Midnight Melodies/夜深沉

<p>Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies School & Representative Bestsellers of Republican China</p><p>鸳鸯蝴蝶派代表作品</p><p></p><p>This novel exposes 1930s Beijing's underworld through a huqin player and a street singer's tragic love. The title references a famous Peking opera tune symbolizing lives shrouded in darkness.</p><p>《夜深沉》是张恨水1936年创作的社会写实小说，以北平底层社会为背景，讲述了一位京剧琴师与卖唱女的悲情故事。书名取自京剧曲牌《夜深沉》，隐喻乱世中普通人的命运如深夜般晦暗难明。</p><p></p><p>The novel depicts the emotional entanglement between the carriage driver Ding Erhe and the singing queen Yue Rong with a convoluted and gripping plot; Dig into human nature deeply and thoroughly; The psychological portrayal of the male and female protagonists is particularly delicate. It should be pointed out that Deep Night was originally the title of a section in the opera Farewell My Concubine where Yu Ji dances the sword. Zhang Henshui ingeniously incorporated this erhu and qin music throughout the novel becoming a link between the joys and sorrows of the male and female protagonists and a clue to the development of the plot. Not only do most of the scenes in the novel take place in deep nights but the tone of the novel is a dark and melancholic atmosphere. Deep Night symbolizes the tragic fate of Ding Erhe and Wang Yuerong revealing the cold and dark society. In terms of clever conception complete structure and rich character portrayal in the novel Deep Night is superior to Tears and Laughter.</p><p>小说描写车夫丁二和与卖唱女王月容的情感纠葛，情节曲折，扣人心弦;挖掘人性，深刻透彻;男女主人公的心理刻划，尤为细腻。特别应该指出的是，夜深沉原是戏曲《霸王别姬》中虞姬舞剑的一段曲牌名，张恨水匠心独运地将这二胡琴曲贯穿小说始终，成为牵系男女主人公悲欢离合的纽带与情节发展的线索。不仅小说的多数场景都是发生在深沉的夜晚，而且小说的基调就是黑沉沉的清冷悲凉，夜深沉象征着丁二和与王月容命运的悲惨，揭示着社会的冷酷黑暗。就小说的构思巧妙、结构完整和人物塑造的丰满而言，《夜深沉》比之《啼笑因缘》是更胜一筹的。</p>