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课文30 幽灵之死
; M% A7 J0 O/ ^/ B8 H) { t552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
# Q. {( r x- S: F9 }# A0 e 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。& l- J3 t9 w9 @! L: o
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
# c; B1 M* h) [6 ` R6 R 恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
~$ G e. \5 e" O554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
( k- t; g; A* i# g( u/ S 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。, ~1 o' }# N# z! \. l3 l; j7 f0 E+ h
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
) A) y9 }. k% H$ J! R; `: D h. z 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。* j f- y# X {2 `* \) u3 m
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
2 U0 \/ u6 m. x7 K5 v 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了, {( W* w% \! t/ g K
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.0 |- W* ~9 k/ ]: r1 T; z7 c
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。/ A7 w9 c! f" d" r! K
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.0 {6 ]- [( C" h0 H# 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。+ @ v% i. H- i! p% h
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.' D) N/ k4 j3 ?: q, k3 @% T$ ~
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。
$ ~+ q; X6 f# |* s. i2 a3 q560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.9 `* {& N) A7 ^( T2 r
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。% D6 W; Y. [) s/ y7 K
561. This was indeed the case.( T7 u6 O7 g+ ?- w2 c
但事实上确有此人。
. O" _, _, _; [: J# Z6 e' E: @4 r$ y562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.+ g* T. X( v- |5 s* B# @& ]! |
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
. N0 q3 @% Z+ M6 X563. 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.8 L: Y g, h3 w" @- `! v
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。
; U! ]' e# n" ?( ?2 ]4 ]564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.3 i& x3 l8 n7 ^1 c
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. ^* A. m0 J565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.# q& U9 ]4 p W& L7 _- l
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,: X; p; [7 b$ ]$ C5 k0 C
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
: M9 m0 K% M% q9 h6 q) V: c 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
5 @' @$ C3 P' E1 t% @' w567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.9 e3 y' _9 ]; C- d
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。( [' o5 j. p8 F/ r. ~- Y# t1 q) M- W5 R
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.
) J* Z! u5 e( Q* ?* g 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 U# G( d. A4 l9 S569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
6 g8 B4 E3 m4 m 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
1 A+ Q* r6 C$ h570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.. C) f! X' k* n4 i/ g L7 H& L
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。% i- e4 ~# v- K7 \/ A
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
$ ~& i* o3 e( e$ X {, s 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
' R1 z& L& b. T5 @- r, N- p572. They did not even tell their wives.$ x. N0 J+ q0 k8 T* J/ D6 T
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
* W* l2 z5 b3 Y7 n7 e2 S573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.3 O0 X1 d- A' P1 t. b/ ~9 a
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
$ t _* K8 Y# o/ ]. F# K- }574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.0 T% w( u* p0 F- S* h) J! z
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,4 {# T' o* i# D$ F" T! g4 T
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.2 I. f1 Y* P0 r! x: Z, k
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。
5 _" |) |6 ?" G3 ]( X* `576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer." @3 v$ X7 f0 {5 o; b9 y* n
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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