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课文30 幽灵之死; j% U7 b; y. ?- a
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.+ D) d$ u; k2 w6 s+ Y
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。9 k' h6 n: y/ L2 {3 m. |) i
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
4 K6 z6 n3 v3 v, q" U% q2 l 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。! Y/ h+ F5 j8 v: @% f
554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
3 g& Q5 r, c+ w 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。6 e2 x, ?5 R. i% E/ Z& I
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
j# h# A$ G2 D 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
* \! O6 G* q, v D) G( y9 Q556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
' B3 z3 {9 L$ J2 A4 x 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,3 E5 M% `3 |$ y0 A3 ^; p3 ]1 E
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.' f7 e* K9 ]( K7 [4 K7 A
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。5 |: e J) J& y: W
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
$ E/ C! @* q0 O5 Q0 {) M 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. [2 n" e, i; q559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
+ {8 Y8 @' j5 p0 Y+ P 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。' e$ ]$ j, I0 ~1 [
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
# @. B7 u; X) L8 I; B& i% L 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。6 A1 U$ B# k& v+ ]4 {
561. This was indeed the case.
$ ?& a% B, O7 r% z# T 但事实上确有此人。
0 ^* |& P* n) j# b( A562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.3 i) t9 d& |8 q6 l5 d( M$ l
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
. _, |3 k" |6 l; o, x563. 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.
% b6 }- N5 R) _, d* Q! x7 E. I) D% O 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。, }1 |, q% P7 [) R/ s" L. y" v, {
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.) e: I2 N& l B) 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。8 j! P2 [2 t% |( A* O; O7 g/ s
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.8 l0 b; z y# P) c
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,3 a' \6 @) t7 S2 M
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
% I1 s% Y( s& g+ z- Z) r6 _ 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
F! b( A; L2 h3 L5 J9 l! t567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment." e/ D8 E- F" v% F. c
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
" ~# W+ y0 C% g568. 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.$ l5 D# R- g2 ? L' B1 c# B5 P
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。9 I! E8 @2 f5 p5 |) V1 y) v
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
* w/ @3 \2 |/ g. g 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
! I3 C% H3 M8 Q570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.+ e i R2 p9 G6 Z# w$ W+ S
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
9 z- F" K" t0 A- i3 z3 ?571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.4 Q' X* }8 R( N2 e
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
( x- M, T4 J- V0 k2 j2 G6 u572. They did not even tell their wives.' W) ~; _% _3 }/ I8 E2 ^$ J; ]" Y/ D
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。+ E8 D& c j, s
573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.% G( y" B( ?9 ]# l0 t' k* F' g
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。% E, s* G2 b5 a9 `5 H0 s7 K
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.) g% T4 _3 _+ e! \
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,4 z+ o2 R' Q4 t0 p" u4 b$ a
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.
% {9 n: k4 [+ e3 L8 q. U } 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。
( S8 S: | s1 {( V576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
+ S( g% N8 V- w 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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