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课文30 幽灵之死$ S* J0 `7 T" [! W/ W. N
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
' |' ]& b5 A$ o$ d9 M0 \5 d' m( B 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。* }4 h+ V8 i* s) o% Q# u
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
7 }" S* S8 A& M; L 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
& e3 j5 L; b/ T- A. J/ m* Y# H554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.9 ?/ W- o. c6 I j, G8 N1 q% j
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。! _& M" B& ^/ c$ s8 u
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.9 C7 k1 `- C: R! k7 e" _; a$ O
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。0 R! i; V0 U5 d+ b& x x: A6 N
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
0 M; s: k2 ~" m E 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,0 K) G0 P# M) R
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.0 l' E# o% V8 _) D3 ?+ v; b" V
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
# n4 T5 x4 d2 m5 _4 n558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
# K# y6 c& G* `' B+ P, N% ~ 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。! U! J8 T/ |1 f- ?
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
7 v/ _' i, [. H; A0 F8 T f 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。5 B9 L' b3 U7 O0 u0 P( U
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.6 Z3 j2 N, w% q$ [' X, Z
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
) B' q% \' z$ z7 t: m# `561. This was indeed the case.9 _ T2 r, h$ g8 E: {) i- V4 H
但事实上确有此人。
2 L$ b6 H3 m/ E6 R3 a n562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.+ n% r2 {7 L6 g$ d- ?. B- L
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。5 ?1 s6 r p8 ?4 x# k0 U
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.
9 x9 G9 u+ \4 a! e5 _4 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 k# [5 ?: i- r564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.* S. t4 ?+ i# G9 {
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
4 p p* x6 K# L$ c565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers., G( e* e% S3 h$ T2 r
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
0 f& T# f, @: K; M566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
9 u3 i% }7 x8 K( u$ H" \$ Z 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。2 h; G# w4 k' B6 \0 u8 z
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.9 i! l' O+ D" s
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
; T1 O8 n2 i! p( Y& \: E, c4 \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.0 q0 b9 g! h! m4 C
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。
! H/ s; M: i5 h569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.6 J3 d- X0 m& z( m, P0 I
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
0 k( ?, k" ]( h* g3 L/ _570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.# |+ X: ] u. b, \
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。+ D# z/ I: X7 ?
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.; I( Q2 o/ w8 b1 Z/ }
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
: _, ?/ U' [) @+ H- {8 s m572. They did not even tell their wives.% C9 O- P# X. z8 \5 _1 Y: e/ l2 |
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。$ C* f1 \ Z$ n
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.# c/ B3 }7 d M
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。0 ?2 g6 e* c% h. _ g, E' E
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
! p1 b8 Q; m* V; r 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
' L" r5 k0 p+ q575. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.
$ q9 \' L) G& \ 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。) y5 _3 }5 r* |% b X7 `3 O+ K
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.7 z9 x6 a: J' [. K6 I+ s
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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