In the years immediately following the unification of Italy, a young Piedmontese school teacher heads for a small Tuscan town and her first assignment. The young woman has to overcome none-too-few an impediment placed on her job by the local farmers, some of which are against the compulsory education law and have no intention of sending their children to school. Testadirapa, a good man with a hot head, proves particularly hostile to the young teacher when he refuses to give up the help his little boy Gosto provides in the fields. When Gosto goes to school without asking permission one day, Testadirapa bursts into the classroom to recover his child. However, his uncivil behavior earns him a six-month prison sentence. In the meantime while waiting for the father to get out of prison, the young teacher takes care of Gosto. Along with a friend of Testadirapa, she and the little boy plough the man?s land. Having served his time, Testadirapa returns home, surprised to find his land perfectly tilled and his son Gosto able to read, write and count. Moved, Testadirapa renounces his obtuse ways and makes peace with Gosto and his teacher.