A Ukrainian comic opera with spoken dialogue in three acts with music and libretto by the composer Semen Hulak-Artemovsky (1813–1873). The orchestration has subsequently been rewritten by composers such as Reinhold Glière and Heorhiy Maiboroda. This is one of the best-known Ukrainian comic operas depicting national themes.
Musical film based on the opera by Mykhaylo Verykivsky, itself based on a poem by Taras Shevchenko. A young girl, seduced by a soldier, leaves her illegitimate son with a wealthy childless family, and then applies to work as a servant to the family.
