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课文30 幽灵之死) f6 O7 o# z% M h/ K. R: ~( V
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.. p5 Z' `. a% e: D/ {3 ~
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
" \0 j& [4 L# P; A$ Q7 M3 _9 @; e& \553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
* ?1 n) o5 t/ O9 P- ?9 V% l 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。9 m' F& A8 s5 x1 A8 D
554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long., W- E: L. d% t
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。: Z" c, K" c2 {
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
! e; E# y! U. f0 l. L 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
7 J# O- T2 n# t8 ^: F) v556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.+ Z: {( c4 f6 u4 }! ~
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,7 _% m' t- }. t; H: m
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.7 m: h' W( ^4 h6 Y7 \9 q
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。3 C7 u" D! W" W/ z$ L9 l3 g
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight., W) |3 y2 m" q: u4 }# Q9 R
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。( c9 i( A% F+ @; s
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
! T+ r4 G X4 |/ 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。
9 y- P7 M; p) a3 R( k4 [560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
7 N" w& v" j& A# Y9 j$ B 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。" j: {" `8 H9 E2 Q& u2 W
561. This was indeed the case.. h/ U: U2 b- E& k
但事实上确有此人。
1 T4 K2 G# \. W+ O4 U- n562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
8 w0 Y1 z8 W0 b 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
3 L: U3 T7 J/ @" Y9 i3 H* \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.4 n# X4 l* w$ y- |$ S h1 I
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。, c1 r' P3 l" V
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.- ^- T% ], O% h# ^
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。& Z d0 ^" G* m' T6 Z" ]+ L
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
; y2 m9 C7 y q/ y- o# t+ R 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,: d7 X. \; V) ^6 C2 H
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.* M% V- U$ v8 s# \* i2 J+ G
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。0 c( `( q/ ]; g/ Z. o! O
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment., d" {: V" A2 T2 H
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
/ E" w6 X J2 M( 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. s5 H% v* b7 |$ |! X, F8 ^8 _
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。, Z; I. j" V7 G5 u
569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.3 p: g4 o; X8 r! h
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。( i4 @% |+ K3 N% o
570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.+ P% v( B& I0 m8 B( h
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。% Y: h1 c, ^$ A# z8 e+ `- H
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.! D. ?* s$ B8 {# c) Y8 l7 G
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
y% {3 S) I* z) K9 n/ {6 |$ ^! z% ?572. They did not even tell their wives.
1 G# U. r5 W$ }+ p. W' P; |: q 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
; R. Z9 D; r( E# ~( b1 x; P573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.1 C s/ c2 F2 v% x7 T
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
, S/ f6 u" |. }! J9 I574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.( C$ {+ }& b% H5 d, t
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,6 [. _* {0 u& i: x+ d7 k5 j; K
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.* ?/ G) P. f2 V& a7 n' D. t! 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。
/ H) ?7 `$ S) @! d: s576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
7 H+ e2 o( M8 A 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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