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课文30 幽灵之死& j9 [* T4 ~: b
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted./ D7 `) H4 J3 e8 b" M( r$ ^
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。' ^& n4 I9 L- r5 O# }
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
/ `8 J: C+ N$ V# P; Y& u ?* q 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
. Q( f& }1 {6 A) Z* C554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
1 d8 d5 L _# q5 F5 Q$ @' i6 | 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。' p' J, f& d, Z) i1 E2 _! c# B X
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.& o! x0 g+ H; T2 {) ^
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。" W# z1 ?6 R. Y) Z+ o; @0 y! E% E$ ]0 y
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
5 c6 _0 O0 A: e8 u1 A3 f: c8 { 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
7 G: }( y2 r' V! _ b9 _4 E557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.2 I3 D# x; c8 B/ R6 K+ x) n
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
; S) r9 f% o+ ?0 p( G. X f558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
8 R( s1 d6 S/ _8 H5 E7 n) t; 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。1 A# w2 d2 s f
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
; ~% V0 z& w6 W. K) Y- G, d5 A1 q6 M 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。
1 M' C2 F4 Q* R560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
1 O* k6 J6 `# w$ y 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
3 P$ N' a; q% `) Y9 J561. This was indeed the case.+ P& U) l" {) D; t3 Z% [
但事实上确有此人。
$ g+ W& A j4 w' U: {562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.; ?+ N% ~! Y) p& v$ X# T6 G; {
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
8 l2 N$ |/ U& \; M1 k- _7 P563. 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 i9 m9 ]. U% _2 q: u: x
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。4 F S3 } i; s
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.! k- F* c7 y5 Z& l9 f% E
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。, t, n( C! N- ]# A2 r
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
, t: ^% X& B6 ?6 |5 I7 N6 ?7 q( [, N9 N 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
- u) F5 m) n/ t0 C: e' f566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.6 T6 s( s6 F, f s
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。1 ?$ q+ z6 }* ]6 Q# g3 C
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.4 T) d1 y3 n6 b$ e
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。" w: @# f2 Q7 S8 i
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.) I$ U5 c+ Y C9 G0 ?' V
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。
8 u6 v5 ~# v6 @2 E% Y" A& s4 m569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
! a i: V# ^) t; w1 o3 M. h 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。$ h0 }8 W! f* \8 ]" ~! g' K
570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.% e4 b5 t+ D& E0 k+ _5 {
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。; i, p% w+ L& B( ]: N& O& m+ e
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
0 y) O: W) m( g1 w* Z 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。2 N1 a, o9 G- K. F8 X2 }1 s
572. They did not even tell their wives.3 f3 f- s, [# H: M# `9 ~4 ?5 q# A
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
* E3 y+ B# o2 r- c2 U573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.6 F8 |! r1 u$ x* [, N5 J+ |6 M
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。1 A" r% P4 D, |5 S0 V) J9 Z$ m
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
# x, }3 B& ]5 J3 _( ~ v( t6 f3 t 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,& M( v) u$ O2 v! x/ Z# q- y# X
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.
# u9 u3 M3 q2 K' m9 c 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。* `" B6 b" t0 x7 N
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.4 e5 y9 q6 l8 T1 C
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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