Kino, a young, poor fisherman, lives in a small town, La Paz, with his wife Juana, and his baby son, Coyotito. When Coyotito is stung by a scorpion, Kino must find a way to pay the town doctor to treat him. Shortly thereafter, Kino discovers an enormous pearl which he is ready to sell to pay the doctor. Sadly, other forces work against Kino. Nearly as soon as he returns from sea, the whole town knows of the pearl. Everyone calls it "the pearl of the world, " and many people begin to covet it. That very night Kino is attacked in his own home. Determined to get rid of the pearl, the following morning he takes it to the pearl buyers in town. However, the pearl buyers collude together and refuse to pay him what he wants, so he decides to go over the mountains to the capital to find a better price. However, Juana, seeing that the pearl brings darkness and greed, sneaks out of the house late at night to throw it back into the ocean. When Kino catches her, furious, he attacks her and leaves her on the beach. Returning to the house with the pearl, Kino is attacked by an unknown man whom he stabs and kills. Kino is afraid that the authorities will come after him, his wife and Coyotito and most importantly, the pearl. The pearl is dropped and hidden from view. He thinks the man has taken the pearl, but Juana shows him that she has found it. When they go back to the town, they find their home has been set on fire. Kino and Juana spend the day hiding in the house of Kino's brother Juan Tomás and his wife and gathering provisions for their trip to the capital city. Only there can they hope to sell the pearl for a decent price. Kino, Juana, and Coyotito leave in the dark of the night. After a brief rest in the morning, Kino spots trackers who are following them. Well aware that they will be unable to hide from the trackers, they begin hiking into the mountains. They find a cave near a natural water hole, where the exhausted family hides and waits for the trackers to catch up to t
