RAS-1974 — Page 172

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SUNG HOK-PANG

year a certain woman of Shui Mei Ts'uen (A#) had gone to play cards with a cousin in a neighbouring house. In the middle of the afternoon they heard a sound like that of a house falling down. The woman ran outside, as all the other villagers did, and saw that the roof of her house was broken and a stream of silver coins was flying out through the hole. The cloud of coins moved away into the distance and eventually disappeared into the sea. When the woman entered her house she found the hole in the roof was directly above a well in her kitchen and the tiles were all scattered round the well, while the stones inside the well were all loosened and some were floating in the water. This story seems incredible but there are many people in Kam T'in to-day who declare they witnessed this occurrence. The writer has even gone to the trouble of questioning four villagers from different houses and at different times but each adhered to the same story and were emphatic in their having been present at the incident.

Tang Hei Sui (##), who was born in the 54th year of K'ien Lung A.D. 1788, of Ts'ing Dynasty, is still spoken of in Kam T'in to-day with appreciation and respect of his charitable nature. He was a farmer and lived in Wing Lung Wai ✯ but when twenty-eight years of age he became very rich and employed more than a hundred labourers to work for him in his fields. In the 21st year of Ka Hing, A.D. 1816, of Ts'ing Dynasty he received the official title of Kung Sheng (†) and from that time onwards he did a lot of charitable work in Kam T'in. He had a very peaceable disposition, and disliked seeing or hearing people quarrel, which meant that he was very much imposed on by the loafers and idlers of the village. Two of them would pretend to have a fight outside his house and on hearing it going on Hei Sui would come out and ask the cause of the quarrel. One would declare that the other owed him a certain sum of money, the other would deny it, and in distress, Hei Sui would cry, "Cousins, do not quarrel over money,” and he would bring out his purse, and generously pay off the imaginary debt, which the two rascals divided between them. Hei Sui was much laughed at behind his back for this, and eventually some of his near relatives told him the truth and begged him not to let himself be taken in again. His answer was, “I was poor at first. Now I am rich, and because my cousins are poor I should help them. When I have used up all my money and become poor again they will stop all this nonsense and won't bother me any more.”