José Galhardo

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.

In Coimbra, law student José Duarte and the beautiful Maria de Lisboa experience an intense love story, but after finishing his studies and feeling betrayed, José Duarte abandons Maria and goes to Porto, seeking success as a singer of Coimbra fado. But, unknowingly, he leaves her pregnant with a child.

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.

In Coimbra, law student José Duarte and the beautiful Maria de Lisboa experience an intense love story, but after finishing his studies and feeling betrayed, José Duarte abandons Maria and goes to Porto, seeking success as a singer of Coimbra fado. But, unknowingly, he leaves her pregnant with a child.