Once upon a time, there lived a young fisherman. His name was Ante. He lived somewhere on the Adriatic Coast, near the town of Senj. He enjoyed fishing a lot. Every day he went to the sea with his little boat, cast the nets and caught a lot of fish. He was tall, handsome and very strong. He had long, brown hair and big brown eyes. He was very kind and friendly. Everybody loved him.
Ante had six brothers and two sisters. His mother was a kind old woman who loved and cared for her children a lot. His father was a mean old man who wanted to get rich. Ante was in love with a beautiful girl. Her name was Anka. She had long blond hair and big blue eyes. Her skin was as white as snow. She was kind, polite but very poor. She did not have any family.
Ante's father made him leave the poor girl and arranged the wedding with another woman. Ante was not happy about the wedding but eventually obeyed his father's wish. He cried his eyes out but his fahther's wish was his commmand. The wedding date was set.
Overwhelmed with grief and anger, Anka took a boat and went to the Strait of Senj. She took her engagement ring off her finger and threw it into the deep blue sea. Her last words were heard by the huge waves and the north wind only: „May the sea swallow him as well as this ring!“. Nobody saw anka afterwards. Some people report that they saw a ghost–like creature wandering around.
St Nicholas is the patron saint of the seamen. All fishermen of the Senj area used to give a part of their catch for St Nicholas. However, Ante failed to do it. This made God furious. He punished Ante severely for his sins. He sent him to the sea hell, the Strait of Senj. Right in the place where the ring is, Ante had to row his boat in each storm but he was not able to reach the land. Some fishermen say that they still can see a haunted boat in heavy storms.