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课文30 幽灵之死
, R# X' C( x& R, {552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.! L4 B& ?; A. s9 X
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
& Q) x9 M2 k P553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.8 I: N7 F+ i% x
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
( }- ^* [2 g0 v, z) \1 s554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.5 T% l/ |! h6 F- n N
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。( U: P' C, R3 d) Y4 i
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
8 m! _: O. V5 m. b 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。0 {* f2 o# o4 W, w: ^
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
4 V6 D* k5 | {9 ~: f- q4 Y' U 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
3 _& M! ]1 W( P( {6 t" b557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
# x$ i i/ r/ c* _0 F6 S1 a 干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
) c. d" o. p" Y" g$ W7 e558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.; h, U! o6 t' A, T
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。
c) c3 H3 U; k- O559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.: j. Z4 F; J& c/ h1 Z; c4 z: Z
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。% i+ g2 z; F( ] v" i7 u+ c
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.5 {) }7 z+ o4 z0 D/ B( B
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
. a% L# s# \' v561. This was indeed the case.
; k# C4 w" o5 M+ W, B 但事实上确有此人。2 D8 ?5 Z5 r8 M# D9 a
562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
' [ @+ t# k- B9 j* F 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。$ H+ W$ Q* h q+ K, O9 L
563. 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., s: a$ ~. K3 w0 |7 b
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 a9 P) f6 J* ]; n% B1 \564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
' Q! l9 ?2 ]+ M, J5 u; k 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
( I1 D0 X& w/ t565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.7 f- ~3 U) v. O
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
; v5 L2 P: x7 K" o% {7 \1 I' }566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.- l+ M% J8 D1 [5 r. U1 W
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。; o7 Z% R' T; A2 @/ ^
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
% H G3 I$ @) r# X4 V 他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
* X* S: t/ B& f) |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.; U2 P! m4 G* R# Y( L
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。
( u, N$ z7 O o1 Q! a5 o) a569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
& r: R$ y2 g# @" |) | E 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
! W4 W5 I- ]- @- M( }570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.# h5 L% m) |0 v
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
% H/ Q2 l; `4 `/ N7 q571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
4 i' t5 ~+ a) J. L( l 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
6 X; I! B/ G# T& m- a. i0 k572. They did not even tell their wives.
4 Z. P* `- F8 Y! B6 v5 I# ~7 B 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。, l+ V N2 [3 j, {6 x* B
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.4 g# t/ u3 `8 w9 K
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。4 m% p7 f5 G4 A( y
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
7 a# q$ p/ M& ` 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
9 F" E# i+ A2 x: c) s3 M575. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.7 Y9 ?1 V. Y, m2 D& S7 l
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 `3 c$ @- C$ F" {# M. E+ c576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.9 G) L/ D: L n Z* U1 r
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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