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课文30 幽灵之死
: _/ W! _5 u2 J552. For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.: ~$ A* V: c3 n7 M: _* l: r
多年来,村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。2 X r% X' I' z( a! P
553. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.% `' A( @4 S# | w2 O. O
恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。
: f$ _! ?2 F2 b8 S554. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.4 O) b, D& C9 i5 T5 y
他们雇了几个农工,但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。1 `& U/ S! f! L6 u
555. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.0 F1 w" L9 M0 Y. T! V
每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。
3 B+ m) c* U6 \3 K2 R556. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.1 J$ ~. m5 Z1 p/ x/ e
雇工们说,常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了,6 p" P7 J- ]$ \+ S
557. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.# w( _7 m: r: ]& @+ p( X; ^
干草已切好,牛棚也打扫干净了。 I: t2 A* ^& `* M i0 U
558. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.! b, b; w8 q4 f5 L5 ^
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。
4 K* @* ]/ p6 l) H5 c u( R559. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.% L; [+ i- a3 E* Y2 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。
6 S" ]" a# _, j* p u- v" ?$ j6 F5 e560. No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.& P. O* C$ ?2 {+ B3 P# r" O
谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。# \8 W5 f# n; p1 L7 z1 z. Y
561. This was indeed the case.5 {4 v( z; w V3 m- r& K- e
但事实上确有此人。+ I* s% Q- g$ Z5 [
562. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.1 M3 F. Y; G& m8 M! _8 ^
不久之前,村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。
: W# N+ j) Y) F) f# R5 t% ?. M8 p563. 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.) H! N0 B8 P v9 q9 ^
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。
3 s1 z/ W. o2 f" ?! b# G2 w564. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.) ~& G& v! e% l# }6 M; H! j; k, |
葬礼之后,乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。% L/ r. [* j7 Y; o6 u- ^
565. Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
, x) c! z: X6 I# a3 ?9 B 埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多,
, @3 [/ x: Q [566. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
. H V3 U4 @% n$ ] 第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
+ ?2 J: Y5 x& g- h; j1 R6 n567. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.0 h" V. g6 e. ^9 y7 A
他讨厌军旅生活,决定逃离所在部队。
. Y* @& Z; \, \; i& S0 k568. 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.
; [( k i0 L% r 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。
. i! V! c4 |, _. y1 V569. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.! C% T. f. t! k* k) h2 u
由于害怕当局,埃里克战后继续深藏不露。
4 H+ P1 C+ s0 z570. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action./ p6 c$ s% }/ X" @4 f3 e3 B! u
他的父亲告诉大家,埃里克在战争中被打死了。4 F1 W" ^# X% ^5 N) P. R% C
571. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
) O q8 o# M8 s+ ~3 x$ V* c9 v 除此之外,只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。
. x% v8 J8 D0 `/ B6 P572. They did not even tell their wives.7 b' w; G2 I/ g% w0 O7 [) {
但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。
4 d- ?& l& Y8 }( H" c: _573. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.- X7 P3 w/ M9 u6 a
父亲死后,他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。
4 Y* a) z6 @4 \574. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.! K x" A) p, h% N
这些年来,埃里克过着隐士生活,
) v' p" i0 S( d* \- [" `4 G575. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.
. M( d9 z, t! F; ]. J! x* g 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。
! m8 X$ l" ^' }, Y. [) I7 s576. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
) [6 d# D0 [5 o 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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