当青春逝去时 Man’s Youth

托马斯·沃尔夫/Thomas Wolfe

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—t he 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.

A young man is so strong, so mad, so certain, and so lost. He has everything and he is able to use nothing. He hurls the great shoulder of his strength forever against phantasmal barriers, he is a wave whose power explodes in lost mid-oceans under timeless skies, he reaches out to grip a fume of painted smoke；he wants all, feels the thirst and power for everything, and finally gets nothing. In the end, he is destroyed by his own strength, devoured by his own hunger, impoverished by his own wealth. Thoughtless of money or the accumulation of material possessions, he is none the less defeated in the end by his own greed a greed that makes the avarice of King Midas seem paltry by comparison.

And that is the reason why, when youth is gone, every man will look back upon that period of his life with infinite sorrow and regret. It is the bitter sorrow and regret of a man who knows that once he had a great talent and wasted it, of a man who knows that once he had a great treasure and got nothing from it, of a man who knows that he had strength enough for everything and never used it.

青春是尤物：它充溢着苦痛与魔力。在失去它之前，人们从未真正认清它的实质。人们伤感地注视着它匆匆离去的脚步，心中充满了无尽的痛苦和悔恨，并试图用一生去悼念它，事实上却是在用悲伤之心与窃喜之情为它送行。即使某种魔力会把它还给我们，我们也不愿再过那种生活。

这是为什么呢？因为青春岁月已将人生的奇妙与辛酸表现得淋漓尽致。我们年轻时，付出极度痛苦的代价深切感受到的，那些痛彻心扉的无可言状的人生的奇妙与辛酸，其实质便是：青春是充裕富足的，我们却如此一贫如洗；青春是强力彪悍的，我们却如此弱小无助。我们动用各种感官去感悟周围世界不可企及的财富与荣耀，以无法想象的坚定信念面对这绚丽人生的整个历程，人们所能知道的最幸运、富裕、美好和幸福的生活，是属于我们的，唾手可得且可一劳永逸。就在我们跃跃欲试的瞬间，似乎才明白，能够永远抓住并真正拥有的，竟是一场虚空。万物皆逝，无物常驻：我们的手刚一触到它，它便融化了，像袅袅青烟，一去不复返，而那贪婪与愧疚之蛇又在吞噬着我们的心。于是，我们认清了人生的实质及我们的必然归宿。

年轻人是那么的强壮，那么的狂妄，那么的固执，又是那么的迷茫。他拥有一切，却不会利用。他永无休止地用他那强壮的臂膀撞击着一个个假想的壁垒；他是海中巨浪，在永恒的天空下无助地怒吼；他伸手欲撷取一把斑斓的烟雾；他贪欲无穷，他心存对一切的欲望和渴求，而最终一无所获。最后，他被自己的力量所毁灭，被自己的欲求所吞没，被自己的财富所击垮。从不考虑积累金钱与财富，终被自己的贪欲所累，这种贪欲使贪婪的米达斯国王在其面前都相形见绌。

这就是当青春逝去，每个人都会满怀悲伤与遗憾地追忆它的原因。这是一个人明知自己才高八斗却未利用，明知自己有巨额财富却分文未取，明知自己有征服一切的力量却从未有施展之机，所具有的极度的苦闷与悔恨。

心灵小语

对青春岁月的怀念与追想，往往源自一种遗憾与惋惜：那个时候我们一无所知，一无所畏，一无所得，在现实中碰壁，直到某一天惊觉自己终于成长，而那时，青春已经逝去了……

poignant adj.伤心的；心酸的；强烈的；痛切的

例 In fact they are probably the most poignant and important ones.

事实上，它们可能是你最深切、最重要的人生阅历。

immediately adv.立刻；马上；直接地

例 Stop smoking immediately！

立刻停止吸烟！

accumulation n.积聚；堆积物

例 The rate of accumulation decreases with time.

积累的速度随着时间变慢。

comparison n.比较；对照；类似

例 There is no comparison between them.

两者不可同日而语。

年轻人是那么的强壮，那么的狂妄，那么的固执，又是那么的迷茫。

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他心存对一切的欲望和渴求，而最终一无所获。

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这就是当青春逝去，每个人都会满怀悲伤与遗憾地追忆它的原因。

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It is so full of anguish and of magic and he never comes to know……

full of：充满

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He has everything and he is able to use nothing.

be able to：能够；胜任

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