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课文30 幽灵之死, L8 y: u+ a! W
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
; o& f3 u. |# y 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。4 P7 U/ q% ~) x. m% f! j9 p5 v5 B0 b
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.1 v0 Q1 \8 ?) P; P2 J$ y0 a
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。3 ~! S% _3 O, c
554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.( a7 Y1 \! s# i" E) ?. l2 `
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。! w& K7 ~: h( R/ s0 E; w
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.- G2 g2 B& m; ^ W$ ^* u
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
0 e( V9 Y) K8 o N# _, U# t& \$ y5 P556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
& @/ @8 i& |6 X+ S 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,: Q! w6 e, g6 L- ]: d7 i- L( ~
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.0 w3 u/ s2 W7 R! F# p
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。5 ?2 h, p$ |. Q' i/ ^$ ]
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
8 F3 \$ }9 E5 Z q 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。4 X( Z! l1 f9 j A5 F8 J3 U; c& {1 R7 m
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.3 r; J2 V _- R+ 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。
3 }' |! s; |* ^% L560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
' G& p( ^' x |* Y 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。' \5 s# o* h. p8 j V8 {
561. This was indeed the case.4 V: f, x3 ?7 M$ O/ e6 `
但事实上确有此人。. P+ X2 v7 O8 X0 M6 t& b, ]8 U F! V
562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
# q" t5 B$ o7 n 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
0 Q. v6 B) \: V4 o4 o# Q* |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 q) l3 j$ l+ B4 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。8 A1 M2 P% h% A% l& w* n O
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
$ j: U" d9 W, l1 A1 T% } 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。9 V; p: E# a. l V0 D4 R1 |8 z/ R8 Q; k
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.( k- Y* T4 @4 `7 o& L( z7 x1 ?
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
% O' Y1 w; A6 M3 @. z+ @3 F t5 U566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
9 Q" G( s4 A3 ~ 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。) O! x* u6 a3 o" p) [% \
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.( Y) g% j) S& p
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。, t! s0 ^& o4 j- K+ f {5 `
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.6 m' G2 E' {# C9 i
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。
. n" K# @, N1 d" a1 \: ?569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
9 c# l# \/ P7 Z" G 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。+ c9 y' C- R8 Q0 ~% q8 `- f
570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.# Z. d- ^" `% h- c. [
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
$ i1 M' r2 |3 ?# ~" `571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.$ l. a+ u; Q5 u0 P* X
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
: t& v9 b, A* r572. They did not even tell their wives.
8 ]' G+ j+ a! L: ^5 F( V5 Z 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。2 h& \* F7 P- ?; a2 @( j$ A
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding." ?" ]$ i+ ]; i
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
: Z3 m# b" ` B4 G574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.* ]6 z/ y9 |3 a" `+ g# E1 c
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活," \ T5 S4 u! R7 M" s5 p c8 i
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.
- x. A' `! t5 R# O! Z: z* [ 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。- E' g# f/ h6 ^8 ]. ]
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.8 s7 S' B T: t, z
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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