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课文30 幽灵之死
; Z8 E; U9 D3 T, i8 J7 U552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.) _" |. Z- g2 f& S
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。3 L# P& d% a7 f1 G9 O# r4 ]
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.$ v1 B- X. |1 R
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
/ E- E( V: |/ X0 t& S554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.' B8 [: F; [# K+ ]
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
+ B0 e( Y1 |/ p' p- d555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story., [9 D6 Z3 t) S6 \
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
/ U/ _; L# a: c556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
}) \+ ^6 x, T; C 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,
# U8 S7 Y! l5 M* ^1 a- n557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned., ~) `3 {' x6 F6 u
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。0 i; Q( L: l- u) h# X
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
* B: n R9 t! O) c5 j, o9 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。
( _: e& r6 g. s7 V( R/ V2 k559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.) T2 ]. S; {* {/ u
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。
+ A2 ^7 ~3 V0 } s" o560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
/ f% X4 M' a2 M, q: `2 [ 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。6 A- | s, j) t6 h. o$ ]% M' U% x3 q
561. This was indeed the case.( c2 R0 o: T, A) S
但事实上确有此人。
: t% b! z4 w, p* D) j3 `0 _562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
, O/ V$ D* F+ l/ D0 z9 e1 F) ~/ P/ S 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
2 Q) W$ N9 U. F) h% T563. 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 M+ z3 O1 r9 V' Y! w+ ~. f 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。
8 Y6 g! X7 H+ M+ Q5 y9 ^564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years. |6 p2 ? C4 @- \" F
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
" B/ n2 c* T* }2 D$ F- i) U8 V8 s565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.+ R, Z2 X) O9 \5 w( }2 p' y* U
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,4 D" G' |+ x1 q
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.7 p, V, s d, n
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。6 o* j5 v3 L- X: b- W2 @9 q! p
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.6 G3 U8 e) M/ [& R/ k
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。; P W- V) `* f8 C) Y
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.
7 W6 B1 B: Q, N0 Y/ T 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。
) v: `: o$ u- R" x, u569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.: o8 g3 y4 E" [' A( }( x5 @6 O. y
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
) c: w% Z/ o/ K( c9 I570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.# p v: G- E; P
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
, u+ y* Q2 G7 E9 n4 e) g571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
( v) P3 q. k& @# e 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。9 [: a; C: o7 E. i
572. They did not even tell their wives.
% K8 ^0 y" C5 t! _$ Q 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
( T, @+ M) D2 n& {6 K/ O# e573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.7 K) [" t" ]! P. Q
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。% n. H% ^; ?" g, z$ ]' B" t* G
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
: x6 K& F4 m8 ~6 N6 Y. L P 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,& P- U1 D2 u5 p# 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.
8 x9 Q% ?6 n2 d, g6 L' R 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。2 B2 e8 W6 ]* Y) m7 |6 t" C
576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
$ B( x2 ^+ q/ n8 y 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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