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课文30 幽灵之死
. o y; U( A* s0 X. N9 y552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.* J6 c4 A3 q% h! d/ S* _- y8 h
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。/ }/ }" e! U' w
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
' ]1 `7 q# d0 v 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
3 O3 j! I5 y; _7 v8 o e554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long., I" m, _6 I- h3 ~3 f3 r: Z
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
+ ?+ |/ \1 F1 m7 }555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.' i, ]; i1 }8 J! Y: P# d# g
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
) `/ b+ }: w- q556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.% A7 h6 G/ B: A6 b# K
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,; U7 P& s" F5 @1 |; A6 _& E
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
, o$ Z! j" ]. E0 v+ K/ K 干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
. u6 Z$ H$ O1 W; u$ \9 o558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight." y6 i: M; Y* R& J/ ?( l
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。
$ O. m' M8 c! [+ {559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
6 m: W7 l$ z B l, L6 l# X 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。: w5 Q! z# l# s
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
, A% e! \) m* O7 q* H/ D& R+ H 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。$ [7 U; g4 `2 b
561. This was indeed the case.
6 Z2 L* W. t5 y1 G* `$ y/ e: Q" K 但事实上确有此人。$ J, x5 J$ [$ N" _8 J3 ]
562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.4 v. h% N, ]# n+ O! L# K
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
/ M/ }+ n1 Y) w3 ]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.
* ^/ Y0 b; ~0 J5 i" F 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。& f9 S. t% \2 @! h% P4 R+ g! G/ V
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.- s1 L/ P: ], T9 p
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。$ y' {" O4 W, D0 K) h0 F2 _9 I
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.) ]& b7 { L2 c9 Y" ^% e h
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,/ f8 k5 H& j; C; n3 D3 n. L$ `$ `
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.( H( U s0 l" m7 S$ O
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
. O5 b8 n4 T6 a/ O567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.4 G7 S( O3 W$ _
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。# q$ Y$ D+ M) [, Y7 s
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.
, J K- _/ o; D0 F 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。2 P8 o' o4 w c, x, q
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
* {. q* @- z v! {: j 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
& w2 E: _6 p8 S: @9 {/ o5 H( W$ j570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.3 s* g9 B, U$ ^- M" z. f
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
1 z# @/ N0 X1 m' A# N; _9 Y571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob., G2 j; i2 e8 X: T" Y {
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。 _( g! ~- K$ v% @
572. They did not even tell their wives.
. k; `+ [" D2 v5 F0 ]7 H# N2 N& U 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。& |# w4 I# A I
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.+ S. }1 W2 P0 o1 n- o) k" l
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
% A" o! K( B) P6 r+ q+ [574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
5 N: X3 D1 O$ m0 n 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,) d e- a0 V4 I5 L9 E8 u; m' ~% d4 P
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.0 k3 Q7 A' |* M- ^4 k
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。
$ Y% v9 M; M9 B( ?/ R% x. b% a576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
0 K$ ^) g; Q" z3 G( r. {8 a 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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