The Zany and his fellow homeless beggars lie sleeping in the shadow of the cathedral as night falls. Too poor to pay fines, they are generally undisturbed by the police, but Colonel Sonriente decides to amuse himself by tormenting the Zany, whose one comfort in his miserable life is memories of his mother. When the colonel awakens him by shouting, “Mother!” in his ear, the Zany jumps up and beats the colonel to death.
The beggars are rounded up by the police and tortured to reveal the identity of the murderer. Strangely enough, the correct answer, the Zany, does not seem to satisfy the police. Clearly, the authorities want to blame the crime on someone else.
Meanwhile, the Zany flees through the streets of the city until he falls and breaks his leg. He is attacked by a buzzard and would have died if not for the intervention of a mysterious, strikingly handsome man named Miguel Ángel Face.
Ángel Face is an unofficial adviser to the president, a ruthless tyrant. The president informs