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课文30 幽灵之死( Q- q1 r* r# I
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
7 p# n5 y7 k2 p) X 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。6 t1 ]) D5 H' u" s& ?; i
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
# y8 N- c. V8 _6 b5 S3 f 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
/ `! W# j& b6 L1 f: }6 O; Y6 J554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
7 T3 T$ O8 m- k2 s c$ n! ~ 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
2 E8 [) h p8 W$ P& ~555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
, [, S+ C' D! j' U5 Q- f4 [* T! R 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。7 @, E: N. B* D% I1 S) S! m
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.* B% Q3 y( a% |6 \ y) N
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
) [/ z R. _1 Z; u4 l n557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.& x$ ~* t0 F% ~ ]1 b. ^
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。$ ~( Y7 s6 m8 n
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
6 }3 M# j' L: ?6 R7 d 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。( y+ ~( n% {$ u# B$ n
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.6 p: ~/ w' r) P( t: r& r% u
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。' @ K" l3 y. L6 _
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
- m) Y& g, l% C+ V* l: L$ \- o 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。 D! s0 s/ J0 l" }6 d( F7 L
561. This was indeed the case.
. P( r" h( j% W! q 但事实上确有此人。
+ Y; o3 _2 N7 L, U$ p4 g' {! E562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
( M3 {' ^3 ~% p7 l# v 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。5 F/ m) o! E# T) k# I& }
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." y, R5 \0 r* `9 ~
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。; e5 U, w7 q/ g' g9 I+ Y; ?
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
* Y$ K' d0 {. K; R5 \ 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。- F A! b; t# A' G8 \5 W8 Y
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
1 ~6 P$ ?4 y9 s; o 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
! @; B# M+ l" b& J7 A4 d566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.$ G, T; a+ s2 L- ~8 J' o1 T
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。4 a$ r* z+ E6 r+ M* v( h
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
+ P3 y4 K# Y( R1 ?/ L7 }% V3 K 他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
: N; }% }7 I* w8 K# }) o* | U0 S: v568. 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.+ R5 B1 p. W( `! U1 m
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。
; U0 D. W+ ^2 e- Q# z1 @& q c569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
+ H+ o& O6 a e! A$ m! q 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。: e. s: B8 \, b% {4 Q! T# ~
570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.9 T9 f q9 E9 s4 ~: a7 U M. l
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。2 P3 D3 P" M' o# }+ ?: L$ }3 [
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.( b- Q" K: j! |& u# c
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
) r2 _1 I4 M# d" c) I1 U# y572. They did not even tell their wives.
7 Q. G; @* ~* W0 }5 L. _- z% E 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。" K. S5 ] o5 }% B K# w) K
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
4 l8 {' x0 M$ F9 P, A 父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
+ o& f7 z' ], a4 N574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
8 P, y {. x5 b6 s% B* T/ a 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
1 V7 `* y1 n) f- q- r575. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.
/ Y; D& X4 E' O 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。- P4 B0 V" `2 h4 H- N# g
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.! h- h+ X- b# N& R$ i* L0 A2 `9 h
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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