托馬斯·沃爾夫/ Thomas Wolfe
托馬斯·沃爾夫（1900—1938），美國小說家。沃爾夫生於美國北卡羅來納州山區小城阿什維爾。父親是雕鑿墓碑的石匠，母親當過書籍推銷員和教師。他在大學期間開始創作，寫過幾個獨幕劇。他的小說被認為有很強的自傳性質，他的家人和他個人都成為他的小說人物原型，因此有人說他的作品是小說化的編年史。遺憾的是，讀過他的代表作《天使，望故鄉》的人很少。沃爾夫短暫的一生還留下其他三部小說：《時間和河流》《網與石》《你不能再回家》，以及數十篇中、短篇小說。他僅以這些作品就在美國文學史上獲得了與海明威、福克納和劉易斯幾乎同等的地位。
Ace in the Hole
Understand these new words before you read this article.
1. restore [ri'st?:] v. 恢複
2. essence ['es?ns] n. 本質
3. hurl [h?:l] v. 用力投擲
4. devour [di'vau?] v. 毀滅
Man’s youth is a wonderful thing. It is so full of anguish and of magic and he never comes to know it as it is, until it has gone from him forever. It is the thing he cannot bear to lose, it is the thing whose passing he watches with infinite sorrow and regret, it is the thing whose loss he must lament forever, and it is the thing whose loss he really welcomes with a sad and secret joy, the thing he would never willingly relive again, could it be restored to him by any magic.
Why is this? The reason is that the strange and bitter miracle of life is nowhere else so evident as in our youth. And what is the essence of that strange and bitter miracle of life which we feel so poignantly, so unutterably, with such a bitter pain and joy, when we are young? It is this: that being rich, we are so poor; that being mighty, we can yet have nothing; that seeing, breathing, smelling, tasting all around us the impossible wealth and glory of this earth, feeling with an intolerable certitude that the whole structure of the enchanted life—the most fortunate, wealthy, good and happy life that any man has ever known—is ours—is ours at once, immediately and forever, the moment that we choose to take a step, or stretch a hand, or say a word—we yet know that we can really keep, hold, take, and possess forever—nothing. All passes; nothing lasts; the moment that we put our hand upon it, it melts away like smoke, is gone forever, and the snake is eating at our heart again; we see then what we are and what our lives must come to.