Macario is a poor woodcutter whose greatest dream is to eat a whole turkey all by himself – a dream that seems unattainable because they can barely afford to eat as it is. His wife, however, saves money for three years and buys a turkey. He is overcome with delight and takes it to the forest – but before he can eat, he is interrupted by a cowboy who asks for a piece in exchange for wealth and land. Macario knows he is the Devil in disguise, and denies the request. The second visitor is a priest, who begs for a leg of the Turkey. Macario recognizes this man to be the Lord, and refuses to share, believing that an all-powerful man should be capable of buying a turkey for himself. The third visitor, however, is a skeletal man who looks more starved than Macario’s whole family. The Bone Man comes to Macario and asks for a piece, and this time Macario agrees and gives him half the turkey. When asked why he agreed to share, Macario replies that if he had refused, Death would have carried him away and he wouldn’t have gotten to eat anything – but by sharing, he got to eat for as long as the Bone Man ate. Impressed by his generosity and wit, the Bone Man gives Macario a gift: water that can revive the sick and dying. The catch, however, is that Macario can only save patients at whose feet the Bone Man stands. If he stands by their head, it means that nothing can be done to save them. Then Macario’s son Regino falls sick, and everyone is sure that the boy will perish – but the Bone Man stands at his feet, and he is saved by the healing water. Word of this miracle spreads, and soon the wealthiest man in the village, Ramiro, begs Macario to save his pregnant wife. When the woman is miraculously made healthy, Ramiro invests in Macario by loaning him a lot of money – and the woodcutter is no longer poor. He heals those that come to him, and his reputation grows. Eventually he is summoned by the Viceroy, whose son has fallen sick. Unfortunately, the Bone Man stands at the boy’s head. Macario knows he cannot save the boy, but the Viceroy threatens to charge him with witchcraft if he does not succeed. He knows he will be burned at the stake, but he is more worried about his family, who will fall from grace and be forced to live in shame and poverty once more. So he begs his old friend to give him the boy, but the Bone Man refuses. They struggle, and the last bottle of the healing water breaks. As a last favor to his old friend, the Bone Man prevents the Viceroy from burning Macario by spiriting his body deep into the woods, where he is found dead with a smile on his face and turkey bones before him.