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课文30 幽灵之死+ c/ E7 J& a. a8 V1 D" ^ u
552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
+ U7 Q! f6 Z8 K5 e- |2 K9 q 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
7 Q) o' U5 C3 n- E# u+ q9 ?553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.- z* Q! B* \$ N& p) W1 }8 U
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
7 f& \- C( a6 m1 \# Y' t3 c554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long., j/ y' D/ [3 W2 W' `+ {
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
4 x+ w' G4 q0 y5 i8 r. G3 g. H+ J555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
( @& e) o, h7 A/ v! G' N# Z. ]8 o 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。/ o9 T0 [9 ?* V3 A' D$ m
556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
5 j+ o2 v; z; w 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,- c. F" x, ^4 [# V3 |4 v' e
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
8 g: {' L0 w; `- l% g4 a% e# A' Q 干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。) t) O; z4 D' Y, E
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
9 a# s% y. _, A3 `7 M+ E2 K 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。
7 a( A; S) B0 X; D" ?559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.; p" g$ B/ O: b
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。" l/ e* x6 Z( k9 N
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.' G' t* C1 d* k
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。
6 p9 K1 r5 }0 C. n9 R X( O561. This was indeed the case.
( \# A& O a% E$ [' f 但事实上确有此人。
9 \$ U1 H0 O9 ^* U* s, F5 e1 N/ p5 @+ k562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
- L; o3 K6 e5 v/ ^) M 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。) Y2 t; s( h, ^9 C+ d5 t# [5 F4 }9 X
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.
3 b. p3 [* U* H; K6 H" 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。 [: Z0 Q) O4 g W9 p( A" C
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.: v5 o- c `9 C1 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。
# T/ z8 K' R4 ~8 r: w9 g565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.# X d( f" t1 R% ]& e% q$ R
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,( p) I: L$ l$ w. R. ]! M
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
. u3 X- {9 T9 O; e5 x: I 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
/ }2 r5 ^/ o, O4 o* l; `4 e567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
s7 }" ^( f* ?7 z 他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。" \' O' S+ x/ G/ ?5 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.8 Q$ c- z/ D, D/ \, H# C- b) Q
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。
3 J- _4 [, l; G: d: U% o569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
1 y0 i$ U- v, }! L& _& A" x 由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
4 P% ?4 p. M6 O( a570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.* F0 F0 }/ F- E4 s* g
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。# O. O2 X5 B( Q
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.7 t5 @7 D, A3 Y1 P( Z
除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
1 X% I- M' [$ ?% g. X" P5 z# N572. They did not even tell their wives.& ` ~7 `- W( \" b& K, j6 I% D
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
) v" q4 {3 o3 B# g" _4 C7 w573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.3 c9 p2 D* S0 }6 b1 ^. t
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
) I& Q, i: w; P% T j574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse. C& f3 I p( e B" Q8 T
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,; {" b: S4 Y) \( s& o
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., a! T+ P- S* F' L( D
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 k) X- x- X4 o& Y576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
& G. H {/ W! W; c9 |5 }# Y! S 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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