LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES
163
was gone that the toe was cured, so the farmer was none the better off for his share of the treasure! After that no-one else tried to dig the ground.
The story of "Ngan T'au Laan” (*) “silver coins come to their new home" is firmly believed in by many villagers to-day. It is said to have happened during the K'in Lung () years A.D. 1736-1795, of Ts'ing dynasty at the place now called Naam T'eng (✯✯) south of Kat Hing Wai (‡ƒj[]). One morning the villagers were startled by the sound of a ringing bell far away in the sky, and running out of their houses to discover what it was, they saw a cloud of things, shining black and white, like a number of herons flying in the sky towards Kam Tin. When the cloud reached a certain house it flew round and round above the roof but did not come down. Then the people were able to see that the cloud consisted of "man ngan" () pure silver sycee. They all cried out "Ngan-t'au-laan! Ngan-t'au-laan!” The aged grandmother of the house at once got out a table and put on it three cups of tea with joss sticks and knelt down to make “k’au t’aus" (°F) to the coins, as the people said that it was the only way to get the silver to come down. But after all the members of the household had done their “kau-tau” the silver still remained flying in the air. Then the grandmother suddenly remembered that the baby of the family was lying asleep inside in his cradle and, thinking that perhaps the coins were meant for him, she woke him up and, carrying him, she again knelt down and bowed to the coins with the baby in her arms. The money instantly dropped to the ground but on being examined it was found to be covered with mud. At this the woman grumbled, "If you are indeed my grandson's coins, you should clean yourselves before you come. How can I pick you up, all covered in mud?” Then the coins started rolling themselves round on the ground, it looked as if they were trying to clean themselves in this way, but this was only for a while for they suddenly rose up in the air again and flew away. The astonished onlookers were very indignant with the old woman, and began to scold her, saying "You should not have spoken in such a way to those lucky coins. Why could you not have picked them up and cleaned them yourself?" Then they heard the sound of the silver bell again, and the cloud had come back and on reaching the roof of the same house, the coins dropped to the ground, quite clean like new silver.
LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES
163
was gone that the toe was cured, so the farmer was none the better off for his share of the treasure! After that no-one else tried to dig the ground.
The story of "Ngan T'au Laan” (*) “silver coins come to their new home" is firmly believed in by many villagers to-day. It is said to have happened during the K'in Lung () years A.D. 1736-1795, of Ts'ing dynasty at the place now called Naam T’eng (✯ ✯) south of Kat Hing Wai ( ‡ƒj [] ). One morning the villagers were startled by the sound of a ringing bell far away in the sky, and running out of their houses to discover what it was, they saw a cloud of things, shining black and white, like a number of herons flying in the sky towards Kam Tin. When the cloud reached a certain house it flew round and round above the roof but did not come down. Then the people were able to see that the cloud con- sisted of "man ngan" () pure silver sycee. They all cried out "Ngan-t'au-laan! Ngan-t'au-laan!” The aged grandmother of the house at once got out a table and put on it three cups of tea with joss sticks and knelt down to make “k’au t’aus" (°F) to the coins, as the people said that it was the only way to get the silver to come down. But after all the members of the household had done their “kau-tau” the silver still remained flying in the air. Then the grand- mother suddenly remembered that the baby of the family was lying asleep inside in his cradle and, thinking that perhaps the coins were meant for him, she woke him up and, carrying him, she again knelt down and bowed to the coins with the baby in her arms. The money instantly dropped to the ground but on being examined it was found to be covered with mud. At this the woman grumbled, "If you are indeed my grandson's coins, you should clean yourselves before you come. How can I pick you up, all covered in mud?” Then the coins started rolling themselves round on the ground, it looked as if they were trying to clean themselves in this way, but this was only for a while for they suddenly rose up in the air again and flew away. The astonished onlookers were very indignant with the old woman, and began to scold her, saying "You should not have spoken in such a way to those lucky coins. Why could you not have picked them up and cleaned them yourself?" Then they heard the sound of the silver bell again, and the cloud had come back and on reaching the roof of the same house, the coins dropped to the ground, quite clean like new silver.
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