The Legend of the Ekeko, as recounted by Bolivian author Antonio Díaz Villamil, in three acts:

I: Paulita Tintaya and her childhood love Isidoro Choquewanca grow up together working on the hacienda of the Spanish governor Don Sebastian de Segurola. Much to their mutual despair, Paulita is eventually transferred to the city to serve as the Governor’s wife’s handmaid. Before she leaves, Isidoro gives her a small statue of the Ekeko—the Andean god of abundance to protect her.

II. Fast-forward to Túpac Katari’s 1781 siege of La Paz. Everyone in the entire city, including Paulita and her mistress, is starving, but Isidoro, who’s joined Katari’s indigenous army, manages to find the house where his childhood love lives, and leave food by the statue he’d given her, which allows Paulita, and her mistress, to survive.

III. Katari’s rebellion fails, but the legend has a happy ending: When Don Sebastian finds out that Paulita has saved his wife’s life, he asks the spunky handmaiden what he can do for her. Paulita replies that she’d like to marry this guy named Isidoro, which, with the de Segurolas’ blessings, she does.