Peter does not come to visit his brother very often. He lives too far away from him and it is very expensive for him to travel so many kilometres. But during summer, he always comes and stays with his brother for a week.

Last summer, Peter came to visit his brother as usual. The two of them were sitting at the table on the terrace, drinking their beer. They were sitting in the shade of an old tree behind a wooden fence. The fence was painted in white.

It used to be their parents house. When they died, Peter’s brother decided to live in the house and moved there with his family. Peter didn’t mind. He liked his brother Greg.

They were very good brothers. They liked each other and they had a very good relationship. Peter could come to Greg’s house anytime he wanted, and he could stay there for as long as he wanted. Greg was always happy to have his brother in his house, and Peter knew that.

“Why is it that most people spend their whole life working like a dog and in the end they have nothing?” asked Greg and drank a little from his beer. Then he continued. “For example, take my friend Jerry. He was very good at physics and maths. After the secondary school he went to the university and stayed there working as a professor of physics.

He visited me last month. He was sitting in your chair when he told me ‘Greg, I made a mistake in my life. I loved physics so much that I spent my whole life teaching it. Other people went to work for banks and insurance companies and they are very rich now. They have an expensive car, a big house and they go on nice holidays three times a year. I have nothing.’

I didn’t know what to tell him, Peter. And do you know why? Because I thought that he was right. Yes, I agreed with him – he made a big mistake,” said Greg and drank from his beer again.

fence /fens/ – plot

Peter didn’t mind – Petrovi to neprekážalo

Why is it that… – Čím to je, že…

insurance company /ɪnˈʃʊərəns ˈkʌmpəni/ – poisťovňa