The Beggar, one of the masterpieces of modern Greek literature, describes the ignorance, cunning, and destitution of the Greek countryside in the 19th century. The story unfolds in Nychteremi, a village in Thessaly, whose inhabitants are in a legal dispute with the local bey to avoid losing their lands. Then an old beggar, Tziritokostas, appears with his beardless beggar boy. After being brutally beaten by the customs officer Valachas, he wins the sympathy of the village, which takes him in without a second thought. The very next day, the beggar approaches the village women and manages to sell them his supposedly magical herbs, taking whatever valuable they have to offer him. Indifferent to the fate of these naive women, exploiting the ignorance and superstitions of the villagers, he spreads death and leads the entire village to ruin.