Summary of each chapter of "Border Town"

Chapter 1:

The beginning of the novel introduces the protagonists of the novel: Cuicui and Grandpa, and their yellow dog. It mainly describes the living environment of the protagonist's family and their ordinary life.

Chapter 2:

Chapter 2 introduces the location of the story - Chadong, and uses the Baihe River as a guide to introduce the lives of the residents in the city. It also describes the life of the soldiers stationed in the city. As well as the harmony of this town and the commercial atmosphere it embodies. The people there are also very simple and honest, even the prostitutes.

Chapter 3;

Describes the local customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. These interesting things aroused the interest of Cuicui, who grew up in the mountains.

Chapter 4:

Grandpa took Cuicui to watch the dragon boat, but he left midway and did not pick up Cuicui because he had to be at the helm. The simple Cuicui had many strange thoughts in her heart. She also came into contact with others for the first time and experienced life outside the mountains.

Chapter 5:

Two years later, Grandpa and Cuicui spent a Mid-Autumn Festival together. Because the duck remembers the past.

Chapter 6:

As Cuicui grows older, she slowly begins to come into contact with the outside world. But these things were completely different from her childhood life, and she realized that not everyone in the outside world was as simple as the people in the mountains.

Chapter 7:

Cui Cui slowly grew up and became a beautiful local girl, just like her mother. Grandpa began to worry about Cuicui's growth and did not want Cuicui to leave him like her mother.

Chapter 8:

The festival is coming to an end, but Cuicui cannot forget it for a long time. Grandpa began to let Cuicui take the helm. Cuicui began to pay attention to little girls about her own age. She remembered all kinds of things she saw and compared them with each other.

Chapter 9:

The second son of the Shunshun family said that Cuicui and grandpa should go to their house to watch the boat. Cuicui didn't know this person, she just thought he was quite nice. Later I found out that he was the person who said at the lake many years ago that Cuicui would be eaten by a big fish. Grandpa told Cuicui that person also thought she was very good.

Chapter 10:

Cui Cui and her grandfather went to the Shunshun family to watch the boat. The boss of the Shunshun family praised Cuicui in front of everyone. When they were on the boat, the squire woman called her to her seat to do it. After leaving, grandpa told Cuicui that her second son praised her for her beauty. Cuicui was so embarrassed that she said grandpa was drunk.

Chapter 11:

Both the eldest and second eldest son of the Shunshun family fell in love with Cuicui and sent someone to be a matchmaker. When Cuicui found out, her face turned red to the base of her neck. Grandpa couldn't help but feel a little sad when he saw Cuicui like this. Thinking of Cuicui's mother.

Chapter 12:

The matchmaker comes again to propose marriage. Cuicui didn't dare to speak her mind. Grandpa guessed that Cuicui loved the second child but not the eldest child. The two brothers knew that the other had also fallen in love with Cuicui, and they began to compete with each other.

Chapter 13:

Grandpa was late to pick up Cuicui, so Cuicui cried. Grandpa told Cuicui to be strong and brave and not to cry when things happen. Learn to face things on your own. Cuicui knew a lot about her mother, but her grandfather began to feel sad.

Chapter 14:

Cui Cui could not forget what her grandfather said, and her grandfather did not tell Cui Cui what happened last night. But the singing that Cuicui and her grandfather heard at night was actually sung by the two elders, but her grandfather was mistaken. So he went to the city and had a quarrel with the elder, but he didn't tell Cuicui.

Chapter 15:

Cui Cui and her grandfather sat under the stars and chatted. Grandpa made fun of Cui Cui, and Cui Cui also laughed, and was not angry with her grandfather. The two people then talked about the two elders. Grandpa thought of a lot of things about the two elders and felt very confused.

Chapter 16:

The elder took a boat to Citan and something happened. The old boatman was frightened when he heard this, and the marriage was just blown away. The matchmaker said that it was wise for grandpa not to agree to the marriage, but the two elders thought that other than this kind of thing in their family, it was grandpa and Cuicui who were responsible for it. Cuicui was very sad after hearing this.

Chapter 17:

Grandpa’s smile is getting smaller and smaller day by day. Cuicui also feels that grandpa has become cold to her, but she doesn’t know why.

As time passed, the grandfather and grandson restored a good relationship and started to run the business together. The second elder went looking for his poor brother's body, but found nothing. Cuicui went up the mountain to pick bamboo shoots, but she only picked a handful of saxifrage.

Chapter 18:

Grandpa knows that Cuicui does not hate the two elders, but he does not know how the two elders are doing. The second elder came back and wanted to ferry, so Grandpa asked Cuicui to take the helm. It took Cuicui a long time to get there, but the two elders complained about their slow speed.

Chapter 19:

People are saying that the eldest son of the Shunshun family drowned in the water, which hurt Grandpa again. Grandpa is not in good health, but he is thinking about going to the city. Later, my grandfather learned that the two elders took a boat down to Taoyuan, and he was very unhappy.

Chapter 20:

After Cuicui discovered that the White Tower collapsed on a rainy night, she was very scared and surprised, so she went to call her grandpa, but her grandpa was already dead. After people knew the news, they all came to comfort Cuicui.

Twenty-one Chapter:

Cui Cui watched Yang Mabing preside over the funeral for her grandfather. After that, Cuicui lived with Yang, as if she lost a grandfather but gained an uncle. The White Tower was built again with people's funds raised, but the two elders may not be able to come back.

Extended information:

Creative background:

"Border Town" was written in 1931, which was the season of Shen Congwen's love and career. Although the society was turbulent in 1931, it was generally peaceful. At this time, Chinese intellectuals with conscience were thinking about the nature of human nature. Shen Congwen was naturally at the forefront, so he hoped to use his impressions of western Hunan to It describes a small town in western Hunan that is similar to the Peach Blossom Spring, and provides a clear path to the confused human nature in urban civilization. There is still pure and natural love in the world, and one needs to take refuge in nature in life.

Character introduction:

Cui Cui

Cui Cui is an innocent, kind, gentle and pure little girl. She is the ideal of "love" and "beauty" that the author has devoted to artistic image. When Cuicui came to the world, she was the angel of love and the elf of love. Her grandfather brought her up, and the old and the young depended on each other. She is both a daughter of love and a daughter of nature. In her body, "heaven and man are one", she is the elf and incarnation of beauty. The "beauty" of Cuicui is gradually shown through her love story: The first stage: the budding stage of Cuicui's love. She first met Nuo Song while watching dragon boat racing in a small town, and the seeds of love sprouted. The second stage: the awakening stage of Cuicui’s love.

Two years later, when she went to the city to watch dragon boats again, her love consciousness had been fully awakened. The third stage: the stage when Cuicui is persistent in love. After she fell in love with Nuosong, she didn't expect that Nuosong's brother would also fall in love with her. Out of loyalty to love, she clearly expressed her rejection to her grandfather. However, her love with Nuo Song suddenly suffered a serious setback. Nuo Song went away to a foreign country and her grandfather died, making her "grow up" overnight. In the end, like her grandfather, she held the ferry position, fell in love and waited for the return of Nuo Song, which fully demonstrated the strong side of Cuicui's character.

Grandpa

Grandpa maintains the traditional Chinese virtues and has infinite affection for his granddaughter Cuicui. Worrying about Cuicui's marriage, he tried his best to promote the realization of Cuicui's love. In life, he also cares deeply about Cuicui, not letting Cuicui sit on hot stones for fear that Cuicui will get sick; emotionally, he tries his best to be considerate of Cuicui's thoughts, and tells stories, jokes and sings to her when Cuicui is sad and lonely. He is also a simple and kind-hearted but stubborn old man. He is confident and proud of Cuicui's beauty. In order for Cuicui to marry a good family, he does not care about his poor and low status, and his heart is filled with sorrow, worry and responsibility and self-confidence.

Tianbao

Tianbao has a bold and generous personality. He is the eldest son of the captain, but he falls in love with the granddaughter of a poor ferryman. He knew that his younger brother also loved Cuicui, and the two sang "Duel", but because he proposed the marriage first, "the elder brother got the first step in the car", he must make his younger brother sing first; when the younger brother "opened his mouth", he knew Even though he was not an "rival", he helped his younger brother generously, fully demonstrating his brotherhood. Later, he went out to the beach, not only for his brother's happiness, but also to relieve his own disappointment and sadness, "so that he could forget everything above." In the end, he died unexpectedly. It can be said that he died for family and love.

Nuosong

Nuosong has the beautiful character of his mother, delicate. Nuo Song pursues love alone, "duels" with his brother, and sings love songs in the middle of the night, but is not known by his sweetheart. In the end, he ran away alone, wandering to nowhere.

Shunshun (supporting role)

"Shunshun", an exiled officer from the former Qing Dynasty, relied on some savings to run a wooden boat, and his business prospered. He was also generous, generous, honest and fair. , was hailed as a heroic gentleman on the "Shui Pier" side.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Border Town