In her anxiety to obtain the precious thing, whatever it might be, Richberta sent all her ships to sea, telling the captain of each not to return until he had found some treasure that she did not already possess.  The vessels were victualled for seven years, so that the mariners might have ample time in which to pursue their quest.  So their commander sent one division of the fleet to the east, another to the west, while he left his own vessel to the hazard of the winds, letting it drift wheresoever the fates decreed.  His ship as well as the others was laden heavily with provisions, and during the first storm they encountered it was necessary to cast a considerable portion of the food overboard, so that the ship might right itself.  As it was, the remaining provisions were so damaged by the sea-water that they rotted in a few days and became unfit for food.  A pestilence would surely follow the use of such unwholesome stuff, and consequently the entire cargo of bread had to be cast into the sea.

The commander saw his crew ravaged by the dreaded scurvy, suffering from the lack of bread.  Then only did he begin to perceive the real meaning of the sage’s words.  The most valuable of all earthly treasures was not the pearls from the depths of the sea, gold or silver from the heart of the mountains, nor the rich spices of the Indies.  The most common of all earth’s, products, that which was to be found in every country, which flourished in every clime, on which the lives of millions depended—­this was the greatest treasure, and its name was—­bread.

Having reached this conclusion, the commander of Richberta’s fleet set sail for a Baltic port, where he took on board a cargo of corn, and returned immediately to Stavoren.

Richberta was astonished and delighted to see that he had achieved his purpose so soon, and bade him tell her of what the treasure consisted which he had brought with him.  The commander thereupon recounted his adventures—­the storm, the throwing overboard of their store of bread, and the consequent sufferings of the crew—­and told how he at length discovered what was the greatest treasure on earth, the priceless possession which the stranger had looked for in vain at her rich board.  It was bread, he said simply, and the cargo he had brought home was corn.

Richberta was beside herself with passion.  When she had recovered herself sufficiently to speak she asked him: 

“At which side of the ship did you take in the cargo?”

“At the right side,” he replied.

“Then,” she exclaimed angrily, “I order you to cast it into the sea from the left side.”

It was a cruel decision.  Stavoren, like every other city, had its quota of poor families, and these were in much distress at the time, many of them dying from sheer starvation.  The cargo of corn would have provided bread for them throughout the whole winter, and the commander urged Richberta to reconsider her decision.  As a last resort he sent the barefooted children of the city to her, thinking that their mute misery would move her to alleviate their distress and give them the shipload of corn.  But all was in vain.  Richberta remained adamantine, and in full view of the starving multitude she had the precious cargo cast into the sea.