Follows young José Leôncio, a pawn in the entourage, who moves with his father Joventino to the Pantanal after buying a farm. The two decide to raise cattle and start hunting wild oxen in the vicinity, but one day Joventino goes hunting alone and doesn't return. Years later, José Leôncio becomes a wealthy farmer and owner of large properties. He marries the beautiful and spoiled Madeleine, but being a girl from the big city, she doesn't adapt to the rural world and flees to Rio de Janeiro with her young son, Joventino Neto.