Think you’re too old to start something new? This fifty-year-old auntie would like a word.
我的姑姑五十岁了。有一天，她告诉我们，她要跑马拉松。
大家都很惊讶。姑姑以前不喜欢运动，走路走一点点就累了。爸爸笑着说：”你？跑马拉松？”
姑姑没有生气。她说：”你们等着看。”
从那天开始，姑姑每天早上五点起床跑步。第一个星期，她只能跑很短的路，跑完以后腿很疼。但是她没有停。
慢慢地，她可以跑得越来越远了。三个月以后，她可以跑十公里。半年以后，她可以跑二十公里。
比赛那天，我们都去看她。天气很热，路很长。我们看到姑姑跑得很慢，但是她一直在跑，没有停下来。
最后，姑姑跑完了。她又累又高兴，眼睛里有泪水。
爸爸走过去，对她说：”对不起，我以前不应该笑你。你真厉害。”
姑姑笑了。”什么时候开始，都不晚。”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 马拉松 | mǎ lā sōng | marathon |
| 惊讶 | jīng yà | surprised, astonished |
| 运动 | yùn dòng | exercise, sports |
| 起床 | qǐ chuáng | to get up (out of bed) |
| 越来越 | yuè lái yuè | more and more |
| 公里 | gōng lǐ | kilometer |
| 比赛 | bǐ sài | competition, race |
| 泪水 | lèi shuǐ | tears |
| 厉害 | lì hai5 | amazing, impressive |
| 应该 | yīng gāi | should, ought to |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 姑 | gū | paternal aunt; husband's sister; husband's mother (old); nun; for the time being (literary) |
| 五十 | wǔ shí | fifty |
| 岁 | suì | variant of 歲|岁[sui4], year; years old; classifier for years (of age); year; year (of crop harvests) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 告 | gào | (bound form) to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 诉 | sù | variant of 訴|诉[su4]; to complain; to sue; to tell |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 跑马 | pǎo mǎ | horse race; to ride a horse at a fast pace; (dialect) wet dream |
| 拉 | lā | to pull; to play (a bowed instrument); to drag; to draw; to chat; (coll.) to empty one's bowels |
| 松 | Sōng | surname Song; loose; to loosen; to relax; floss (dry, fluffy food product made from shredded, seasoned meat or fish, used as a topping or filling) |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before; formerly; previous; ago |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 走路 | zǒu lù | to walk; to go on foot; to leave; to depart; (informal) to clear off; to beat it; (of sb who gets fired or resigns) to leave the job; to get out |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走[che4 zou3]); to change (shape, form… |
| 一点点 | yī diǎn diǎn | a little bit |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 累 | lěi | to accumulate; to involve or implicate (Taiwan pr. [lei4]); continuous; repeated; rope; to bind together; to twist around |
| 爸爸 | bà ba | (coll.) father; dad; CL:位[wei4] |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 生气 | shēng qì | to get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness |
| 等 | děng | to wait for; to await; by the time; when; till; and so on; etc.; et al.; (bound form) class; rank; grade; (bound form) equal to; same as; (used to end an enumeration); (literary) (… |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 那天 | nà tiān | that day; the other day |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 每天 | měi tiān | every day |
| 早上 | zǎo shang | early morning; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 五 | wǔ | five; 5 |
| 点 | diǎn | to touch briefly; to tap; to mark with a dot; to check off (on a list); to order (food etc); to select; to mention; to bring up (a topic or person); to hint at; to imply; to admini… |
| 跑步 | pǎo bù | to run; to jog; (military) to march at the double |
| 第 | dì | (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth"); (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high… |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 星期 | xīng qī | week; CL:個|个[ge4]; day of the week; Sunday |
| 只 | zhī | variant of 隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 只[zhi3]; grain that has begun to ripen; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 短 | duǎn | short; brief; to lack; weak point; fault |
| 路 | Lù | surname Lu |
| 完 | wán | to finish; to be over; whole; complete; entire |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 腿 | tuǐ | leg; CL:條|条[tiao2]; hip bone; old variant of 腿[tui3] |
| 疼 | téng | (it) hurts; sore; to love dearly |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 停 | tíng | to stop; to halt; to park (a car) |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 远 | yuǎn | far; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower etc) |
| 三 | Sān | surname San |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 月 | yuè | moon; month; monthly; CL:個|个[ge4],輪|轮[lun2] |
| 十 | shí | ten; 10 |
| 半年 | bàn nián | half a year |
| 二十 | èr shí | twenty; 20 |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 天气 | tiān qì | weather |
| 热 | rè | to warm up; to heat up; hot (of weather); heat; fervent |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 看到 | kàn dào | to see |
| 得很 | de hěn | (after an adjective) very |
| 一直 | yī zhí | straight (in a straight line); continuously; always; all the way through |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 下 | xià | down; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency … |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 最 | zuì | variant of 最[zui4]; old variant of 最[zui4]; (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est; (after 之[zhi1]) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最[shi4 jie4 zhi1 zui4] "the greatest in the world") |
| 完了 | wán le | to be finished; to be done for; ruined; gone to the dogs; oh no |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood |
| 眼睛 | yǎn jing | eye; CL:隻|只[zhi1],雙|双[shuang1] |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 走过 | zǒu guò | to walk past; to pass by |
| 对 | duì | right; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to sui… |
| 对不起 | duì bu qǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint |
| 真 | zhēn | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 晚 | wǎn | evening; night; late |
My auntie is fifty years old. One day, she told us she was going to run a marathon.
Everyone was very surprised. Auntie didn’t like exercise before, and she got tired after walking just a little bit. Dad laughed and said, “You? Run a marathon?”
Auntie didn’t get angry. She said, “Just wait and see.”
From that day on, Auntie got up at five o’clock every morning to run. The first week, she could only run a very short distance, and her legs hurt after running. But she didn’t stop.
Slowly, she could run farther and farther. After three months, she could run ten kilometers. After half a year, she could run twenty kilometers.
On the day of the race, we all went to watch her. The weather was very hot, and the road was very long. We saw Auntie running very slowly, but she kept running and didn’t stop.
Finally, Auntie finished. She was both tired and happy, and there were tears in her eyes.
Dad walked over and said to her, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed at you before. You’re really amazing.”
Auntie smiled. “It’s never too late to start.”