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课文30 幽灵之死- {7 T: f" Z& {. N, Z4 Q
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.4 h L, r/ t4 K# J* h* A6 [
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
! f" s& {7 o8 v' I553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.9 Z& i9 x Z* D* D: B0 a2 [+ L: g: T/ ?
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
* ]# u% w; P8 M: k" K# Z554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
* Q! d7 t) s9 w2 ^1 P! W; a; E6 N" V 他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
9 q3 d( G, L! K& u555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.. r' l' u3 D; Q' Q
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
6 g! [9 e% Q; E556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
0 Y8 M. ]1 @" T1 k- l' E3 D4 E" ^" U 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,. B( x |6 F* Y( w* p4 @
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
% `5 [& K3 N$ J7 I2 L6 |' e2 { 干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。, i4 L* u2 }' d6 a. P/ y8 T. h4 X
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.7 H) E' {6 X$ I F2 e0 d
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。+ o& [& R6 d. A2 E. E; h; `
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
+ Q( p; p* s" q! ?( r 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。
6 ?# ~3 O0 Y+ a" n) u {560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
' C) x. R% B; E# g 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。* X8 R4 A, }+ p6 J
561. This was indeed the case.# j& p( h' R, e( E7 W
但事实上确有此人。
2 l: E6 O$ W* h562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
, q/ w$ |$ `2 J' @; ^6 Z2 R 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
# d8 o. z. Q% C0 z U- L; S1 O563. 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: j2 `$ y" j7 Z' \: u2 {' A7 y 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。
/ x8 }2 L, E0 }+ e$ C. B% O564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.9 ]' x+ {8 }' g1 N p
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
% p9 S. `0 V8 @565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.; @: Q' \* s2 Y. \7 t* q6 o
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,# U9 C* H; |! I
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.7 y6 U8 P/ z9 b
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。. [- K) B% y( \/ j
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
$ w: X$ i, Y# q 他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
! ^7 j" [/ J" Z& j [+ m f568. 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 U/ m4 z1 l3 s+ G1 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。
, Q6 e" j) ^7 y, l569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.: e: F- {* r7 \7 l* I+ n
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
/ P2 x/ I4 y$ p8 ^- E, X570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.' T) U) v. S" V
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。8 R% R8 h; d" R% t1 @
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
% g5 R. ?. H/ V2 K 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
) B$ i1 p! R4 ^) E) l( f" h572. They did not even tell their wives.: M- r @& l2 }0 i
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
2 U& j F- z2 I! U9 e) C573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.& C& s' J$ W6 `+ N8 i) i/ ]
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
x9 R2 p% V" o% Y574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
7 f3 d. _0 b! S9 G$ Z 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,/ e% T8 n) j! T; L- x. B
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.
. R+ f; d7 t: b( m' L 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。8 P" b- `* Z6 d; j
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer., w4 @/ w8 X- 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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