"Border Town" shows us such a picture: "There is a small white tower beside a stream, and a family lives under it. There is only an old man, a girl and a yellow dog in this family. A small stream flows down the river, around the mountain, and flows into the tea cave river for about three miles. If people cross the stream and climb the hill, they will reach the edge of Tea Cave City within a mile. The stream is like a bow, and the mountain road is like a bowstring. There is a slight difference between distance and distance. This stream is about 20 feet wide, and the riverbed is made of big stones. Even if the quiet water is too deep to bottom, it is still clear and transparent, and the fish in the middle reaches of the river can be counted. "
In the novel, the crystal clear river, the small town near the mountain and the water, the diaojiao building on the river street, the ferry climbing the cable, the white tower related to the "Feng Shui" in the teahouse and the singing of birds in the dark green bamboo raft are all natural and beautiful, and the picturesque scenery makes people feel like they are in a dream, giving people beautiful enjoyment.
Second, the beauty of customs.
In Border Town, Shen Congwen painted a beautiful regional genre painting in Xiangxi in his childhood memory and ideal world. This genre painting is beautiful and exquisite, which contains the natural scenery, social customs, interpersonal relationships and human nature in the border areas of western Hunan, and accumulates profound and mysterious Chu culture.
Shen Congwen said: I want to show a "life form", a "beautiful, healthy and human life form." Therefore, there is a simple and fresh world in Border Town, a rural society close to "Xanadu", showing a kind and simple rural customs. Xiangxi in his works is like this: Mid-Autumn Festival, young men and women pour out their love in the form of duets in the moonlight; On the Dragon Boat Festival, every family locked their doors and went to the riverside and Diaojiao Building to watch the dragon boat race and participate in duck catching activities in the river. "whoever catches the duck will become the owner of the duck"; On the fifteenth day of the first month, the whole town was immersed in the joy of dancing dragons, playing lions and setting off fireworks.
People living in this atmosphere are simple and kind, and any tension here seems out of place.
In the rowing competition, the winning team can get a small silver medal. Outside the border town, there will always be people who care who will get it. But in the eyes of people in the border town, the silver medal wrapped around anyone on board shows the glory of cooperation among all the people on board. In the border town, there is no fame and fortune.
"Shen Congwen was born in Xiangxi, where Miao and Han people live together. He is most familiar with the local customs of this area. Not only familiar, but also loving. " Shi Zhecun said.
Third, the beauty of human nature
The people in the border town are "a group of good people who are not polluted by modern civilization". They have maintained a quiet and harmonious living environment and a simple and frugal ancient folk custom. Between the lines, we can feel Mr. Shen's efforts to build a paradise full of natural humanity. The characters he created shine with the frank, beautiful and pious side of humanity, and the people in the border town are the representatives of human beauty.
In the border town, what we see is the simple, thrifty, friendly and peaceful scene of people. "The person who manages this ferry is an old man who lives under the tower. I lived for seventy years, and I have been staying by this stream since I was twenty. I don't know how many years have passed in these fifty years. Although he is so old, he should rest, but the sky doesn't allow him to rest. It seems that he can't live without this life. He never considered the significance of his position to himself, but lived there quietly and faithfully. " When writing about the smooth operation of the water terminal, the article said: "This generous and free-spirited person, although his career is smooth, is generous and able to help others because he is willing to make friends, ... understands the hardships of outsiders and the feelings of frustrated people ... but he is so impartial and selfless ... both upright and peaceful, and does not love money." When it comes to these two young people, it is so popular: "strong as an ox ... bold and open-minded, unconventional ... be kind to relatives, not arrogant and lazy, flashy." What is even more amazing is that the puppy is very clever and sensible: "Sometimes I am on the boat with my grandfather's yellow dog, and I will work with my grandfather during the transition." The boat is about to dock. My grandfather is greeting the guests: Slow down, slow down. The yellow dog put the rope in his mouth and jumped up first. It seems that he knows how to do his duty and holds the boat rope tightly to the shore. "
Cui Cui, the hero, is one of the most successful figures. She is an elf bred by mountains and rivers in western Hunan. "She grew up in a windy day, with dark skin and crystal clear eyes, which naturally raised her and educated her." She is "naive and lively, like a small animal everywhere", "never considers cruel things, never worries, never gets angry". The windy days and mountains and rivers in Border Town make her a girl with fine features, intelligence and tenderness, and a little reserved and delicate. She is the spirit and embodiment of beauty. When Pinocchio was sent out of the house, her grandfather passed away forever. She was sad, but she didn't fall down. She refused the boat's offer to let her stay at his house. She guarded the ferry like grandpa, waiting for her relatives and promise to come back, which fully showed her strong personality and the beauty of combining rigidity with softness. She fought a long struggle against the rough fate with hope.
Border Town depicts a magnificent and warm world of Border Town, where human nature is true, good and beautiful. This world is created by everyone's natural beauty and human feelings, and there is no evil, treachery and greed. There are differences between the rich and the poor and social status, but they are all friendly and mutually supportive; There are contradictions here, but that is by no means a conflict between good and evil; The ending of the novel is tragic, but it is by no means caused by evil people.
As critic Liu Xiwei said: "Each of these lovely characters has a kind but simple soul, living in the sunrise air in the fields. Their hearts are corresponding, and their actions and thoughts are consistent. They are strong and impulsive, but some of them are upward emotions, struggling and overcoming selfish emotions. There is no excessive expectation for life, and my heart is spent on others: the beauty of adults. "
Border Town gives an appropriate explanation for human love with a clear, beautiful but somewhat sad pastoral. In such beautiful words, we can feel a natural, beautiful and healthy humanity that seems to have been unfamiliar to us all the time, a dignified, bright and real life form like nature itself. Therefore, reading such works, we get not only the enjoyment of literary beauty, but also the nourishment and treatment of our spiritual humanity.