Once there was a very rich widow, who lived in Stavoren in the province of Friesland. She owned a lot of ships that sailed the seven seas to trade in far away countries.

One day she said to one of her shipmasters, "Now bring me the most beautiful thing in the world that money can buy."

After a long journey, the shipmaster returned with a shipload of rye.

The widow was furious. She said to the shipmaster, "Are you out of your mind? Do you think this is the most beautiful thing in the world?"

Next, she asked, "How did you load it? From larboard ?"

"From larboard," the skipper confirmed.

"It came in from larboard," she said. "Now you can throw it out into the sea from starboard."

So it happened.

From the quay, a grey old man observed what was going on, and he said to the widow, "One day, you will be poor."

"You fool," she said to the grey old man, "get lost. I cannot become poor anymore."

She took the golden ring from her finger and threw it into the sea.

"No more than I will ever regain this ring, no more will I be poor."

Fourteen days later, a fishmonger came into town. The widow bought some fish. When she cut open the first fish, she fainted because of the shock: Inside the fish she saw her golden ring. The fish had swallowed it.

Next, violent storms came with thunder and lightning. All of her ships at sea were lost. Parts of the dikes were washed away. All of her wealth she lost to the sea. In the end, she had to survive by begging.

After all this time, you can still see where the rye went overboard. Every year, stalks of grain are growing out of the water, but they remain empty.