30 · 幽灵之死
The Death of a Ghost
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For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was haunted. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned. A farm worker, who stayed up all night, claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight. In time, it became an accepted fact that the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen. This was indeed the case. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died. 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. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment. 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. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob. They did not even tell their wives. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
原稿补充 · 独立短句Persistence can produce a miracle! Unfortunately, very few people can persist long enough to see a miracle happen.
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整篇课文
For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was haunted. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned. A farm worker, who stayed up all night, claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight. In time, it became an accepted fact that the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen. This was indeed the case. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died. 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. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment. 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. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob. They did not even tell their wives. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
Persistence can produce a miracle! Unfortunately, very few people can persist long enough to see a miracle happen.
多年来，村民们一直相信恩德利农场闹鬼。农场属于乔·考克斯和鲍勃·考克斯两兄弟，他们雇过几个帮工，却没人愿意长干。每个辞工的人，都讲过同样的怪事：早晨醒来，发现有些活竟在夜里就干完了，草割好了，牛棚也清扫干净了。一名整夜未睡的帮工还声称，看见过一个人影在月光下收割庄稼。渐渐地，大家都认定，考克斯兄弟雇了一只勤勤恳恳的鬼，大部分农活都是它替他们做的。
没有人想到，农场里也许还住着一个从未露面的人，而事实恰恰如此。不久前，村民们惊讶地听说，恩德利的“鬼”死了。大家都去参加了葬礼，因为这个“鬼”不是别人，正是乔和鲍勃的哥哥埃里克·考克斯——人们一直以为，他年轻时就已去世。葬礼后，两兄弟说出了一个隐瞒了五十多年的秘密。
埃里克是家里的长子，比两个弟弟年长许多。第二次世界大战期间，他被迫入伍，却因厌恶军营生活，决定逃离部队。得知自己将被派往海外后，他回到了农场，父亲把他藏起来，直到战争结束。战后，他仍害怕当局追究，便继续躲藏。父亲对外宣称，埃里克已经阵亡。除父亲之外，只有乔和鲍勃知道真相，他们甚至连自己的妻子都没有告诉。父亲去世后，两人觉得自己有责任继续把哥哥藏好。这些年来，埃里克过着与世隔绝的生活，白天睡觉，夜里干活，根本不知道自己已经成了人们口中的“恩德利之鬼”。他去世后，两个弟弟才发现，这个秘密再也瞒不住了。
坚持可以创造奇迹！可惜，极少有人能坚持到亲眼见证奇迹发生的那一天。
学完这一课
用 woke up to find that… had been done 讲一个醒后发现的变化。
译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第100—102页，2022年2月第3版。