 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
课文30 幽灵之死
2 {( e4 c2 K1 n" [552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
- T# Q: s" F, a 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。# ^7 F% J3 R4 e' r) J @' ]
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.$ ^2 w3 ]; s, [+ N
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
' g9 H# N& R& n* F554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
7 t: A; @ Z' f( i. [" ] 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
. ^5 p1 `% Q/ f5 y555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.; B/ g0 b4 r7 A& B0 S# e; k
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。5 N2 K5 E4 g: g/ }. p0 P1 z
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.& ~" d, b" f+ a+ e8 P; R% n2 @
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,) O6 u. h% G6 S$ {% D
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.: j$ g- ~2 z+ Q+ k8 d
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
8 j& U2 {5 a7 t2 @558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
! P1 d! D6 D% W) W8 e5 a 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。
5 A# s7 J+ }9 V3 | x. f* H559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
# s4 J* ~$ m( @" A' @ 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。
/ f' g4 o# { Y; Q4 P560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
4 v9 g2 B# T1 b: Y 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
1 ~& p- {" e7 ?+ q7 K: A561. This was indeed the case.6 M8 h" v% I; B S8 k
但事实上确有此人。. V, K$ l+ E. o. I2 O/ g
562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
, K! u2 u, ^% D+ j 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
4 P8 U$ ^8 Y4 S563. 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.4 P! n* M9 i- L2 V2 r
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。. \7 u0 i3 n# h: I
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
9 o6 B* E9 l8 i# 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。
8 |0 K- h. u6 b( z* c565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.. w R8 M7 y* [8 Y' j. Z5 S2 f
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
1 G, K# s- W$ X566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.; v7 O" f& b6 {) Z. o7 d7 x, a" l
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。7 R5 K+ p. O. g. `, A
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.$ k* t5 f1 j% J# c9 J
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
2 I! e: |$ G- ~0 q, s# h568. 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.+ l$ f+ A9 N# e8 ]$ X! T; w
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。1 o( V: k1 C/ d5 M# M4 [
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
, j J) e4 |5 Z- V) J 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
8 a8 z6 X0 U3 C+ z( s570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.# D8 [% N! h. ]% g" E- |# m
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
+ g, F5 a! o O571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
, Q9 t k ^9 @! r( d 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。2 b5 k! f6 J0 V! ?) T
572. They did not even tell their wives.
. e( P2 q, p1 S 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。! G* \ E- `6 P4 g( ~# E+ u
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
- R W; ~2 u( z; t9 A6 | 父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。' Z+ t( \8 |. n ^ a/ {- ]
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
7 P% j0 W6 i7 w5 f# T" j# J/ R 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活," y9 f k& Z6 s _" v
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.
) i) V+ g" \4 h6 r 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。
; p& i. U" {+ f. z9 ~576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
/ j+ l) T3 s. @ 他死后,他的弟弟们才觉得无法再保守这个秘密了。 |
|