Sylvain is the town clerk of the small Provençal village of Coursoul He is the darling of all the girls in the country His brother Désiré a disabled carpenter secretly loves Toinette the lumber merchants daughter She falls in love with Sylvain This one convinced by the director of a traveling circus of the excellence of his voice is about to leave everything to follow his career But Désiré learns from Toinette that she is expecting a child from Sylvain He goes to inform his brother who reconsiders his decision But Désiré will leave in his place not to sing but with his bruised heart to play Paillasse