Zlaté kapradí (1963)

Jura, a young shepherd, dances and makes merry with the rest of the village by the light of the bonfires on St. John’s Eve. He knows that during that night a nymph guards the magical golden fern. Jura goes in search of her, takes possession of it, and seduces the nymph, Lesanka. She sews him a shirt with the golden fern woven into it: as long as he never takes it off, he will be protected from every hardship and every evil. The next morning, soldiers forcibly enlist him, and Jura leaves for the war. Thanks to the lucky shirt, he becomes a hero and is promoted to officer, then is summoned to the palace of the Commander-in-Chief. Wanting to embrace Lesanka again, he asks for leave, but it is denied. One day, the general’s daughter, offended because Jura forgot to greet her, decides to take revenge and promises to grant him leave on the condition that he bring her the enemy’s beautiful white horse, which belongs to the Grand Vizier. The shirt enables him to accomplish the feat, but the woman does not keep her promise; instead, she tries to seduce him. Jura gradually gives in to her charms, but at that point she stops him and rejects his love. In despair, he undertakes another dangerous feat: stealing a pearl necklace from the Grand Vizier’s favorite. When the general’s daughter rejects him a second time, Jura burns the shirt and gives the pearls to a Gypsy woman who foretells his future. The third feat—stealing the Grand Vizier’s nightingale—is the most difficult. The young man succeeds, but is pursued and wounded. Found wearing the Turkish uniform he had used as a disguise to enter the enemy camp, he is accused of desertion and sentenced to death. The general’s daughter could save him, but remains silent. With the help of his fellow soldiers, who pretend to have shot him, Jura has himself thrown into the Danube and swims to Lesanka’s hut, but the nymph is no longer there. Because she loved a man and gave him the golden fern she was supposed to guard, the furious forest spirits transformed her into a fruit tree.