Not too young

When he was fourteen, he was too old to wear short trousers and too young to put on long ones. At fourteen and a half, he was too big for the master and he had to leave school with too little knowledge in his head and too few possibilities within his reach. He was not clever enough for an office and he considered himself too good to be a dustman so he was put in a factory where everyone has to do as they are told and too and enough are not allowed to exist between eight o'clock and half-past five. At eighteen, he had enough of the factory and, being too proud to beg, he joined the army. After a little time, too little really, he was shot in the head. Finally, he had found something he was old enough for: he was old enough to die*.

*El texto lo he copiado de un dictado en inglés que hice hace años. Creo que es el único dictado que me ha resultado interesante leer después de haberlo escrito.