rú guǒ zhè gè shì jiè shì yīcháng mó shù biǎo yǎn， tā bèi hòu yī dìng yòu gè wěi dà de mó shù shī， wǒ xī wàng， yòu yī tiān， wǒ néng bǎ tā jiū chū lái， dàn shì， rú guǒ mó shù shī cóng bù chū xiàn， nǐ yòu zěn néng chāi tā de bǎ xì ní？ 』 zhǐ pái de mì mì
　　　　 hàn sī yǔ fù qīn cóng nuó wēi dào xī là， xún zhǎo lí jiā duō nián de mǔ qīn， zài tú liǎo hàn sī yù shàng qí yù， dé dào yī běn zhǐ yòu fàng dà jìng cái kě kàn dào de xiǎo yuán miàn bāo shū， nèi róng shì yī míng shuǐ shǒu zāo yù chuán nán， liú luò dào yī gè qí yì de xiǎo dǎo， dǎo shàng yòu ５ ２ gè gǔ guài de rén wù， yuán lái shì yī rén huàn xiǎng zhōng de yī fú zhǐ pái biàn chéng huó shēng shēng de rén wù， gù shì xū huàn mí lí， gù shì zhōng yòu hán yòu lìng yī gè gù shì。 rán 'ér hàn sī què yào bǎo shǒu mì mì， zài tú zhōng tōu kàn xiǎo yuán miàn bāo shū， bù néng gào xīn fù qīn， zuì hòu fā xiàn zhè gè 'èr bǎi nián qián de gù shì què yǔ hàn sī yòu guān ．．．
　　　　 zuò zhě qiáo sī tǎn． jiǎ dé bǎo chí yī xiàng de zuò fēng， chú liǎo yī kē chì zǐ zhī xīn， zài gù shì zhōng zhù rù zhé xué de sī xiǎng ràng rén duò rù pū shuò mí lí de gù shì zhī yú， yě bù duàn fǎn sī rén shēng de wèn tí， fā rén shēnxǐng， zhí dé tí de shì yì zhě lǐ yǒng píng de gōng lì shēn hòu， bǎ zuò zhě de bǐ chù chōng fēn zhǎn xiàn yú dú zhě de yǎn qián。
　　　　 běn shū yǐ bèi yì wéi 23 zhǒng bù tóng de yǔ yán， zài shì jiè gè dì fā shòu， bìng róng huò 『 nuó wēi wén xué píng lùn xié huì jiǎng』 jí『 wén huà bù jiǎng』。 rú guǒ yǐ shí lì xīng wéi mǎn fēn， zhè běn shū jué duì zhí shí yī fēn！
　　 zhǐ pái de mì mì - zhì zhōng wén bǎn dú zhě
　　
　　 měi gè rén xīn lǐ dū huó zhe yī gè xiǎo chǒu héng héng zhì zhōng wén bǎn dú zhě
　　　　 zuì jìn zhè jǐ nián lái， měi huí qù guàng shū diàn， wǒ men zhè qún duì zhé xué yòu xīng qù de rén zǒng huì gǎn shòu dào yī zhǒng nuǎn mèi de lè qù。 kàn dào nà héng héng duī duī chén liè zài liàng lì “ xīn shí dài ’， (Ncw　 Age)、“ lìng lèi zhé xué ” (A1ternatiVePhilosophy) xià de xīn shū， wǒ men dū huì rěn bù zhù mǎi shàng dīng L běn。 lìng lèi zhé xué yī běn běn zhǎn shì zài wǒ men yǎn qián， rèn yóu wǒ men tiǎo xuǎn， què shí lìng rén xīng fèn， dàn wǒ men tóng shí yě qī pàn zhè jiā shū diàn néng gōng yìng gèng duō“ zhēn zhèng de” zhé xué shū。 wǒ men zài shū jià jiān dōu lái dōu qù， zhǎo liǎo lǎo bàn tiān， zhōng yú bù dé bù miàn duì yī gè shì shí： zài ruò dà de yī jiā shū diàn， yào mǎi yī běn zhēn zhèng de zhé xué shū hái zhēn bù róng yì ní。
　　　　 zhè gè xiàn xiàng mǎ shàng jiù yào xiě gǎi biàn liǎo。 wǒ men zhèng miàn lín －－ yī gè qiángjìng de zhé xué fù xīng yùn dòng。 yě xǔ， wǒ men duì nà xiē“ lìng lèi wán yì” yǐ jīng gǎn dào yàn zú。 zhè yī lèi shū， yòu xiē díquè hěn yòu qù， dàn yě chān zá zhe tài duō zāo pò。
　　　　 shuō chuān liǎo， lìng lèi zhé xué bù chì shì yī zhǒng zhé xué shì de chūn gōng yī héng huò xǔ wǒ men kě yǐ guǎn tā jiào“ sù chéng zhé xué”。 dǎ kāi shū běn， yīhuǎng yǎn nǐ jiù bèi yǐn jìn yī gè zhé xué qí jìng， rú tóng chūn gōng diàn yǐng huò sè qíng xiǎo shuō“ shùn jiān” bǎ nǐ xī rù qíng yù shì jiè。 kě shì， dà bù fēn“ lìng lèi zhé xué” gēn zhēn zhèng de zhé xué yā gēn 'ér chě bù shàng bàn diǎn guān xì； tóng yàng de， chūn gōng diàn yǐng chéng xiàn de bìng bù shì zhēn chéng de 'ài qíng。 zhé xué hé 'ài qíng dū xū yào shí jiān lái péi yǎng、 shēn huà。 zhuī qiú zhì huì hé 'ài qíng， shì bù néng chāo jìn lù zǒu jié jìng de。
　　　　 zhé xué xīng qǐ yú gǔ xī là chéng bāng de shì jí。 jīn tiān， zhé xué tóng yàng kě yǐ xīng qǐ yú xiǎo hái zǐ jiù dú de yòu zhì yuán。 zhè jǐ nián lái， wǒ yī zhí gǔ chuī jiāng zhé xué dài huí dào zuì zǎo de liǎng gè gēn yuán héng héng shì chǎng hé xué xiào。 wǒ yuàn jiè cǐ jī huì， xiàng zhōng wén bǎn dú zhě shuō míng， zài《 zhǐ pái de mì mì》 yī shū zhōng， wǒ shì rú hé jiāng zhé xué dài huí dào rén lèi de tóng nián。 wǒ de lìng yī běn shū《 sū fěi de shì jiè》， qiáng diào de zé shì zhé xué hé shì jí zhī jiān de mìqiè guān xì。 zhè liǎng běn shū qí shí shì zǐ mèi piān， xiāng fǔ xiāng chéng。
　　　　《 zhǐ pái de mì mì》 zhè bù xiǎo shuō de zhùjué， shì yī gè jiào hàn sī tānɡ mǎ shì de xiǎo nán hái。 tā gēn suí fù qīn， zhǎn kāi yī tàng màn cháng de chuān yuè zhěng gè 'ōu zhōu de lǚ chéng， jìn rù“ zhé xué de gù xiāng”。 wǒ xiǎng tòu guò zhè yàng yī gè gù shì， biǎo dá wǒ duì 'ōu zhōu wén huà chuán tǒng hé lì shǐ de yī xiē kàn fǎ。 wǒ de zuì dà qǐ tú． shì yǐ nián qīng rén jué dé yòu qù de fāng shì， xiàng dú zhě men tí chū héng héng lián chuàn yòu guān shēng cún de gēn běn wèn tí。
　　　　 qián wǎng yǎ diǎn de lǚ tú zhōng， zài qiǎo miào de jī yuán 'ān pái xià， hàn sī tānɡ mǎ cùn： huò zèng yī běn qí yì de xiǎo shū。 nà běn shū bǎ tā dài dào gōng yuán 1790 nián fā shēng de héng héng chǎng hǎi nán。 gù shì de zhù rén wēng shì gè míng jiào fó luò dé de shuǐ shǒu。 chuán chén méi hòu， tā piào liú dào jiā lè bǐ hǎi de héng zuò huāng dǎo shàng， dú jū wǔ shí 'èr nián； péi bàn tā dù guò màn cháng suì yuè、 bāng zhù tā pái qiǎn jì mò de， jiù shì suí shēn xié dài de héng fù pū kè pái。 shuō yě qí guài， hòu lái zhè wǔ shí sān zhāng zhǐ pái jìng rán biàn chéng liǎo wǔ shí sān gè yòu xuè yòu ròu、 huó bèng luàn tiào de zhū rú。 zhè qún xiǎo 'ǎi rén zài dǎo shàng jiàn lì yī zuò cūn zhuāng， huán rào zhe fó luò dé。 chú liǎo héng gè zhū rú wài， tā mendōu wú fǎ jiě shì zì jǐ jiū jìng shì shuí、 lái zì hé fāng。 wéi héng zhī dào 'ào mì de zhū rú， jiù shì pū kè pái zhōng de nà zhāng“ chǒujué pái”。
　　　　 zài《 zhǐ pái de mì mì》 zhè běn shū zhōng， xiǎo chǒu xiàng zhēng“ juàn wài rén” héng héng yī tā néng gòu kàn dào bié rén kàn bù dào de rén shēng zhēn xiāng。 zuì zhòng yào de shì， tā néng gòu tǐ rèn rén shēng shì chǎng yòu qù de mào xiǎn。 suǒ yǐ， zài dǎo - shàng nà xiē rì zǐ。 tā bù duàn xiàng tóng bāo men tí chū yòu guān rén shēng de xīn wèn tí。
　　　　 zài rén shēng de zhǐ pái yóu xì zhōng， wǒ men měi gè rén yī shēng xià lái jiù shì xiǎo chǒu。 kě shì， suí zhe nián líng zēngzhǎng， wǒ men jiàn jiàn biàn chéng hóng xīn、 fāng kuài、 méi huā、 hēi táo。 dàn zhè bìng bù yì wèi wǒ men xīn zhōng de xiǎo chǒu cóng cǐ xiāo shī wú zōng。 wǒ men bù fáng tān kāi yī fù pū kè pái， kàn kàn nà xiē hóng xīn tú 'àn huò fāng kuài tú 'àn dǐ xià， shì bù shì yǐn cáng zhe yī gè chǒujué ní ?
　　　　 zhè ràng wǒ xiǎng qǐ gǔ lǎo de yáng pí zhǐ wén jiàn。 ōu zhōu rén shǐ yòng zhè zhǒng yáng pí zhǐ。 wǎng wǎng huì guā diào shàng miàn yuán yòu de wén zì， chóngxīn xiě shàng qí tā dōng xī。 yú shì， dāng wǒ men fān yuè zhōng gǔ shì jì de yī běn zhàng bù， liú lǎn dāng shí wǔ gǔ hé yú huò de jià mù shí， róu róu yǎn jīng， zǎi xì yī qiáo， huì hè rán fā xiàn． nà xiē yáng pí zhǐ yuán xiān jìzǎi de， jìng shì gǔ luó mǎ de héng chū xǐ jù。 tóng yàng de， wǒ men duì shì jiè de hàoqí， yě shēn shēn yǐn cáng zài měi gè rén xīn zhōng。 zài nà 'ér， wǒ men zhǎo dào yī qún qún shuǎ bǎ xì、 biàn mó shù、 dǎ hǔn chā kē dòu guān zhòng fā xiào de jiā huǒ， yě kàn dào xǔ duō xiǎo jīng líng、 zhū rú、 xiān nǚ hé yāo mó guǐ guài， shèn zhì hái gēn suí 'ài lì sī màn yóu qí jìng， péi bàn wáng hòu yī kuài hē xià wǔ chá。
　　　　 gè wèi dú zhě xiǎng bì huì zhù yì dào，《 zhǐ pái de mì mì》 shū zhōng de xiǎo chǒu shì yī gè zhū rú。 tā shì yǒng héng de xiǎo hái， yǒng yuǎn dōubù huì wán quán zhǎngdà， yǒng yuǎn dōubù huì duì rén shēng shī qù hàoqí。 jiù zhè yī diǎn lái shuō， tā chēng dé． shàng gǔ wǎng jīn lái suǒ yòu wěi dà zhé xué jiā de qīn shǔ。 zài gǔ xī là， sū gé lā dǐ jiù shì tā nà gè shí dài de yī fù pū kè pái zhōng de chǒujué pái ( shàonián shí qī， tā méi shì jiù páo dào yǎ diǎn de shì jí， suí biàn zhuā gè rén wèn wèn tí！ ) sū gé lā dǐ céng shuō：“ yǎ diǎn jiù xiàng yī pǐ méi jīng dǎ cǎi de mǎ 'ér。 wǒ jiāng bàn yǎn ‘ niú méng’ de juésè， hěn hěn yǎo tā yī kǒu， ràng tā fēi téng tiào yuè qǐ lái”。 ( ér wǒ men de“ niú méng” què zài gànshénme ní ?)
　　　　 wǒ men měi gè rén xīn zhōng dū huó zhe yī gè xiǎo chǒu。 zhè yě shì sū gé lā dǐ de kàn fǎ。 shēn wéi zhé xué jiā， sū gé lā dǐ qí shí bìng bù jù bèi tè shū de“ zī lì”； tā zhǐ shì héng héng gè zhù chǎn shì 'ér yǐ。 jiē shēng pó bāng zhù chǎn fù shēng xià hái zǐ， sū gé lā dǐ bāng zhù rén men“ shēng xià” rén shēng de zhì huì。 zhè zhǒng bǐ yù dāng rán shì lǎo diào， dàn zhè gè gǔ lǎo de jiē shēng pó xiàng zhēng què jù yòu lìng yī céng hán yì， zhí dé wǒ men shēn sī： xū yào bèi jiē shēng chū lái de， shí jì shàng shì wǒ men měi gè rén xīn zhōng de nà gè hái zǐ。
　　　　 jǐ qiān nián lái， rén lèi zǒng shì zāo shòu yī lián chuàn zhòng dà wèn tí kùn rǎo， ér sì chù què zhǎo bù dào xiàn chéng de dá 'àn。 jiēguǒ， wǒ men bèi pò miàn duì liǎng zhǒng xuǎn zé： wǒ men kě yǐ qī piàn zì jǐ， jiǎ zhuāng wǒ men zhī dào yī qiē zhí dé zhī dào de shì qíng， huò zhě， wǒ men suǒ xìng bì shàng yǎn jīng， jù jué miàn duì rén shēng gēn běn wèn tí， lè dé xiāo yáo dù rì， bǎi tuō fán nǎo。 jīn tiān de rén lèi jī běn shàng fēn chéng zhè liǎng dà zú qún。 wǒ men ruò bù shì zhǐ gāo qì yáng， zì yǐ wéi tōng xiǎo rén jiànshì lǐ， jiù shì gān cuì chéng rèn zì jǐ wú zhī， bù qù guò wèn zì rèn wéi bù dǒng de shì qíng。 zhè zhǒng xiàn xiàng jiù rú tóng bǎ yī fù pū kè pái fēn chéng liǎng duī， hóng de fàng zài héng héng biān， hēi de bǎi zài lìng yī biān。 kě shì， měi gé yī zhèn zǐ， nà zhāng chǒujué pái jiù huì cóng pái duī zhōng tàn chū liǎn lái。 tā jì bù shì hóng xīn hé fāng kuài， yě bù shì méi huā hé hēi táo。
　　　　 zài yǎ diǎn chéng， sū gé lā dǐ jiù shì zhè me yī gè chǒujué héng héng jì bù jié wù， yě bù lěng mò。 tā zhǐ zhī dào yī jiàn shì： rén shì jiān yòu hěn duō shì qíng tā bìng bù dǒng。 zhè gè； niàn tóu shí shí zhé mó tā， yú shì tā jiù qù dāng gè zhé xué jiā， chéng wéi yī gè yǒng bù fàng qì tàn xún rén shēng zhēn xiāng、 duì rén shēng bù duàn tí chū xīn wèn tí de rén。
　　　　 zài wǒ kàn lái， zhé xué de zuì dà gōng néng， shì bāng zhù wǒ men zhǎo chū xīn zhōng yǐn cáng de nà gè“ chǒujué”， ràng wǒ men gēn tā jiàn lì gèng qīn mì de qíng yì。 zhé xué jiā bì xū sǎo chú fù gài zài shì jiè shàng de nà céng chén 'āi， ràng wǒ men yǐ 'ér tóng de qīng chè yǎn guāng， chóngxīn guān kàn hé gǎn shòu zhè gè shì jiè。 rén shēng yuán běn shì yī zé měi miào de tóng huà gù shì， ér zhǎngdà hòu biàn dé“ shì gù” de wǒ men， jìng rán bō qù tā nà xí shén mì de wài yī， bǎ tā kàn chéng héng héng gè kū zào wú wèi de“ xiàn shí”。 dàn wǒ men měi gè réndōu hái yòu fù huó de xī wàng， yīn wéi wǒ men quándōu shì chǒujué de hòu yì。 wǒ men nèi xīn shēn chù， dōuyòu yī gè huó bèng luàn tiào、 zhēng zhe yī zhǐ dà yǎn jīng、 duì rén shēng chōng mǎn hàoqí de hái zǐ zài huó zhe。 jìn guǎn yòu shí hòu wǒ men huì jué dé zì jǐ miǎo xiǎo suǒ suì， dàn shì， qièmò wàng liǎo， wǒ men měi gè rén de jī fū xià miàn dū yǐn cáng zhe yī xiǎo kuài huáng jīn： céng jīng， zài zhè gè shì jiè shàng， wǒ men shì yī gè jié jìng wú chén、 xīn rú míng jìng de chì zǐ ……
　　　　 dāng nián， wǒ men bèi dài jìn yī zé tóng huà gù shì zhōng héng héng zhè gè tóng huà bǐ wǒ men zài hái tí shí dài tīng guò de tóng huà dōuyào měi miào dòng tīng héng héng kě shì， méi duō jiǔ， wǒ men jiù bǎ zhōu wéi de yī qiē shì wéi dāng rán， bù zài hàoqí。 rú jīn wǒ men shèn zhì bù huì zhù yì dào， wǒ men jiā zhōng nà zhāng xīn mǎi de yīng 'ér chuáng shàng， yòu yī jiàn shén qí de shì zhèng zài fā shēng。 jiù zài nà 'ér héng héng yīng 'ér chuáng de lán gān hòu miàn héng héng shì jiè zhèng bèi chuàng zào。
　　　　 ér shì jiè yǒng yuǎn bù huì shuāi lǎo； shuāi lǎo de shì wǒ men。 zhǐ yào yīng 'ér bù duàn chū shēng， zhǐ yào xīn rén bù duàn lái dào shì shàng， wǒ men de shì jiè jiù huì yǒng bǎo qīng xīn， xīn dé jiù gēn shàng dì chuàng shì dì qī tiān shí yī mó yī yàng。 hái zǐ xiàn zài gāng gāng jìn rù zhè zé wěi dà de tóng huà gù shì； tā zhēng zhe qīng chè chéng jìng de yǎn jīng， zé bèi wǒ men bǎ zhè gè shì jiè kàn chéng“ xiàn shí”， lí tā yù lái yù yuǎn。
　　　　“ mā‘ tiān shǐ wèishénme huì yòu chì bǎng ní ?…… xīng xīng wèishénme huì zhǎ yǎn jīng ní ?…… niǎo 'ér wèishénme huì fēi ní ?…… dà xiàng de bí zǐ wèishénme nà yàng cháng ní ?”
　　　　“ āi yā， wǒ zěn me xiǎo dé yā ! guāi， xiàn zài gāi bì shàng yǎn jīng shuì jué huì， fǒu zé de huà， mā kě jiù yào shēng qì luo！”
　　　　 jī lái guǐ jué， hái zǐ sàng shī duì shì jiè de zhè zhǒng jī jí de、 chōng mǎn huó lì de gǎn shòu shí， zhèng qiǎo shì tā kāi shǐ xué shuō huà de shí hòu。 suǒ yǐ， hái zǐ men xū yào shén huà hé tóng huà。 dà rén men yě xū yào shén huà hé tóng huà， yīn wéi tā néng bāng zhù wǒ men jǐn jǐn zhuā zhù 'ér shí de jīng yàn， bù ràng tā liú shī。
　　　　 wǒ jué dé， shí jiǔ huò 'èr shí suì cái kāi shǐ jiē chù zhé xué shū jí， shí zài yǐ jīng tài chí liǎo。 zuì jìn 'ōu zhōu liú xíng yīng 'ér yóu yǒng， yīn wéi fù mǔ men jué dé， jì rán yóu yǒng shì rén lèi yǔ shēng jù lái de běn néng， dàn zhè zhǒng běn néng bì xū jiā yǐ hē hù。 duì rén shēng hàoqí bìng bù shì xué lái de， ér shì wǒ men zì jǐ yí wàng diào de běn néng。
　　　　 wǒ men zǒng 'ài kuā kuā qí tán， dà tán“ rén shēng de 'ào mì”。 yào qīn shēn tǐ yàn zhè gè 'ào mì， wǒ men jiù dé bǎi tuō shì gù de jiáo qíng， ràng zì jǐ zài dāng yī cì hái zǐ。 xiǎng dāng hái zǐ， jiù dé wǎng hòu tuì yī bù－－ yě xǔ， tuì liǎo yī bù hòu， wǒ men huì fā xiàn yǎn qián huò rán chū xiàn yī gè měi miào de shì jiè。 jiù zài nà yī kè， wǒ men mù jī shì jiè de chuàng zào guò chéng。 lǎng lǎng qíng kōng xià， yī gè zhǎn xīn de shì jiè bèng dì mào liǎo chū lái……
　　　　 ér jū rán yòu rén shuō tā men jué dé rén shēng tǐng wú liáo！
　　　　 lǐ yǒng píng yì

　　The Solitaire Mystery was published in 1990 and written by Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author of the best-selling Sophie's World. Its main target audience is young adults, but the themes of the book transcend any age group.
　　
　　Like Sophie's World, The Solitaire Mystery has a philosophical content, but unlike Sophie's World, it does not explicitly mention philosophers and theories, thus, the reader of the book may be unaware that he or she is actually engaging in philosophy.
　　
　　Plot
　　
　　The book follows two seemingly separate stories:
　　Hans Thomas
　　
　　A twelve year old boy, Hans Thomas, and his father are driving through Europe on a journey to locate and bring home the boy's estranged mother. Whilst on their journey, a strange little bearded man gives Hans Thomas a magnifying glass, saying mystically: "You'll need it!"
　　
　　Not long afterwards, Hans Thomas and his father stop in a roadside cafe where Hans Thomas gets a giant sticky bun from a kind baker to eat on his journey. To Hans Thomas's great surprise, hidden inside the sticky bun is a tiny book, with writing so small it cannot be read with the naked eye.
　　
　　Hans Thomas begins to read the tiny book using his new magnifying glass, and the story then alternates between Hans Thomas's journey, and the story in the sticky bun book.
　　The Sticky Bun Book
　　
　　The sticky bun book tells the story of an old baker whose grandfather gave him a drink of a wonderful liquid he called Rainbow Fizz (Rainbow Soda in the American edition). It came from an island which the grandfather had been shipwrecked on as a young man. On the island lived an old sailor called Frode, and fifty-three other people; the fifty three other people did not have names though, they referred to themselves as the numbers on playing cards (52 cards plus a Joker)
　　
　　The red suits were all women, except for the Kings and Jacks, whilst the black suits were all men, except for the Queens and Aces. The Ace of Hearts was particularly enchanting, and Frode had quite a crush on her, even though she was forever 'losing herself'. The cards (as he called them) were scatterbrained and childish, and talked in card-related riddles about "when the game ends" and "turning a person face up" etc.
　　
　　Frode told the young sailor the miraculous story about how the other people had come to be on the island with him:
　　
　　 Frode himself was shipwrecked on the island many years earlier, and had lost virtually all of his possessions, except for a pack of playing cards. As he had no way off the island, he played solitaire a lot to pass the time. After a few months, he started talking to the cards, and even creating personalities for each of them in his head.
　　 Time passed, and through overuse, the pictures on the cards faded and disappeared, but Frode continued to talk to them in his mind. Then suddenly one day, the Three of Diamonds walked by -- a flesh and blood person -- and said hello to Frode as if they were old friends! Frode thought he must be going mad, and as the remaining fifty-two cards surfaced, he became convinced he had gone senile. But since there was no way off the island, he decided he may as well sink himself into his delusion and enjoy the company.
　　 When the new sailor was shipwrecked on the island, it came as a huge shock to Frode that he could see and interact with the card people as well! It wasn't a delusion! But then it seemed that Frode had simply 'dreamt' them into existence - how could this be so?
　　
　　The crossing over of worlds
　　
　　As the plot progresses, the reader sees that the 'two' separate stories of Hans Thomas's journey, and the events in the sticky bun book are beginning to overlap:
　　
　　 The cards in the sticky bun book take part in a game, where each says a sentence, and Frode tries to interpret its bizarre meaning. But sentences such as "the inner box unpacks the outer at the same time as the outer box unpacks the inner" and "destiny is a snake so hungry it devours itself" seem devoid of meaning for Frode.
　　
　　However, the cards' predictions as told in the tiny book begin to reveal details about Hans Thomas's own plight to find his mother. It occurs to Hans Thomas that his mother bears a striking resemblance in her personality to the Ace of Hearts in that she 'loses herself' (disappears) for long periods.
　　
　　Also, throughout Hans Thomas's journey, he has seen the same odd little bearded man following him about (the man who gave him the magnifying glass which proved so useful to read the sticky bun book). But whenever Hans Thomas approaches the little man, he seems to dash away and vanish.
　　
　　The baffling thing for Hans Thomas is that he stopped for the cake merely by chance, and chose to eat a sticky bun by chance - how is it possible that a tiny book from a random bun is telling him things about his own life?
　　
　　In the end, it turns out that the man who gave Hans Thomas the sticky bun book was his estranged grandfather, the baker and writer of the sticky bun book, and grandson to the shipwrecked sailor who had met Frode and his cards on the magic island. The grandfather works this out at the same time Hans Thomas deduces it too (the inner box unpacks the outer at the same time as the outer box unpacks the inner), yet this understanding is never realised, as the grandfather passes away before Hans Thomas returns to the small alpine village, having reunited with his mother in Athens.
　　
　　Back in the sticky bun book, we discover that just as the cards had played their prophetic game where they predicted exactly what would happen between Hans Thomas and his family, the magic island begins to close in on itself, fifty-two years to the day after it had sprung into existence. It seems as if it were meant to happen that way (destiny is a snake so hungry it devours itself).
　　
　　The poor card-people get eaten up inside the island, and as the island folds in on itself and disappears into nothingness, the young sailor (Baker Hans) escapes on a rowing boat which he had brought. Only one of the 'cards' managed to escape the island: the Joker.
　　
　　Hans Thomas realises that it is the Joker who gave him the magnifying glass, and who has been following him about all this time. Just as Hans Thomas reads the last sentence of the sticky bun book, closes it and looks up, he sees the Joker slip away into the crowd, and vanish...
　　Philosophical themes
　　
　　The book encompasses several philosophical themes; the obvious ones which are covered in the overall plot, but also little snippets here and there. Hans Thomas's father is a smoker but doesn't like to smoke inside his car, and so on their long journey across Europe, they are forever stopping for cigarette breaks, and the father is talking philosophically with his son. These bite-size chunks of philosophy are far easier to swallow than the weighty lectures in Sophie's World, but are nonetheless potent.
　　The nature of existence
　　
　　The nature of existence is a theme which runs throughout, especially the miraculous nature of life itself. The book explores the question of whether it is possible to imagine something into existence. This theme is also found in Australian aboriginal myth, where elders claim that the world was dreamt into existence.
　　
　　It seems unimaginable that we can make something happen just by wanting it to happen, yet the placebo effect has been well-documented in psychology, and many psychic healers and suchlike will claim that you need to have faith in order for something to work.
　　Religious Themes
　　
　　The Christian concept of the creator living within his creation is explored. The seemingly perfect creation is soon destroyed by the Joker, during the "Joker Game" sequence, which is arguably an intended parallel with the Garden of Eden.
　　Destiny
　　
　　The fact that the cards in the sticky bun book predicted the goings on between Hans Thomas's family decades later gives the book a strong theme of destiny: the idea that some things are going to happen no matter what - it is fate.
　　
　　Fate as a concept also has many supporters; those who believe that some things (or the more stronger claim, that all things) have been pre-planned from long ago -- perhaps from the dawn of time. This is a main theme running through theology as well as more pseudo-scientific disciplines such as tarot reading and palm reading.
　　
　　It certainly seems possible (though highly improbable) that the cards could have predicted the goings-on in Hans Thomas's young life, but the unlikelihood of it all only adds to the mystery and wonder of the story.