ACT ONE
It is dawn. A group of villagers are preparing to go hunting and, before leaving, are taking some refreshment at the local inn. The carpenter Carl, busy at work, sings his love for Annette, the innocent daughter of a man who was a traitor to his homeland. Enter the moneylender Firman, with whom Annette has pawned a necklace, and a quarrel ensues, which is broken off only by the preparations for the hunt. Firman's amorous overtures to Annette provoke Carl's anger: just as the two are about to come to blows, Hondedisky, the garrison's Captain, takes advantage of the brawl to begin flirting with Annette himself. Carl is about to attack him with an axe when, drawn by the shouting, the innkeeper Madame Fritz appears and stops the fighting. Some foreign travellers arrive. It is the Czar Peter and his wife Catherine, who are travelling incognito with their retinue under the name of Menzicoff. Peter questions Madame Fritz about a young carpenter of unknown origin who claims to be a gentleman. Carl, who has joined them, shows annoyance at their curiosity and begins to lose his temper again. Peter asks the Captain to keep him under supervision, while Madame Fritz suggests to Carl that he should refrain from showing himself so haughty. The grotesque magistrate of the town, sir Cuccupis, is then sent for.
When the magistrate arrives, Madame Fritz explains the situation, pleading Carl's cause. The Magistrate appears convinced and confronts the foreigner ordering him to keep his peace; when Peter, however, informs him that he is Menzicoff, a high officer of the Czar, Cuccupis's tone immediately changes and he has Carl imprisoned. Annette, in despair, speaks to Catherine, who seems deeply troubled. Carl might be the brother she has been looking for since childhood. Carl's trial begins: he is accused of insulting Menzicoff. He is about to be convicted when Madame Fritz runs in with a document attesting the youth's noble birth. Catherine understands that Carl is indeed her lost brother and collapses on a chair to the astonishment of the all the others.
ACT TWO
In order to plead Carl's cause Madame Fritz calls on the Magistrate and tries to seduce him. In the meantime, however, Carl has been freed from prison and fitted out with sumptuous clothes. When Firman mocks him for his noble appearance, a new quarrel ensues. This time, however, the Magistrate steps in on Carl's side, having seen that he has such illustrious supporters. Peter and Catherine finally reveal to a bewildered Carl that he is Catherine's brother. Before he returns with his family to Petersburg, Carl introduces Annette to the couple and asks them to take her with him, warning them, however, that the Czar must never see her, because she is the daughter of the traitor Mazeppa. The news takes everyone by surprise, but when he is told that Mazeppa has died, Peter forgives the girl.
As the foreigners, Carl and Annette are getting ready to leave, the Captain reveals to the Magistrate that Menzicoff is none other than the Czar himself. The Magistrate, in turn, tells Madame Fritz, adding that he is hoping to get an appointment in Petersburg. The Czar, however, removes him from office and orders him to pay a fine. The cries of joy of everyone drown the Magistrate's protests.
