Lesson 30

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。
The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
这个农场由乔和鲍勃·考克斯两兄弟拥有。
They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
他们雇佣了几个农场工人，但没有人愿意在那里长久地工作。
Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
每当一名工人辞职时，他都讲述同样的故事。
Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
农场工人说，他们总是醒来发现那项工作在夜间已经被完成。
Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
干草已经割好，牛棚也已打扫干净。
A farm worker, who stayed up all night, claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
一位熬夜一整晚的农场工人声称，他看见一个身影在月光下收割玉米。
In time, it became an accepted fact that the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
随着时间的推移，人们接受了这样一个事实：考克斯兄弟雇佣了一个尽职尽责的鬼魂，为他们完成了大部分工作。
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另一个从未露面的人。
This was indeed the case.
事实的确如此。
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鬼魂去世了。
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.
大家都去参加了葬礼，因为那个“幽灵”不是别人，正是埃里克·考克斯，一个被认为在年轻时就已去世的排行第三的兄弟。
After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
葬礼之后，乔和鲍勃揭露了一个他们保守了五十多年的秘密。
Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
埃里克曾是这个家庭的长子，比他的两个兄弟年长得多。
He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
他在第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。
As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
由于他讨厌军队生活，他决定从他的团里开小差。
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.
当他得知他将被派往国外时，他回到了农场，他的父亲把他藏了起来，直到战争结束。
Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
由于畏惧当局，埃里克在战后也一直东躲西藏。
His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
他的父亲告诉大家，埃里克已经在战斗中阵亡了。
The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
除了他们，知道这个秘密的只有乔和鲍勃。
They did not even tell their wives.
他们甚至没有告诉他们的妻子。
When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
当他们的父亲去世后，他们认为有责任把埃里克藏起来。
All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
这些年来，埃里克一直过着隐居生活。
He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.
他过去常常在白天睡觉，晚上工作，完全没有意识到他已经变成了恩德利的幽灵。
When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
然而，当他去世时，他的兄弟们发现再也无法保守这个秘密了