In a gypsy camp the orphan Perhan lives with his grandmother Hatidza, his gambling and womanizing uncle Brandes and his sister Danira. Perhan is in love with Azra, but her mother refuses to let them marry, hoping to find someone with more money as a husband for her daughter. Perhan's sister is crippled, but the big gangster Ahmed owes the Perhan's grandmother a favour for saving his sick son, and agrees to take her to the hospital in Ljubjana for treatment. Instead, Ahmed puts the young girl out begging on the streets of Milan - part of a people trafficking operation he is running with his brothers. Perhan has no choice but to work with Ahmed, but the business of thievery, begging and prostitution is a lucrative one and soon Perhan makes his fortune in Italy. He returns to marry Azra, but finds that she is now pregnant, apparently with the child of his uncle. It's a situation that is to end in tragedy for all concerned.
—Opéra national de Paris