LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES
177
when he had finished, he received a good appointment in a Government post.
The examinations that it was necessary to pass before a military post could be obtained, were similar to these, the name of each one being the same with the prefix of mo; thus mo sau tsoi, mo kui yan etc.
[6]
If one walks through Kam T'in Market (#w†), turns to the right, and reaches Shui T'au Village (§‡) a fifteen minutes walk will bring one to an old bridge, which is mentioned in the San On Record book (*) and which is held in much respect by the New Territories people, as an example of filial duty done by a good son of Kam T'in. The bridge is called Pin Mo K'iu (1⁄2✯✯) "bridge for the convenience of my mother," and it was built in the 49th year of Hong Hei (A) A.D. 1710 of Ts'ing dynasty, by Tang Tsun Yuen (2), a nineteenth generation descendant of the "Five Yuens."
Tsun Yuen was born in the ninth year of Hong Hei, A.D. 1670 and died in the ninth year of Yung Ching (£), A.D. 1731. The original home of his family was in Shui T'au Village (¿k ši††) but his mother, who was a widow, moved to T'aai Hong Wai (✯✯ ¤) with her two sons. When Tsun Yuen married he rebuilt the old house and returned to Shui Tau but his mother stayed on with her younger son in T'aai Hong Wai as there was not room enough for them to live all together. But every day the mother wanted to go to Tsun Yuen's house to see her young grandsons, and to get there she had to cross the stream. Tsun Yuen used to go to the stream at a certain hour each day and wait there till she came, and wading into the water, he would carry her across on his back. The visit ended, he would escort her to the stream again, and take her across. When the tide rose it was sometimes too deep for him, so he would stay with his mother on the shore and wait with her till the tide fell and he was able to get across. This went on for a long time but he had made up his mind that, although he was poor, he would save up his money to pay for the building of a bridge, and at the end of six years he was able to do so, much to the admiration of the Kam T'in villagers. The elders in later years often used this story when teaching the young people, as an example of a good son.