Revue musicale. Roles Source: Vocal score. Synopsis The action is set in the principality of Piombino, Tuscany in the 16th century. Act I Rocco, a farmer, is the persistent victim of misfortune. However hard he works, things keep going wrong for him. He compares himself ruefully to his brother Antonio, who farms with great success just down the road. To his dismay, Antonio sends him a new worker, Bettina, a keeper of turkeys, and girlfriend of his shepherd, Pippo: Rocco feels he is not in need of more workers but of better luck. Bettina brings with her a letter from Antonio, which Rocco neglects to read. Had he read it he would know that Bettina is a mascotte, who mysteriously brings good fortune to her employer and everyone else with whom she is connected. Such beings were created by the benevolent God to counter the evil that stalks the world. As long as they remain pure and chaste their power continues; only a virgin can be a mascotte. As soon as Bettina arrives Rocco's luck starts to improve. The ruler of the principality, Laurent XVII, is out hunting with his daughter, Fiametta, and her fiancé, Prince Fritellini of Pisa, and honours Rocco's farm with a visit. Laurent is as jinxed as Rocco. He loses wars, makes disastrous investments, has no luck when hunting, and has a rebellious daughter who baulks at an arranged marriage with Fritellini. Laurent's bad fortune continues: he tumbles into a barrel of wine. Rocco provides him with a change of clothes, in which Laurent finds Antonio's unread letter. Reading it he discovers the truth about Bettina's mystic power and decrees that she must accompany him to his court. He fabricates a story that she has been discovered to be a long-lost aristocrat. Act II Since Bettina has been resident at the castle, prosperity has returned to the Prince's affairs. He is so solicitous about her comfort that the court believes she is his mistress, although in fact he is determined that she shall not be anyone's mistress, as her continued beneficent influence as mascotte depends on her continuing virginity. Pippo, disguised as one of a troupe of entertainers, gets into the castle and finds his beloved. Recognised, he is arrested and thrown into a dungeon, where Fiametta visits him. She noticed him on the farm and found him highly attractive. They are discovered tête-à-tête, but Laurent,