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课文30 幽灵之死. E; h7 Z. o. f
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
7 H& l" z J' `9 ~1 t 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
6 y; ~/ u8 w& i' ~# t8 b553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.& U5 v. c3 | E5 f9 S1 _' ~& ~
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
* r4 r; h P: i; Z% f l: P; o554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
8 ~0 z" e/ o. q0 k1 V$ m 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
$ c& [) F3 P0 A9 }1 A7 b555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
$ o j7 B$ ~# q. V$ X8 ^ 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
4 Z9 d( `2 ^" N+ C y556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.3 _* ~. Z1 ^# i" ?( j
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,) ^# [' G" K% r3 v6 r+ n1 o7 i
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
% _* b; N' N4 M 干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。7 D! m# n( _7 x( H4 z% K$ W
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.2 a! T8 i" S& ~% x; h+ G! o7 @
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。0 k h4 T" Z" b
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them." @! V% \4 ~; D [) C$ |7 }0 s
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* n5 _: E* I' ]0 i% Q560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.5 t2 u: v6 ?; [
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
; y H7 j+ p( h& ?& t9 c3 q561. This was indeed the case.
/ N1 }: }/ r( h2 R% ^2 j8 i 但事实上确有此人。
/ ?; `4 \2 E8 a- @8 l9 u562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
1 e9 y4 Y8 ?6 E, k* E2 u* q 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。( x4 W7 D: o; D9 ?& j4 a F
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.
* J2 E( p: S( D% L 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。
$ x o; S3 {5 c) l+ ` J( X' _564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
4 |. I! Z# z9 Z0 l& y, W 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。% e0 f) S; A/ I+ O: `
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.( i9 L& P3 g5 J9 v, @3 n
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,# s" B7 F3 d; m! Z4 K
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.+ @1 \- E1 q9 n
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
: ~/ c8 }7 ~9 U3 Z+ Z567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.) C% c( K' t( b/ k" v6 l
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。. E% |4 |8 V5 n4 b U
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.7 n4 a8 o# N2 O* g: J u
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。& M* f# G5 \' e x
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
$ _. l* b" j5 I* a. l2 K* X 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
4 G; v- o6 y% d/ |5 s570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
7 D" d8 M7 j* s0 T7 g5 n( ?& D7 [ 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
) G3 B4 x! U- X9 S571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
4 P! m( b. E# y6 i9 a3 v2 l2 D 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。, y9 @6 d X8 y1 L6 }# I4 u
572. They did not even tell their wives.
# D- g2 `" H5 K4 R5 D1 K 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
, s5 X H) r. f" L5 f573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
5 g- @7 l; r, C) U* @, g6 I 父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
: M7 y7 ` w |" i: @# N, Z$ ~6 B' l# m574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.9 o/ H) j# `& a0 G3 J8 E
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,& H2 O" o; Q" e" Z
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.
/ l$ V0 j4 B" F! G; I 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。# d$ g6 T6 Z" e9 ?) c, {
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.% h, G1 d6 b: N# I& ~
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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