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This tragic melodrama is based on a classic Danish story, written in 1821. The stocking peddler is a wealthy man, and he intends for his daughter to marry a rich older farmer. Her affections lie elsewhere, with a young tradesman who is away earning his fortune. Though she avoids the arranged marriage, she goes mad. Her would-be lover is killed, in part because of her deranged actions. For a brief time she regains her sanity, only to lose it again when the extent of her loss, and her complicity in it, dawns on her. This story, set among the Jutland moors, is told in a spare style and is very faithful to the story it is based on.