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课文30 幽灵之死
- c+ y6 N- k8 J. x' h D552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.$ u: u$ Y, L9 Z- E
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。; \1 P& G8 i+ K
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.0 @# p1 G/ c% \
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
h8 W3 i3 o% v$ P9 X554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
5 n8 i! y+ r6 d 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
; Y* b# p, W8 G, m, U% e$ h0 E* I555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.9 n7 `# l( S& Z; B) d" W
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。7 f! h1 |7 K, ?0 f5 f8 T
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
# F0 ?" c& O& {* f3 O 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
/ F% {0 ^$ ^. d2 Q" G2 Y+ C557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
# q4 S s+ }4 Z6 v y/ N! u 干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
5 ~; J2 N! }7 [7 `+ O7 |558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
0 ^. j- y6 U/ J, ^; D0 Y! ~- Y 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。
7 u! `, T5 }5 v; G3 f559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
2 _! _! }) { J 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。: ^$ B9 E3 b3 g, X7 o& ^
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.3 X9 C: G2 p2 ^+ w5 f
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
Z) q( a7 ~' q* q/ l7 V& t561. This was indeed the case.
# P+ U& T! _' h$ K 但事实上确有此人。
, I# n8 v7 l E* [562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
2 R4 c8 w/ w9 | 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
; u. C1 Q" @6 L/ ]. Y" y/ 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.
0 M* c" \2 _+ r3 @, r: x 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。' @# q" {! t' k
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.6 H1 T3 q7 E) _' H& 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。6 q8 j/ W2 X O( Y' O
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
2 x2 t/ H- K, P: d8 L( M. N4 H 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,4 L4 F" p4 }" z
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
( c* E/ W7 g' | c5 b 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
2 x6 H c2 D+ e( p567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.1 y8 _2 C; |: Y1 D* }- P
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。" e3 Y/ q" E8 L6 P
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.8 h0 g4 a; W* o) d' P
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。7 I3 S# ~% f9 e( R9 M
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well./ i$ U; n8 R) P$ c
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
: W% G3 }$ e& E" k# t/ r! e570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
: O0 _' v5 U9 A k; N; L8 m$ @! N 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。2 n+ w5 ~! \ k; \. b% ?
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
* y! W' ?$ Y, s; L 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。% P! O: p d, H
572. They did not even tell their wives.
" \1 p3 m( E/ A! K4 s6 K& U 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
^1 M" W/ F" I. _& z, s3 g573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.; K3 u$ C/ Z3 K" _. n
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。 g0 p7 I' @9 x \' W
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.- u/ f" q& Y! S) [7 f+ _
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
2 ~ H7 b' R+ _1 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.0 `2 [1 J: ?# B& \, T/ f, z( z0 ^
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。
# m2 k) U$ U9 b+ q576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.& N+ @8 E2 \* G4 n* C: F
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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