Maria Papoila, a shepherdess from Beira working in Lisbon, one day meets a rich young man, Eduardo, whom she assumes to be of her own social standing due to his uniform as a private soldier. Some time later, arrested as a suspect in a major robbery, Eduardo is abandoned by his selfish fiancée, Margarida, and it is the "soup girl" who, although despised in her dream and sacrificing her honor, appears in court as Eduardo's lover, and he is acquitted. Without asking for anything in return, Maria Papoila returns to her village.
Diogo Alves is a Spanish fugitive that comes to the Portuguese capital terrorizing the inhabitants by his cut-throat methods against rich and poor people alike. He attacks the women launderers on the Lisbon Aqueduct and throws the bodies over the high wall, and assaults homes with his large band of criminals. Eventually arrested, he, his female companion and his henchmen are condemned to death by the court.
Adaptation of the homonymous novel by Júlio Dantas. Trying to highlight the romantic tone, the ruralism of the picturesque situations and environments, the spirit and characters of 1863 are revived: the characteristic loves of Margarida and Clara, the distinguished morals of Pedro and Daniel, the bonhomie of João Semana, finally the disagreements , common sense, tenderness, rituals and landscape involvement of Minho.
