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课文30 幽灵之死
% M. ?7 Y/ e9 P' D! A; z552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.# o) p7 B/ V9 _" A0 x$ Q2 ]
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
5 ?# i p. z3 b553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
7 ?1 K+ p/ i y9 Y2 Z+ e 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
+ ?. k8 @+ I& ]554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.9 }; m6 Q; q& P4 Y4 |7 F
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。" R; ^4 c7 \- i2 y& Z
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
# \1 E. ?: V( J/ }) i% g; o7 { 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。, p/ n8 J; K3 H% _) z
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
7 w! U: b- q& J# | 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,5 b' H# ]8 |6 k5 T" q4 d
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.' g X9 k' F ]5 U+ z
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。: J: P" a# X3 e" W8 m+ `# I
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
% W. [7 A. u/ [! [- E 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。
# R" Y' e- k7 P2 W3 i559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.) E7 @3 b$ l1 N; U9 \, |. S! Q
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。
6 H" s- R4 K0 E" j8 b560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
: T9 l" ` w* G, z 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
. j( E# ], H* X7 I7 p7 L561. This was indeed the case.
: u+ k. }- u4 ^3 r# Q 但事实上确有此人。
# x9 e$ E; D+ q9 O562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died." A* Y! l5 P0 {" o
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。" ]3 l; m) V! x
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.
. k4 B5 N/ C1 s6 Z, K 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。: D( L1 i! `1 x4 P' p& s
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.7 y Q+ R* n* j+ L% ^ E {, z
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。! [) O' x' e& Z! z8 ?
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
7 N- g% X/ h! F; n2 X) m, Z 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
. @# m- V$ }1 |4 z' ^566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.9 P3 t3 z! Y- Q( P7 U5 |
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。0 y+ h3 u8 o! G! n( B
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
% I# J( \9 h$ V; b 他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。4 l" t: h; E/ W0 z5 w
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.$ a0 k. R4 I& Z; h, Z% K7 M
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。4 N; f" W: V# \) F0 ^. B& M
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
# K L4 p% O4 n+ K 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
3 D" ~/ @+ ?4 h0 E* Q570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
& @1 w7 O% ?; [7 P% h% t 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。: ^" s6 ]) ^- v. | u6 g
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
) V6 E" d. r1 n* S( y; d 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
4 r3 N$ l* O9 M- N) f" l0 l572. They did not even tell their wives." f1 C+ ]* b- x' S
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
3 _0 M8 ^: P3 v/ [7 A! \+ w573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding./ _1 x0 f/ g* {6 ]% y( \
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。 z6 ^+ B8 S3 Q3 n* O5 C! |
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
; e" R3 k5 |. w. J9 f* ?9 i" p" I+ V 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,. z0 u9 m+ O4 h
575. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley." _: z1 K' I5 w% P- f: F4 [6 F
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。
: g) y. d# z: d; q0 P" V576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.' E( X3 P, K+ g. j
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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