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课文30 幽灵之死
+ U9 A7 x* `2 e552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
1 q0 B- ^' ?+ y5 B2 S 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。# R B$ }9 k ?* Y2 D2 t
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.& q1 u( e7 W& O3 O# `
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
: o2 c6 z1 X+ D/ A554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.1 Z6 v2 W6 f4 N
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
) M8 K8 I& x0 E! X/ u555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.2 Y0 f" C- Y; U- e# a" O u1 F) Q
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。8 [. ?7 p2 ]2 L) `9 G. J2 s* P
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.' p! S7 J2 }& d! J# Q0 Q; b. ]2 m
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
+ E4 v1 c8 `& Q. U2 d; _557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
4 _, \7 J6 x1 \0 s2 Y7 { 干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
* I' r6 P6 f7 Z, J& W1 \. K8 A558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.! ~ N( L+ b0 [/ M. v6 A% V" k
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。
- j: C) J. @- u2 D559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them., c* ?: @! _2 `2 x/ o: j9 E. O
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! |$ p! C% \, x' [
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
, r( P# h" t) u: g9 g/ ^& J 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。7 \% m" N9 h6 s6 ?
561. This was indeed the case.
) I" D `* C% z' O6 A8 x 但事实上确有此人。; t0 U% v# n2 @# l2 |2 p
562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
8 Y1 _; h1 M, \: a: R5 m6 q 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
2 c$ l2 [* a* H1 n* k563. 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.2 v7 u7 N+ a9 @& {
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。& Q4 s- z0 q* n* B0 x
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.# q7 N. G3 \: M1 t7 m9 Q) E4 K$ C
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
0 h1 Z4 @- }' \: r565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
5 M& m* D5 b: V" b! m. C6 a 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,& `9 v% }9 N) ^6 ?/ B1 q. N
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
- B' p8 k! j: g; F% y2 F3 }* ] 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。' Z& a8 j9 N9 Z; `/ _8 F. v3 Q
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
( F7 G) S! e n; [* J 他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。# \$ N3 w/ Y7 w7 P' o
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.
% p# i& ^) Y2 k' r/ C- O 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。
, _& m! Z8 n4 o H1 v569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.2 m4 }- D5 Z! e+ n; j
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。- K6 d5 B" D T0 x& q
570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.3 y2 h/ @6 D$ f$ [8 h
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。: b8 Y' u- U' K8 A0 m
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
8 a$ F, n" O4 `1 f s 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。" \) m- U* B* t: |6 Q y* ~( ^8 `
572. They did not even tell their wives.
6 R7 l8 k* x, L6 ~" u1 O5 Z 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
) `: m) c9 u8 q& M' a c573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.$ A8 s" J# ^- {4 A& h1 }; t
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
2 a9 \3 n; y( u5 Z- ~2 ]* v" L! e574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.: b7 `' K" n1 P1 `
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
2 U, C$ @# T3 c/ O2 m7 O' }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.
6 N* f5 Z: b, p4 j f6 ]( m 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。. G9 p0 Q3 L2 i% N" U$ }) f& A' @* k3 h
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.5 f3 K% H9 R# d1 P( 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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