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课文30 幽灵之死
7 z5 z8 q6 N3 w, w+ @; a552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
4 _9 ]0 b2 w) U 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
! B2 |" |1 N# w& E2 e' q553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.* c- Y8 B+ a2 a% B+ p
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。4 w/ h1 k% W- {$ ?/ B8 \, @
554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
4 Y" \- @1 m: W1 T9 E% G' V& l 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
# C0 ?: @1 z+ g- T, v. f4 p/ ?555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
. d6 a. O% d9 X+ N2 ] 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
4 O Q" J" k% L4 @2 b556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
- b2 X) |$ D# L; f9 _ 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
( o8 v# I( B. w1 u: a557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.: u C' }6 Z/ O1 N( w' o
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
9 f7 o$ Z6 K# V0 l7 A6 `558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight., Z# s% ?$ T& f
有一个彻夜未眠的雇工还声称他看见一个人影在月光下收割庄稼。$ e8 z d$ I6 l# @1 h& U, ~) ^
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.* p4 X# x" A" H+ a$ r a: t3 l
随着时间的流逝,考科斯兄弟雇了一个尽心尽责的鬼,他们家的活大部分都让鬼给干了,这件事成了公认的事实。
7 Q* q3 a; G5 d! b! |' d) Q560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.- e8 Q5 n; D" _% Q
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
1 j1 i9 F' O' n% \. G9 ^$ F9 L561. This was indeed the case.' Y5 c/ ~$ [7 g# b5 c( s: s
但事实上确有此人。
# A9 d1 J$ Z& [! S+ f8 `8 ?3 r562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
! l4 T0 ?: m. K; U 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
: ^; G1 x( L6 a563. Everyone went to the funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox, a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man.7 K* L+ j% O9 g( V
大家都去参加了葬礼,因为那“鬼”不是别人,正是农场主的兄弟埃里克.考科斯。人们以为埃里克年轻时就死了。
0 ?2 d6 i2 r+ U564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.- e( s/ J0 b @# [ v* Y$ u& B
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
" Y1 h) p) O1 W; ?565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
0 k; h0 q3 N" _; ? 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
& H: d; b. V+ d566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
, J3 o. T2 k; t' ~, E" f, [ 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
: D+ L. `1 ]# @0 @0 x) w5 k567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.% \7 _$ V+ z+ `# X6 S* Y# y
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
6 e: i/ {0 I. t7 a s% ]568. When he learnt that he would be sent abroad, he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the end of the war.& M' y5 {- m! o- f- s' I" k: V- o
当他了解自己将被派遣出国时,他逃回农场,父亲把他藏了起来,直到战争结束。* o3 R1 A* [5 L# \8 c H7 O
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.0 G$ C& r% W! d- h5 I& q7 v# H
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。7 s1 ?" r" U+ K- ~# `, w
570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
+ K B- |$ x$ n, C" U6 J6 d% Y2 n 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
7 Y9 ]4 y, O3 D( Z- ]! G* `, s571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.( w- ~8 J x" {
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。' c6 S! S p+ M7 M! m/ x
572. They did not even tell their wives.8 ]6 ?, I& g w
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
^, I# {' h! @% ?4 h7 J6 N573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.5 V& t+ ?8 s$ R, F
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
$ v% ?# i# ?; C" F. Q' }+ o" T9 `+ {574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.+ e( F% i1 b# M# l7 v- V; |
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
$ X( t. j# d1 Z7 k: c575. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.% D# b4 r" a9 T* B- L. E
白天睡觉,夜里出来干活,一点不知道自己已成了恩得利家场的活鬼。
; H& n7 E: V, h. z T# ~* @) N0 {576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
5 p# _4 J1 T6 H 他死后,他的弟弟们才觉得无法再保守这个秘密了。 |
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