Serafino is a nature-loving shepherd who has never attended school, living a simple life high in the mountains of Arquata del Tronto, Marche. He embraces the quiet rhythms of the land and the bond with his flocks, but his carefree nature collides with the rules of modern life when he is drafted for compulsory military service in a distant city, where his impulsive streak and resistance to authority land him in trouble and lead to an early discharge.
When he returns home, his cousin Lidia has grown into an attractive young woman, and Serafino enters a secret romance with her, while he still seems to overlook his old friend Asmara, a local figure of the night. Yet their world shifts dramatically after the death of their old aunt, Gesuina. Lidia proves herself as opportunistic as the rest of her family, and Serafino openly resents the change in the household dynamics and the way money and status begin to sway everyone around him. To everyone’s surprise, Gesuina had chosen Serafino as her heir, a revelation that unsettles the balance of power within the family and sets the stage for a clash between naively generous impulses and calculating ambition.
With wealth now in his hands, Serafino begins to spend freely, sharing gifts with friends and even buying himself a brand-new convertible. The carefree joy of seeming prosperity is short-lived, however, when the car ends up stuck in a pothole. In a reckless attempt to rescue it, Serafino and his companions push the vehicle, only for it to slip into a ravine and be destroyed, a catastrophe that shocks the family and tests their loyalties. His Uncle Agenore, outraged by the loss and the manner of it, petitions the court to declare Serafino mentally incompetent so the inheritance cannot be controlled by a wayward youth.
In the courtroom, Serafino defends himself with a mix of levity and defiance, treating the proceedings as a sideshow and boasting that even the military could not tame him. The judge ultimately rules against the claim of mental incapacity, restoring Serafino to a position of autonomy over his estate. Yet Agenore’s hold on the money remains tenuous, and he soon discovers that, should Serafino marry, his wife would become the legal guardian and manager of the inheritance. He presses hard to force Serafino into marrying his daughter, Lidia, hoping to seize control through marriage. Once again, Serafino plays dumb to avoid the trap and manages to sidestep the plan.
In the end, Serafino makes a different, quieter choice. He marries [Asmara], and with the weight of the inheritance unsettled and a new partnership formed, he returns to his shepherd’s life among the hills. The tale closes on a note of simple continuity—music, mischief, and the enduring pull of the land—where a man who never learned to fit the mold finds his own way forward, through love, loyalty, and a careful balance between impulse and responsibility.
