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课文30 幽灵之死7 G6 e$ W) G. F. ?+ D
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
N8 k# u! B* O: }* w 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
/ y7 u8 j8 n" s) z6 ]1 I. y553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.; t3 O: r$ A5 i, J
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
4 ~" e/ A! h2 F5 K) c% m- D/ X; G554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
2 q7 p1 C; }3 i% N 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
7 d9 M7 b; g5 [) d0 W555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.7 i5 q" ^& |8 Q* D, Y8 L% L+ v9 Q
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。: U9 \$ v) c4 m1 }
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.. ]$ f5 H+ C1 }1 j, B# h
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,# h( z# G: P$ n* }* K" o
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned." x2 h! h: T# d8 b
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。) |$ L1 K; n; g
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.( }" S8 Z5 N& Q$ O5 g5 `" O
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。2 g1 O( W+ x4 V( m, ?
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
: u8 j n) R/ I 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。
. q1 w3 o7 l3 n560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
3 O0 w. E; K" D/ [) ~* H# w: b 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
1 B4 F3 g) G% \ |% e& D* Y- H& Z561. This was indeed the case.8 w; z+ s! m# C# z9 L' y; o
但事实上确有此人。
8 n: _/ y7 i5 z: j) ]/ N562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
6 Z* R8 l5 D! z' I5 V 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
1 J7 w1 r2 d2 q! y" e! [3 u563. 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.
3 j Y; Z, x# r" 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。) p. B5 c) T+ p9 i! n
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
& I2 v3 A4 C8 Z' L9 J1 H/ o 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
% p. G" ?: V+ A$ ^4 l, Z565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
2 p4 \& p0 R3 L6 {9 Z' k& V 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,' t* ?: {3 t( j; \* Q# K" e
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
9 |4 W( j( B6 H; i+ z7 s8 t 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。( I2 s# S( x T
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.2 f% G3 F: u5 y5 s( _
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
) a/ E1 e. C& o. G( N568. 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.- i$ z3 ?! D: e8 a- 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。& \* d: x$ Z" U; \6 o& F
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
$ L9 F1 U3 a9 X" r1 R- G 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
) F! Q4 ^' h* u% N# ~" b' g570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.7 }4 k$ K+ [5 s: r c4 U3 W! S4 R$ W
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
& G7 [4 n# P. q) \+ o571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
* t) y5 I4 ]) b 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
. K6 j4 g7 d! Y& N) s' L0 J9 Q572. They did not even tell their wives.
# L) r5 G9 r- a. X& t% Q$ v2 u 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。* m: w6 n. z, {- Y6 [% Y5 X" |
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.# {3 M$ ^6 p2 C( M, c! h2 J) r
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
& M) G g& _: u574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
. I+ F# m; V5 N6 z3 A 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
% L6 \4 Y+ H7 B" T9 v! x575. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.
" _; n0 s7 i3 O2 {/ v2 t: C 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。
2 p2 Q9 E0 G* L9 T* F! K D# [. G# d576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
% G+ x9 | F% M4 ^' B 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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