Once upon a time there was a wealthy city on the shores of the Zuiderzee. Stavoren was a member of the Hanseatic League and the mightiest town in Friesland. Its inhabitants were reknown for their wealth and everywhere in the city one could see gold and silver, precious stones and expensive fabrics. The port was full of ships that sailed the oceans to bring back the most exotic goods from all corners of the world.
The mightiest and wealthiest of all people in Stavoren was the Lady. She was once maried to a succesful trader, but when he died, she was still young and beautiful. She inherited his fortune and his fleet and showed a remarkable skill in making money herself. The people of Stavoren thought highly of her, as they measured a person's value in the gold they owned. The Lady's gold was so plentiful that she could not even count it. Her wealth was beyond measure.
Yet one day she called her best captain.
" Captain", she spoke, "I have loaded your ship with gold and I sent you on an important mission. Of all things in the world I demand the thing most valuable."
The captain hesitated.
" That'll be tricky mylady", he said," as the most valuable things in the world cannot be bought with gold."
The Lady frowned and looked down at the poor man.
" I demand it. Fetch me that which is most valuable and do not return without it!"

Thereupon the captain set sail to Russia and Poland. He travelled the North Sea and the Baltic and visited many countries, but he could not find anything which his Lady did not already have, until at last, some traders played a prank on him.
" We possess what you want", they said," Come with us."
And so the captain did. The traders guided him to a warehouse full of grain and showed him the seed.
" Look how shiny they are, these golden grains", they said and they laughed, for they thought it was a good joke.
But the captain did not laugh. Instead he nodded and had the grain loaded onto his ship. Then he sailed back to Stavoren.

As he sailed into the port, the quays were filled with people, for everyone wished to see what he had brought back for his mistress. The captain lowered his sails and moored his ship. As he came down the ramp, the Lady was standing there in front of him.
" What have you brought me?", she asked.
He smiled hapily.
" Grain."
She raised an eyebrow.
" What did you say?"
" I've brought you grain, mylady. The best grain I have ever seen."
" Are you making a fool of me? I told you to bring me the most valuable thing in the world."
" Give us this day our daily bread."
" This is outrageous!", the Lady cried," My good gold spent on worthless grain! Drop it in the bay."
" Mylady?"
" Drop it in the bay. You heard me."

At that moment a beggar came forward and he bowed deeply for the Lady.
" Please mylady", he said," Do not throw away good grain. If you do not want it, you could give it to the poor and hungry."
She laughed haughtily.
" The poor... I don't talk to the poor. Away, beggar!"
Thereupon the man gave her a fierce look.
" One day, mylady, you will be poor yourself. Your treasures will be lost and you will be begging for food."
The lady smirked.
" A beggar? I? I will show you something."
She walked to the edge of the quay and took off her diamond ring.
" Sooner will I have this ring back than that your prediction will come true!"
And thereupon she tossed the ring into the murky water.
" And now, captain, do as I told you!"

The crowd nodded in agreement. There was no place for beggars in Stavoren. The Lady had spoken well.
The captain sighed and boarded his ship. He did as the Lady had told him and had the grain tossed into the bay. Thereupon he was fired, as he had wasted too much of the Lady's money.

But still, the Lady did not possess the most valuable thing on earth. So she called all her captains and spoke to them.
" Bring me the most valuable thing in the world and do not return without it. Anyone who plays a trick on me as your collegue did will be fired."
And she sent away all her ships on this mission.

That evening, the Lady was confident the mission would succeed at last and she wished to celebrate it with a marvelous dinner. She had all sorts of delicate food ordered, and the most powerful people of Stavoren were invited.
The servants brought in a large fish and the Lady took her knife to cut it in pieces. But just had she cut its belly open or she turned pale. Inside the fish was her diamond ring.
She remembered her words...
" Sooner will I have this ring back than that your prediction will come true!"

It began to storm. The windows trembled and the sky turned black. Lightning flashed and thunder roared. Rain spattered against the glass and the guests shivered.

The next morning a messenger requested to speak to the Lady.
" I have sad news", he told her," All of your ships are lost..."

The Lady's company was ruined. Her entire fortune lay at the bottom of the sea and soon she went broke. The other people of Stavoren looked down upon her. The Lady had wasted her fortune and now she was but a beggar.
" Bread, some bread for a poor woman", they heard her say, but they closed their doors before her. They did not talk to the poor...

But soon they too would feel the vengeance of the grain which had been tossed into the bay, for it was so much that it had formed a small mount under water. Clay and sand were washed against this heap and slowly the bay began to shrink.
It became too shallow for ships to enter and soon no foreign trader visited Stavoren anymore.
The whole town fell to poverty and anyone who could left it. So that is why Stavoren is nowadays hardly more than a hamlet.
The Lady did get a statue though, and a small bronze sculpture is still staring at the waves, waiting for her ships to return...