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课文30 幽灵之死# |! z& G0 S5 o/ W) I S* ?5 M! J
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.) Y& i: N( f/ N3 \9 f
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。7 J: [; M! P: v' s. V! k
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.1 k6 }9 B9 A& I8 A4 Y% d
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
5 G& s. z+ Y5 q# ^554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.1 N( D; p! }$ v# o9 G E
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。0 Y" `7 @7 @5 d& T
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
5 `; F3 _1 }& t! d 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
6 V, R' H# w4 |7 M$ M& O556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
1 S _( f9 X- }% L m 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
8 q& U: ]9 G @: `; n557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.8 ?" c% p3 b) E5 k3 I
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。, I4 D4 L# J, _- ~5 W# q! z5 A
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
: M# ^4 V& o6 b" e6 a 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。
/ D" `+ L5 b+ d; Z5 f559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
" G7 W8 Q/ d6 x 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。
" c2 y( x4 S1 D+ G6 I7 P560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.7 E' y, x9 Q1 k% `" \$ C$ {" b
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
: L3 i2 b( f# y1 K4 l4 K561. This was indeed the case.
" [. a- f- m* S+ b 但事实上确有此人。' G- |$ x' \: F3 \
562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.8 n7 y0 c# @0 X
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
, o& V7 l+ }1 H. t$ y& _) ~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.
6 e1 G* \1 `$ J. 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。1 a/ X% T, R; q5 F m
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
& U# Q8 l ^1 h; z8 t& v 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
, ^" O) V3 J ]6 T565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
- o; t/ m* x8 b' {2 e' a 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
i+ ~ R# E! L' i1 o+ d566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
+ u% K* p8 Z7 b9 A! x! q1 o 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。8 r: m1 w# m; r% ]( M/ G# b
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment., _) s0 U6 x, l C" D" r
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。: T! b7 | b# [4 V# T2 E) j+ E
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.3 T% O( Z# j: j/ |$ U( K
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。
! k0 k0 d" Z+ y5 X569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.2 ~' J& U3 @4 w: _2 i7 A3 o) {1 [ h
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
" ^. n$ d. {# n: ^6 H$ P+ p, j570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
5 C* t/ Z! n$ y, i+ r 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。2 m% b) k4 ?2 Y. m6 H# o
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.* @7 a. |5 B3 A
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
3 l) }3 _; j9 K0 z# {3 w572. They did not even tell their wives.! M# T- | v! K- d0 l2 U
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
: ^- A- E# Z- J* `5 ?( e, e573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
* d, K$ Y8 c! l& }/ C 父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。2 s4 L6 T% r2 y' B
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.9 x" z9 ]0 n# B
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
# W- Q. p* `: r( f575. 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 w% D; w8 }) X) H, r6 ~$ c0 V/ T, x- P
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。
9 j5 r. v3 q" N+ O% A576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.3 P7 o( m k7 n9 o# S2 u
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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