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课文30 幽灵之死4 P- M$ i/ R' X) N: x
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
2 \4 ?) g% k7 V F 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
; O' [' M$ h+ I9 ?7 |% ~& U6 W. `553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.7 w7 F# _) I1 u$ H- g7 q
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。% e6 V% A! x3 ?0 d1 ]* |+ F' V
554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
2 x1 k$ P$ ]+ Q/ H7 Z. ^7 J9 [ 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。( z7 D4 Z" a( Z3 a9 m+ q/ c
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
( v# ^; P* i5 | 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。' y5 Y# H! f! z3 [. ] ]/ ~
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
( R' w1 @( J0 W# r' W7 a 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,( x% V- N9 F- S5 z3 S/ D7 j0 r9 j+ @
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
7 ^' e0 q9 S6 v8 T 干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
" ]" v1 n& k. I+ K7 }- N# B8 e- F8 @558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
7 v, X* q- O; @, Q3 z4 w0 p- x 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。- f- Y( c! z- E8 h6 m+ V3 j
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.5 @% A. c& I8 a* s9 `9 w
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。
) B0 V/ M$ m" C9 _$ ]: S560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.6 S8 r2 e! v6 ^$ d2 Q# p! X
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
$ f. r0 @2 f$ ]561. This was indeed the case.& o/ T3 N) w9 J, i- _) l6 x
但事实上确有此人。7 g) ^2 Q% x) P2 C
562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
! X$ ~9 D: i' O- s 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
9 s5 V) C! X! M; X8 e563. 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.
. ~, z0 B2 G* E 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/ f2 o/ g' T n! h564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
, I& \7 i& ]. y, _6 f 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
1 E" ~5 i" b2 A1 o. N9 \) @' e565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
* ] Z) `) F" f3 i3 u$ m 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
% I4 ?: b4 k5 p* S566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War." g. |3 a1 n# J; I5 M+ q% P3 i
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。2 A( N, x; p' D
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
3 ]4 t) }% E, D3 S! N; F8 [ 他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。+ y/ ^8 @2 I3 B! ^8 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.( E8 n% U: s2 X5 b5 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。
$ \! S: P' e+ T- [569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.: l+ e, G. A) J6 e* f8 |2 D
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。" i T6 ?- m( W" v: m7 @* E2 x
570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
& J( ^$ a2 K9 s9 F 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
6 b( [7 U% K9 i, K5 _! Y" p$ S571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.2 e; I X' U6 d* Z& M% A8 }! }) K
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
( ^% @/ o( M3 Y1 b572. They did not even tell their wives.0 I4 u/ o3 Y- b, D/ ?( y2 c! a- Q6 Q
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。8 \ j% T. o) U5 _" c
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.0 E9 A. ]- m: t9 n) P
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
" v3 K/ t. b- m3 C% k! Q2 L574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.. U/ }9 ^5 A% @3 I' v' p9 e1 ?2 a
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,; W6 t Q/ L k) ~+ m9 T2 G
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.
) \4 _3 [/ r7 s' _3 z, r 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。
" ]! i; D K# L) X' y2 ~576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.% L7 Z7 W: T6 ]6 Y
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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