in act i gentlemen, students and young girls are walking about in a health resort. the men are interested in a girl called míla. míla sees a young man called živný in the crowd. živný is a composer. he and míla used to be lovers. they had a child. she tells živný that it was her mother who made them split up so that she could marry someone rich. her mother had made her move away from prague to give birth to the child in the country. the two lovers now want to forget their unhappy past and live together with their little son doubek.