三十岁的决定
三十岁生日那天，我做了一个决定：我要重新开始学画画。
On my thirtieth birthday I made a decision: I was going to start learning to paint again.
我从小就喜欢画画，可是上大学的时候选了别的专业。
I'd loved drawing since I was small, but at university I chose a different subject.
毕业以后工作忙，就更没有时间了。
After graduating, work was busy and there was even less time.
画笔在盒子里放了差不多十年。
The brushes sat in a box for nearly ten years.
我把这个想法告诉几个朋友的时候，反应差不多都一样。
When I told a few friends the idea, the reaction was much the same from all of them.
他们说：“三十岁了，现在开始会不会太晚？”
They said, "You're thirty — isn't it a bit late to start now?"
我当时没有回答。
I didn't answer at the time.
回家以后，我算了一笔账。
When I got home, I did a calculation.
如果我现在开始，五年以后我三十五岁，也许能画得不错。
If I started now, in five years I'd be thirty-five and could probably paint quite well.
如果我不开始，五年以后我还是三十五岁。
If I didn't start, in five years I'd be thirty-five anyway.
这么一想，问题就变得很简单了。
Put like that, the question became very simple.
第二天我报名参加了一个周末的画画班。
The next day I signed up for a weekend painting class.
班里最小的学生十九岁，最大的六十八岁。
The youngest student in the class was nineteen and the oldest sixty-eight.
那位老先生跟我说：“我七年前开始的。我唯一后悔的是没有更早开始。”
The elderly gentleman said to me, "I started seven years ago. My only regret is not starting sooner."