This paper addresses the origin of the narratives portraying Catalina de los Ríos Lisperguer –la Quintrala– as protagonist by situating them in the context of colonial documentation preserved around her figure and rejecting the idea that the creator of the so-called «Quintrala myth» was Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, an interpretation that has been preferred by specialized critics. The key concept these judicial documents, used in the Real Audiencia and the Council of the Indies in the 1630s, are analyzed with is that of the judicial fable, given that it is their narrative and literary dimensions that are examined. Specifically, the cases contained in the case file for the attempted assassination of Luis Banegas (1633) are examined from three different approaches: the context that explains them, their textual existence and the idea of scandal that runs through them. Rescuing these narratives, while also reviewing the meaning and relevance of a cultural icon like la Quintrala, is essential since they are not only the first preserved versions about her life but they will also imprint some of their meanings in dozens of later works published about this historical character.