Leven en Dood op het Land plot
The film consists of two parts: "In 't Water" tells how the pastor's Jan Boele has to marry Tale Siepers, who has a child from him. Jan doesn't love Tale. He loves Poezeke, a rich farmer's daughter. He dreads his wedding, while everyone is busy preparing for it. Finally, the wedding day arrives. When the bride arrives at his house, he refuses to get up. In "De Boer Die Sterft", Nand, a Flemish farmer, looks back during his agony on his life, which mainly consisted of working and eating, according to the rhythm of the seasons. He also sees his youth again when he met Wanne, his beautiful wife, who gave him beautiful children and is now dead. He also sees his mother again. These happy memories make Nand realize that his life wasn't as empty as he thought.