文章主要讲述了作者一些喜欢绘画，但中学时由于油画测试成绩较低，作者对绘画失去了信心。在40岁出头时，一个梦让作者重拾画油画的信心并接受了自身局限性的故事。
When I was a little girl, I liked drawing, freely and joyously making marks on the walls at home. In primary school, I learned to write using chalks. Writing seemed to be another form of drawing. I shaped individual letters into repeating lines, which were abstract forms, delightful but meaningless patterns.
当我还是个小女孩的时候，我喜欢画画，在家里自由愉快地在墙上做标记。小学时，我学会了用粉笔写字。写作似乎是另一种绘画形式。我把单个字母做成重复的线条，这些线条是抽象的形式，令人愉快但毫无意义的图案。
In secondary school, art was my favourite subject. Since I loved it so much I thought I was good at it. For the art O-level exam I had to present an oil painting. I found it difficult, but still hoped to pass. I failed, with a low grade. I’d been over-confident. Now I’d been declared talentless.
在中学时，艺术是我最喜欢的科目。因为我非常喜欢它，所以我认为我很擅长它。为了参加艺术O级考试，我必须提交一幅油画。我觉得很难，但仍然希望通过。我失败了，成绩很低。我过于自信了。现在我被宣布为没有天赋。
But other channels of creativity stayed open: I went on writing poems and stories. Still I went to exhibitions often. I continued my habitual drawing, which I now characterised as childish doodling (乱画). In my 30s, I made painter friends and learned new ways of looking at art. However, I couldn’t let myself have a go at actually doing it. Though these new friends were abstract painters using oil paints, or were printmakers or sculptors, I took oil painting as the taboo (禁忌) high form I wasn’t allowed to practice.
但其他的创作渠道仍然敞开着：我继续写诗和故事。尽管如此，我还是经常去看展览。我继续我的习惯性绘画，现在我把它描述为幼稚的涂鸦。在我30多岁的时候，我交了一些画家朋友，学习了看待艺术的新方法。然而，我不能让自己真正去做。虽然这些新朋友是使用油画的抽象画家，或者是版画家或雕塑家，但我把油画作为禁忌的高级形式，我不允许练习。
One night, in my early 40s, I dreamed that a big woman in red approached me, handed me a bag of paints, and told me to start painting. The dream felt so authoritative that it shook me. It was a form of energy, giving me back something I’d lost. Accordingly, I started by experimenting with water colours. Finally, I bought some oil paints.
一天晚上，在我40出头的时候，我梦见一个穿红色衣服的大个子女人走近我，递给我一袋颜料，让我开始画画。这个梦让我感到如此权威，它震撼了我。这是一种能量，让我找回了失去的东西。因此，我开始尝试水彩。最后，我买了一些油画颜料。
Although I have enjoyed breaking my decades-long taboo about working with oil paints, I have discovered I now prefer chalks and ink. I let my line drawings turn into cartoons I send to friends. It all feels free and easy. Un-anxious. This time around, I can accept my limitations but keep going.
尽管我喜欢打破几十年来对油画颜料的禁忌，但我发现我现在更喜欢粉笔和墨水。我让我的线条画变成我寄给朋友的漫画。一切都感觉自由而轻松。不焦虑。这一次，我可以接受自己的局限性，但要继续前进。
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