The Brazilian back lands. Quaderna, an old clown and bard, narrates, from his cart in the middle of the street, the History of his Family, a bloody saga of Kings, Bandits, Mystics and Backlands Poets. Among his tragic-comic memories is the arrival of the Judge, a powerful Inquisitor from the coast, who summons him for an inquiry in which he is the suspect in the murder of his Goodfather and accused of taking part in a popular revolution. In jail, he writes this rhapsodic tale revealing his desire to establish a popular and literary "leftist monarchy", and thus assume the role of genius of the Brazilian race.
