invite her to the wedding, but his fiancée does not appreciate this. Rosalia is abandoned once again...