Border Town
《边城》
The best-known work of Shen Congwen is Border Town in which the writer narrates，by portraying a plain and gorgeous picture，a beautiful but heartbroken love story that took place in western Hunan Province. In the story，Tianbao and Nuosong，sons of Shunshun，the boat owner，both fell in love with Cuicui，granddaughter of the old boatman. Knowing that Cuicui had given her heart to Nuosong，Tianbao quit voluntarily. Shortly after that, he was killed in a boat accident on his way to Chenzhou. Saddened by the grievous news，Nuosong left home and went to Taoyuan. After her grandfather's gloomy death，Cuicui kept waiting at the ferry for the return of Nuosong.“He might never return，or he may return tomorrow!”Instead of delving into the tragic connotation of the love story，the writer aims at creating a poetic pastoral eclogue and at depicting the beautiful heart and interpersonal harmony of the rural people. Under his pen，Cuicui is characterized as the incarnation of “love" and“ beauty";the old boatman as plain and honest ;Tianbao as lenient and magnanimous ;Nuosong as the embodiment of love and affection ;and Shunshun as outright and generous，all of whom are depicted as symbols of excellent virtues. With thick ink and rich color，the writer draws a beautiful landscape of western Hunan Province and creates a vivid portrayal of the pure and honest local customs. With poetic language and elegant description，the writer depicts the Border Town as a novel and unique place :an extremely purified and idealized world which differs completely from the civilized modern society in which human nature has been sadly distorted. Border Town is recognized as a bright literary gem for its harmonious combination of humanistic beauty with artistic beauty.
《边城》是沈从文最负盛名的代表作。小说在古朴而又绚丽的风俗画卷中，铺衍了一个发生在湘西的美丽凄凉的爱情故事:船总顺顺的两个儿子天保和摊送都爱上了老船工的孙女翠翠，但翠翠爱的是摊送。天保自动退出，驾船下辰州的途中不幸遇难。摊送也于痛苦之中离家去了桃源。外公郁闷病死，翠翠守着渡口等着摊送回来。“这个人也许永远不回来f，也许明天回来!”作者无意发掘这一爱情故事的悲剧内涵，而是意在创造出一曲理想化的田园牧歌。他重点描绘了乡村世界中的人性美和人情美，塑造了作为“爱”与“美”化身的翠翠，古朴厚道的老船工，豁达大度的天保，笃情专情的滩送，豪爽慷慨的顺顺等等，他们都是美好道德的象征。作者还浓墨重彩地描绘了湘西秀丽的山水图画和淳厚的风俗习惯，以诗情洋溢的语言和灵气飘逸的画面勾画了一个新奇独特的“边城”，这是一个极度净化与理想化的世界。《边城》中的人性美和艺术美珠联璧合，使之成为一颗晶莹圆润的文学宝珠。
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