第30课

旁白 neutral

For years, villagers believed that Endley farm was haunted.

多年来，村民们一直认为恩德利农场闹鬼。

旁白 neutral

The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.

这个农场归乔和鲍勃·科克斯两兄弟所有。

旁白 neutral

They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.

他们雇了一些农场工人，但没有人愿意在那里长时间工作。

旁白 neutral

Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.

每次有工人辞职，他们都会讲同样的故事。

旁白 neutral

Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.

农场工人说，他们醒来时总是发现工作已经在一夜之间完成了。

旁白 neutral

Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.

干草被割了，牛棚也被清理了。

旁白 neutral

A farm worker, who stayed up all night, claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.

一位彻夜未眠的农场工人声称在月光下看到一个身影在割玉米。

旁白 neutral

In time, it became an accepted fact that the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.

渐渐地，科克斯兄弟雇佣了一个尽职尽责的幽灵为他们做了大部分工作，这成了一个公认的事实。

旁白 neutral

No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.

没有人怀疑农场上可能还有其他人从未被见过。

旁白 neutral

This was indeed the case.

事实确实如此。

旁白 neutral

A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.

不久前，村民们惊讶地得知恩德利的幽灵已经死了。

旁白 neutral

Everyone went to the funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox,

所有人都去参加了葬礼，因为那个“幽灵”不是别人，正是埃里克·科克斯，

旁白 neutral

a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man.

据说他年轻时就去世了的第三个兄弟。

旁白 neutral

After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.

葬礼结束后，乔和鲍勃揭露了一个他们保守了五十多年的秘密。

旁白 neutral

Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.

埃里克是家里的长子，比他的两个兄弟大得多。

旁白 neutral

He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.

第二次世界大战期间，他被迫参军。

旁白 neutral

As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.

由于他厌恶军队生活，他决定开小差。

旁白 neutral

When he learnt that he would be sent abroad,

当他得知自己将被派往国外时，

旁白 neutral

he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the end of the war.

他回到了农场，他的父亲把他藏起来直到战争结束。

旁白 neutral

Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.

由于害怕当局，埃里克在战后也一直躲藏着。

旁白 neutral

His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.

他的父亲告诉所有人埃里克在战斗中牺牲了。

旁白 neutral

The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.

唯一知道这个秘密的其他人是乔和鲍勃。

旁白 neutral

They did not even tell their wives.

他们甚至没有告诉他们的妻子。

旁白 neutral

When their father died they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.

当他们的父亲去世后，他们认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。

旁白 neutral

All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.

这么多年来，埃里克一直过着隐居生活。

旁白 neutral

He used to sleep during the day and work at night,

他白天睡觉，晚上工作，

旁白 neutral

quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.

完全没有意识到自己已经成为了恩德利的幽灵。

旁白 neutral

When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.

然而，当他去世后，他的兄弟们发现再也无法保守这个秘密了。