The Cunning Peasant was written at a time when there was a lack of high-quality Czech dramatic writers.
His libretto demonstrates talent but also uncritical self-confidence and recycles traditional plot elements and even the names of characters.
[2] Dvořák set the libretto without requiring any revisions but he did propose the change of name from the original Políček knížeti (A slap for the Prince).
His other works of the period include the Stabat Mater, Piano Concerto and Slavonic Dances.
[1] To provide a national character, Dvořák used a variety of dance and other forms in the opera, such as polka, waltz, sousedská, mazur and march,[1] though the music remains typical of the composer.
Eduard Hanslick, for example, considered the Act 2 ballet music as better suited for a symphonic scherzo.
It was performed in Hamburg in 1883, but a poor reception in Vienna in 1885 halted the wider progress of this and other of the composer's operas for some time.
In the Czech lands, The Cunning Peasant remained popular, though attention was drawn away from it by the première of The Jacobin in 1887.
Martin tells Bětuška off for spending time with a tramp like Jeník when he has in mind a wealthier husband for her.
Martin reassures him that they are both clever Bohemian peasants, (Jsme čestí sedláci, they sing together).
When he does so, he says he will grant Jeník a farm and let Bětuška marry her instead, provided she visits the Prince alone at the summerhouse during the evening.
She also visits the Princess who will visit her husband in the summerhouse in the evening instead of Bětuška and give him a slap Spring festivities are taking place complete with dancing, beer and a Maypole which a villager climbs to win a prize.
As the Prince draws the celebrations to a close, various characters sing of their hopes to end up in Bětuška's arms, to humiliate other characters or, in Bětuška's own case, to end up in Jeník's arms (Kéž mi již zavitá blažená chvíle).
The Prince gives Jeník the deeds to the farm and Martin promises a generous dowry.