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课文30 幽灵之死# K% L$ d4 s5 M/ ?$ h1 [ P
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
, v8 j0 u; k- g! A- ?& _- } 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。: j' S& S* O& ^! P. I6 m8 b- m R
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.; p6 Q" ?, {. c* \: I
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
: F0 {4 o1 o* D% ? H0 x554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
8 j0 u; q, u, C; w. y9 n# P: \ 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
+ ^3 w0 p0 b0 V9 r N555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
+ ~7 Z5 i( W( P 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。" z3 g5 X9 L2 `4 |' g
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.; _& N5 i$ B$ [ A! D7 w8 ]
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
6 b, O4 n0 \2 ^' t, o4 ^+ J557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.6 N' \9 `& ]7 `7 Y
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。$ T- A8 X7 B* K# \/ X4 O# E/ [/ `( c
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.* ]0 V$ O) {0 ~+ x* v& X: Z
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 i5 T, E5 z+ C7 Y- ^0 L559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.& o4 l s' d" Q
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。
, Z3 ^% _- _. ?5 `" R. Z4 H560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.; r3 E0 W' ~- Y/ [1 Z
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。9 v d, \; a( d: @4 F+ V/ W
561. This was indeed the case.4 r! c* z5 h+ S' x% L$ y
但事实上确有此人。
$ Q9 I5 v: T8 {+ N$ X/ s+ R. | t- y562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.5 W7 O. y8 m) s' J4 K+ r: N1 [
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。" u* D- q+ H$ j2 d: M& [* E
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.
- T- {& V% `4 ?6 F 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。
; C# Y* q6 x5 D+ |564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.7 `7 o1 |) e$ D2 ]
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 C& Z: I1 H" e, P565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.1 X4 [* u) f+ O3 w
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,$ t/ d+ Y! d3 }& S3 j, v
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
; P/ S$ W/ q8 w* s 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
' a9 s8 D8 P9 |, n8 \4 p567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
& [0 X8 P6 e, l) T 他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
" o! ]0 f9 H4 T k. Z' k& J q$ x7 b568. 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.
9 l1 E" g* l8 I" S; C- w 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。 E8 k* y" B5 @; t* M
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
9 @) F2 ^; s( o( s9 o5 ^ 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
; }) h- A8 W; l, W* Y- [0 R% ?570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
" A$ @5 `% O3 ^: t. H 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
: M& y7 \4 D$ W4 t$ F- t571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
% l% f. D. \" i 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。0 H% y7 b# E/ l$ X$ b
572. They did not even tell their wives.
' j8 O, R8 }' G0 p2 ~& ]: l 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
# E$ y* s$ @" m. {: ]573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
" Y' V/ B$ U6 y8 @5 M+ Z9 z/ c 父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
( v& k1 K! }( ]' a! ~( G: B3 M574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.8 f, T* ]: g1 T \. p! O o! K* [
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,) ^6 d0 r. C. T5 [, V
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.( v! d3 a* }6 k# ] Y0 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。
% V; Q+ }4 \' ^# c2 w576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.7 {% u5 {3 F3 P$ {4 S% m5 g! D- h
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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