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课文30 幽灵之死' p( }2 i! _ \' o$ r3 E1 Q7 A% c
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
6 t$ U* Z7 L- F. o0 R- A5 P- q3 a" z 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
$ Z* u% Z+ \0 p- b8 W8 m553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
/ i# B: }% v) z- O6 g 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
/ i6 J. t' T1 R. a' b) V1 N! @+ C* V554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
! t8 j) G% I0 b0 w$ W 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
) H8 l7 S( k5 J$ E) O555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
( M/ S+ U* p, p* q( c 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
2 @" M* `* C* X1 r* `556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.( u1 s, ]! f: \, @) L& V
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
! L7 Y4 B! E1 S R6 S6 V557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.4 r+ b0 J" Q: T: ?- e1 m U4 p" `/ c
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。# j( a5 n4 X: B" c2 G5 C
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
. F9 x; B; k2 A' Q0 d; }" 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。1 f' @9 h$ _3 T, Q
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
@+ H* F# L/ k O3 A4 V 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。
0 I( ] M; e h) _& {# m ?560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
! W0 M& ^" c, d$ V) k5 p 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
# ^) s) L5 o) s2 W561. This was indeed the case.5 S* o* \5 m6 S6 B, G5 p* r/ P
但事实上确有此人。
6 X8 N1 u( ~; D M% N6 z) @562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
8 E# p- b6 Z ^+ b2 s 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
5 _- I; h b- }5 p5 k6 V7 ?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.
4 z( |1 X6 _5 _* R. W 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。
4 Z$ Q" z# {# M6 E( U& U564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
# v, G+ p! Z/ i, o 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。( e/ E+ f$ p z3 X
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.9 y+ U. t6 u- X$ u2 v x
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
6 O, ^) B: e1 [; [566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.% B1 ^; q9 Y- E$ R/ s8 [+ L
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。; k* J" Q9 a8 P4 d$ x8 U. f* R
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.; j9 p; x+ [, Z N% X/ g9 Q
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。 J3 a- a6 j# ~. b0 u. t t
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.2 Z/ v) q' R9 Y
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。. R1 p6 [3 Z$ |( I
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.! S# B0 Z) `0 \' h
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
# E& U7 Y( z; P( r- d U570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.# {* N8 m6 _/ S" W d
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。 R0 D& b* P6 q$ C# h. J/ V9 o. N, q
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
( ]* j0 M5 K& G& S6 E 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
1 Q0 E9 h. a* p$ T( f572. They did not even tell their wives.
, N2 W/ s. q4 b* @7 C% b5 X! k 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。; d' E) {6 G& W# d( e
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
7 u+ `: B% L( r8 I. _: \, @ 父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
9 i- U G% R& k- @- f3 d574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.1 C3 k/ N; m- b# V2 S
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,* {% { ~- h* 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.+ Y. R6 L: A8 h: R& H6 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。
4 V+ _/ @* Y0 O: l7 C576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.9 `1 A' ]+ r' T' B2 m* A- k
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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