The hero is the shepherd Zoran (i.e.

Zoranić himself), who for seven years has been suffering

from unrequited love towards a maiden Jaga. One morning, wandering around, he arrives to a
well called Vodica, having gotten bored with his life. Suddenly from a well a fairy Zorica (Napeja)
appears, advising him to go for the mountains to find a particular plant which will cure his love
pain. Then on a golden apple he makes a notice of a beautiful fairy Grace (Milošća) which
transfers him across the seas to Podgorje, where he continues the journey by himself. But, soon
he runs into a beast, from which Grace saves him and leads him by safer pathways. Afterwards,
he arrives to the Gates of hell (Paklenica), where the fairy tells him a tale on a young
maiden Bura.[3]
The next day Zoran meets a company of shepherds with whom he spends the next three days.
On the fifth day, Zoran hears from shepherds a story on the origin of Velebit and heads further to
the east. There he discovers a small group of shepherds that complains of being attacked by the
wolves from eastern sides (i.e. Turks), which has caused many of the shepherds to flee those
areas. The next day Zoran is contacted by a fairy Consciousness (Svist) who directs him to the
fairy Dinara. Dinara frees him by her magic powers from his love sufferings. Then Zoran dreams
a vision of four fairies in a "gardens of Glory" (perivoj od Slave). These are the
fairies Latinness (Latinka), Helleness (Grkinja) and Croatess (Hrvatica). While the first three hold
in their arms a handful of golden apples (the symbol of a literary piece), the fairy Croatess is poor
and makes a complaint on the small number of literary pieces written in folk language. The sixth
day Zoran heads for home, but on his way he meets Dinara's daughter, fairy Krka, which drives
him across Knin, Skradin and Šibenik down to the mouth of Krka (where she makes her
disappearance). Thence, fairy Grace returns him back to Zaton, the place of his departure. There
he finds a grave of Juraj Divnić, the bishop of Nin, and swears to follow the p