After thirty-odd years of enduring difficulties, Lázaro (Rafael Álvarez) must prove before the law that his way of life is due to the need to escape hunger, and not to his desire to commit offenses.

Throughout his fiery declaration Lázaro mixes past, present and future with the intention of amusing his audience; weaving a fabric of characters and customs of the time period, and referring to the clergy, the established rulers and the people with equal artfulness and cunning.

Lázaro, still a young man, accompanies Fray Gabriel (Emilio Laguna) to the banquets and festivities where rumors of the forthcoming decline of Toledo are circulating. While the roguish Lázaro tracks down leftovers from the feast, the friar tries to sexually harass him. His account of this should not be missed. It is very worthwhile.

The friar was preceded as Lazaro's companion by the devious blind man (Francisco Rabal), who is the protagonist of the most applauded anecdote made by Lazaro, and the stingy clergyman (José Lifante), from whom he stole the breadcrumbs the priest kept under lock and key with the skills of a locksmith.

Entering adulthood hadn't brought Lazaro many benefits either. His wine-drinking mate, Machuca (Agustín González), encourages him to sell water out in the streets. In that way, he meets the archpriest (Karra Elejalde), who gives him a hand (too much of a hand in fact): he helps him to get a job as a town crier for the crown and introduces him to the woman who will become his wife: Teresa (Beatriz Rico), the gorgeous daughter of the innkeeper.

Peoples' envy, however, force him to face the authorities for a presumed case of adultery, a most serious accusation in the century we are dealing with, from which only an extraordinary event can save him.

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