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课文30 幽灵之死; x( w/ o6 y7 W
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.% ]# P( t R" g4 s- Q0 E
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
+ j6 h. e. ~* a, b553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
0 f+ F( T4 h3 ?. I! b, ] K& @: A 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。/ I' U9 \/ M4 l l8 h
554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.! H4 T! p. \8 z9 U
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
; s* _, l7 k8 x5 _! n5 z555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story. `) M' x* L) ]7 G
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
+ e# G7 f( {( ^1 Z, U556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
+ d @" G, _/ n4 W5 J) ] 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,. M# A9 M. u. ^9 d* c
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.8 T+ I1 X5 R2 s6 ^! r B: e2 P' ?
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。
; r$ @1 s3 F0 `8 K) x9 P: K A558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
7 v |2 B" w) Q6 g% g. e 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。6 i; o1 \) o: ?" h2 Y% P3 `6 a0 o
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.$ B" Q; F8 N& t9 i1 I
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。0 g, r V8 L5 H4 u- S( j9 c3 ?7 @; x
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
2 w' r t; x; p; u9 l# h 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
- }. P% [7 P/ ]! G V! ]4 m561. This was indeed the case.
) F! m! C/ A: m 但事实上确有此人。
+ e& M* Y9 s8 Z4 t0 J2 p6 ^562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
/ p/ c$ r, |9 t2 F3 C 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。4 h1 U7 S* u8 }! Z7 d) P8 p- C
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.1 d d8 i+ V1 G2 N& j8 _+ X) J
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- S* ^& B( S @
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
+ S* {# J, r" y 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。! u/ `- q: d# a+ W- L5 S" _
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.1 f# X6 V) O! v! [% v8 ]
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,' A) y8 Y' l( a
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
. ]' E0 F1 `( ^* t' d. `- J) a; \ 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
3 x, b3 W$ q5 X: M* C, E' i; h4 f567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.# ^. M. O9 E( @( o( V+ m( Z3 ?7 `
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。8 r- t! y0 G9 _" c
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.
8 x6 J: ]! |& |5 I 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。
' R; P# c* v* |0 ?569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
/ W4 U, A4 F1 U, S 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。0 D3 _& t3 j i3 a9 w
570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
0 G3 z% r" }& F0 V/ X 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
4 e' s4 r: Y! e% F8 \571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.5 L3 g9 M& b% A! k [
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。, z5 g& d4 O8 ~+ h( Y1 b3 _/ z3 ]
572. They did not even tell their wives.
f# @, B9 o4 u$ u 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
4 q; v7 B" m$ L% w! u; c573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
8 q# D! ~7 t x: C+ w( a) }9 T 父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
$ j$ i {8 D6 _, H' z+ A& N574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
1 U5 @4 T# j$ e$ i4 Q m' |2 t" s 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
- O" Q, D. j ?' |# ]7 l575. 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 m7 B4 Q* D, t5 b, F( ?
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。- A' M* u9 t1 {, Y2 e: x" P
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.$ Z7 i! N M3 k7 ~; b
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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