具体描述
Mao Dun (1896-1981) published both short stories, “The Shop of the Lin Family” and “Spring Silkworms,” in 1932. “The Shop of the Lin Family” tells the story of a shop selling foreign goods in a small town in China in the 1930s, which Zhu Ziqing considers the best work written by Mao Dun. “Spring Silkworms” is about a silk weaver, Old Tong Bao, who takes very good care of his silkworms, but the armed conflicts caused by the Japanese in Shanghai on 28 January 1932 ruined his high hopes of selling the cocoons at a good price.
《林家铺子》和《春蚕》可谓茅盾短篇小说的代表作。
《林家铺子》原题为《倒闭》,于1932年在《申报月刊》创刊号发表时改为《林家铺子》。朱自清说,茅盾作《林家铺子》,「写一个小镇上一家洋广货店的故事,层层剖剥,不漏一点儿,而又委曲入情,真可算得『严密的分析』,私意认为这是他最佳之作。」
《春蚕》最初发表于1932年11月之《现代》月刊。接着茅盾又写了《秋收》《残冬》,构成了故事情节有连贯性的三个短篇,被称为「农村三部曲」。《春蚕》写农民老通宝悉心照料丝蚕,结果蚕茧收成甚丰,可是一二八事变使蚕茧供过于求,老通宝只好把蚕茧贱价而沽的故事。夏志清说,「这篇原意似在宣扬共产主义的小说,反变而为人性尊严的赞美诗了。」