Popa Anghel Boyer is a strong man and a shepherd of the Lord. When he passes by, peasants rise and women kiss his hands. His wife, priestess Andronica, is wide-hipped and full-chested and her skin is like velvet. They live together in a large house with their two teenage daughters, Elizabeth, who is very beautiful, and Maria, who is Peter's best friend.  

Maria, Elizabeth, and Peter play hide-and-seek in Popa Anghel’s stone labyrinth-like barns. Peter hides in the hay and they sit close to one another in the dark and after that the mere sight of her made Peter giddy. Popa Anghel doesn’t like the mayor, who is known to be a tyrant, or the mayor’s son, Jacob, who follows Elizabeth everywhere. Elizabeth is about seventeen and a great beauty and, to get closer to her, Jacob befriends Peter. Peter enjoys this friendship because Jacob is very popular in town and is very skilled at striking down fruit from trees with his whip. Jacob gives Peter his finest whip and teaches him how to wield it. 

One warm night in August, Jacob gathers about six peasants and they walk to Popa Anghel’s house and sit below a locust tree and sing. The song was so sad that the whole group breaks down in tears until they are interrupted by Popa Anghel who tells the group to go away. In the morning, Maria tells Peter that she and Elizabeth had heard the music and cried with them. Peter never noticed anything about Elizabeth until one day he walks into a barn and when he sees something, Elizabeth kisses him and makes him promise never to tell a soul. In the spring, Popa Anghel marries Elizabeth to a young, handsome school teacher. The summer after, Elizabeth is noticeably in love with her husband and seems to have forgotten all about Jacob who is in the army now. Maria and Peter continue to run around the woods and play on the swing in the barn. 

During the last summer of Peter’s stay at Popa Anghel’s, Maria grows too fast and begins to act like a protective sister over him. He wants to show Maria his independence and holds his male privilege over her, such as being allowed to watch the mating of Popa Anghel’s expensive stallion with various customers’ mares. One day, the mayor brought in his mare and Peter is watching from the haystack when he feels something stir in the hay beside me and finds Maria there. They argue and then she begins to cry until Peter joins too. After a while, he begins to feel a strong, warm emotion and tells Maria that he loves her and she kisses him. 

The next summer, Peter’s uncle takes him into the mountains. In the evening, he wishes Maria is here, and finally one day Elizabeth and her husband, Jacob, and Maria come up to the mountains. The presence of women in the mountains changes the way the shepherds and even his uncle act and that night they eat a fragrant stew. My uncle sits near Elizabeth and Peter is jealous because he’s not sitting near Maria. After dinner, Maria walks alone near the spring and Peter approaches her. She remarks that Peter doesn’t look changed and, offended, he offers to prove his strength by seeing if he can throw her into the water. He struggles to pick her up and she uses all her force to throw him on the ground until we are wrestling. After a while, they lie still next to one another and look into each other’s eyes. 

When they return to the cabin, Jacob is leaning against the wall and he points to them to sit down next to him. They sing together and then Jacob asks if she has told me yet and she says that she and Jacob are getting married. Peter congratulates them and runs into the cabin and stares at the light coming in from the windows.