A man named don Tomé from Elvas made his living carrying things to market on his beasts. He thought his wife was faithful to him, but he was mistaken. Whenever he was away on business, she slept with other men.

One day they found her stabbed to death. Her relatives suspected that her husband had murdered her and gone away. When he returned to Elvas, they tried to arrest him, but he fled to the border.

He settled in Badajoz, and decided to go to Terena on pilgrimage. He was sure that the Virgin would protect him from arrest, since the charge was unjust. He prayed to the Virgin to have mercy on him and to defend him.

On his return to Badajoz, he encountered his enemies, but the Virgin prevented them from seeing him. Still hoping to find him, they went to Terena. On a riverbank, they saw the devil in the man’s guise.

They gave chase, and one of the men tried to strike the devil with a lance. He hit an oak instead, and fell with his mount into a gully where he lay badly bruised.

When the men returned to Elvas, the devil’s trick was revealed. They understood that the man they had held guilty was innocent, and they begged his pardon.