On a farm in the interior of Mato Grosso, the impetuous hillbilly Juba grows up free and without instruction, in contact with nature. His parents are killed by cattle rustlers, and he takes over the farm. With the help of the Indian and tutor Iru, who teaches him the secrets of the forest, Juba plans to take revenge on the murderers. His life changes when he falls in love with Ruth, a young woman from the big city who introduces him to a world with new possibilities.
Sabrina is a wealthy young woman who hides her compulsion to steal from her parents – Hilda and Fred – and also conceals the fact that she rents a room at Lola's boarding house in the Rio de Janeiro suburbs, where she pretends to be a modest young woman looking for work. The parallel plots of the story unfold through these two distinct worlds in which Sabrina lives.