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课文30 幽灵之死
/ E5 y) V) D- [( {. N552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.4 L+ G& G* q. c& g
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。7 A* {$ v$ L( Y/ t
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.6 A* W, s, j8 F: k6 D
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
( `2 w0 H. l* I554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.* {" F! f0 ^! T, V& G9 @
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。
# y3 e! [/ y8 j, w! k555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
1 M% D1 L7 b9 G0 o, g" {% | 每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
) R% h5 L, Q" c* V# Z0 z1 t9 u556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.0 n, I9 j" @) Z# r* s* ^
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,7 j7 }% e$ U5 h; L: i; j4 U
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.+ x3 Q+ L/ x8 \, q: V
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。& K$ K* i6 F9 H# ?
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight., Q& B2 c2 o" {8 V" f
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。2 v) Y& o2 j- k; X
559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
4 Y: J' K1 f- `5 a, u, z 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。8 h6 u+ k9 _# K7 G# A) ~
560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.' b! U, L. j6 ?* l# y t
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。& h2 i* q6 o2 H
561. This was indeed the case.: h' w/ S* \3 L8 u6 f
但事实上确有此人。7 z7 z" c8 ~ X4 N
562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
9 q/ ?! T4 Y) M5 e9 f 不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
( W! C M9 K/ M! l3 L563. 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.- z) }9 x/ n- P' S" X
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。7 I% M; g, R5 |& @
564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
* h$ v4 G3 v% T4 Q! d5 L6 W6 [ 葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
" c+ n% s! @1 h) W1 @) q565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
3 A8 l. d- d- ~. Z1 { 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,- A7 a. e; `) w$ e: T
566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.6 x3 O- @3 n: X. D6 l; b& q
第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
4 U% a% w' w9 n* A567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
$ e0 \0 l) d/ D2 I5 h ^1 x: U6 o 他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
# Z. p: [ X$ x2 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./ l" O1 d8 X6 k `0 q0 L7 p' B
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。
* S7 f# X* \$ p9 V9 r1 e' h$ |569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.8 F( b+ ?' H. Z* k
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
; r& c: S' B5 `; I& F570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
5 q& R- Z# j0 {+ j 他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。, ~9 z# a6 K( G2 G% b& \ W
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
4 C+ M: p3 h4 Y0 B9 Y 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。, R8 m- N, i- Q; n6 R
572. They did not even tell their wives.
3 a0 c Z7 a, d, Z4 R* Z 但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
2 _) X* J% k; w/ n, e573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
/ ]7 H+ ?: @9 M8 u" h/ Q* x6 Z 父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。' Z' f. x/ h' e3 G+ e
574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
6 a/ X! m, J9 Y w 这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,& V' O$ S6 L& W+ ~
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.
- ~$ B3 d2 H5 t9 I1 i 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。
: E6 t% {' [, X6 r% b576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
! V6 M' k! m/ W$ `$ I3 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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