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课文30 幽灵之死& }( K: S* ^" {6 S
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.# H7 h) n; {2 K5 T! j# T
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。5 c; @: t0 V6 s. X# B
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
3 J: s6 B7 {" ~& c 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。7 n7 Z& f( ?& Z
554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
" x3 m) c/ f8 Y5 t( }1 V 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
J2 K: U% z) n+ u2 n# E; `) b4 g# t. z555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
9 t: t3 l6 L! ^9 [ 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
( i0 C3 K ]; k556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
4 x: ?, v& @" k/ ^4 ]8 _9 p9 b, M 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,* ~. m' y- F1 J) M$ y6 y
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned., m2 x; ^8 M7 J( y& J* e) k
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。8 G1 o$ u6 C# z# u; I
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
* T6 @ g9 L" z3 q! @8 N3 B; j 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。! X/ X. M" q5 w3 d
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.6 E* ~) ?' W8 R! q$ t
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。$ _$ W! G6 S0 [' w+ n
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.( c5 r/ g$ t( K
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。2 g2 V2 O& [8 I" V
561. This was indeed the case.
4 i' p0 f J) L# e 但事实上确有此人。
8 H2 b8 y& k* {( |562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
! |6 D8 d) `0 p" |7 r" B 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
! I1 Q. A5 O( {6 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.) P2 \8 c* u- I7 m) d( l
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。
. V' V: r$ l) S) h7 w) a- p564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years." L' } t6 {+ K, o- Y
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
) p: u: @" a3 B- P( u0 \565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.) k+ w* R6 ?0 L; J8 A( k
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,4 f% W( r& ?% s @7 e+ U' w. b7 l8 I
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.( k0 Z. N/ S( `' s1 |
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
1 |4 @1 Z2 M1 F {7 C/ P' F567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.$ k! X: R. @/ d
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
6 A( ?- c. s, C% a1 S# [& |" l568. 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.! E( \5 L S# Y) F
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。
5 W v( v% e; Z, l569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
, E# G, j# L- E4 M 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。$ s2 t9 I% y4 |/ }, D& V
570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.9 k2 l2 T" y$ n: a& H: N
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。7 j6 B8 l- }" {4 L' }) ~
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.5 F$ o+ S# T# b. R- J" S) q
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。8 j# a+ G2 H) `0 i) t! K3 Z- a# k
572. They did not even tell their wives.
# A3 X2 K' j# q# q$ j6 e 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。( x! s, i* L6 l/ y* ^& |
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
9 Q- D* j9 p' Q5 X( _ 父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
9 E1 ]' ?' ?8 f, C9 ?- r574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.1 H6 F: U( |, g
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
0 z+ o) S. R; l' O, I575. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley./ N) @; N; R9 S. `7 D
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。* i4 M# G; P9 {
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.) W$ u0 N: n- y& C) j1 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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