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课文30 幽灵之死
$ l2 Y3 e6 b! B: H, o, U552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
9 Q" j4 V/ ^4 D# E8 e) D1 f 多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。
8 q+ u, c7 ^0 G: t- U6 R553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.! s" E: z6 j, ?8 u5 j# ?
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。7 N" X$ J, ]( F: q |
554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.( O$ k) i, L8 a9 I
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
! |( [: q9 [$ I4 c2 W- O9 x% J555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.; o7 e9 \/ N# F) w1 I! V) [
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
& C1 O. D& Q( U6 q/ E556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
7 e! w% m6 }" w7 i, z6 H 雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,& Y0 _ d) J2 g6 E D. ], R
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
/ k$ F: {7 S8 I4 x2 r. ^ 干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。# d# m# x3 i# p2 ]8 ^
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
5 I& |& A6 `5 q1 s% Z) p- _! Q3 [: [2 | 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。" c9 r! f& J# S/ D% Z) t
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.1 J) X/ v& ]8 ?/ L* W
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。
9 W0 ~* R& |3 p/ M, P/ r, g560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
3 r: N* P3 |" f/ N2 V 谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。- B3 p+ d8 z+ L* h+ I
561. This was indeed the case.% ^) B4 p! W6 n5 S, e
但事实上确有此人。
8 X$ y" j; O5 G" R- m h562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died." }! d- N& D3 M4 C. _0 r0 {
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
* ]" b' }8 w* O, R5 l9 J" S563. 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.
: R, B6 R: C& R 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。
9 M' [5 Y3 k" B3 z8 \/ O0 l4 B564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
( r5 a1 l# B Q 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。" X" @5 Z2 H- {, ?3 I. @0 N, ^, V
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.& I0 {- i2 G/ C# _
埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多," Q7 Z: m/ E9 o/ b) a N
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.# p- u Z! ?, A+ @- {5 a% Q0 E: v' i# G
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。0 c+ c* Z' X0 Q( v
567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.0 W* o v; q3 N: j: C
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
7 c: g$ c! g" q568. 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 a. _* f# V2 @! j# x9 x 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。
( }" Z1 T1 c" Y569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.% n n/ ^( j, @1 a
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
& s6 t1 s! J N! z! l& j570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
, a" {: `/ N1 _ 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。
, P+ [, h4 U: Q571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
; a% T2 U/ ^" d# W0 R9 E. `- R& @ 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。" |! A4 @( o* l" L) R/ j' e$ S% y
572. They did not even tell their wives.
* R3 {3 j$ C3 H5 ^8 G 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
, \4 M4 Q1 f ?- N. l+ o573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.. g+ j6 j3 c; s
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。 e9 ` @: Y3 S1 h
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.$ f6 }/ D( R$ M* J0 l/ |
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
" p' M, }- a# ~" m575. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.3 b$ L$ Y+ z1 w7 p
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。
/ w) R$ |& [1 _1 P. ~576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
$ O5 v8 S# ?# f/ F* Y9 R" | 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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