The death of a ghost
鬼魂的死亡
Why did the two brothers keep the secret?
两兄弟为什么要保守秘密？
For years, villagers believed that Endley farm was haunted.
多年来，村民们认为恩德利农场闹鬼。
The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
该农场由两兄弟拥有，乔和鲍勃考克斯。
They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
他们雇用了几个农场工人，但没有人愿意在那里工作很长时间。
Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
每当工人放弃工作时，他都会讲同样的故事。
Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
农场工人说，他们总是醒来发现工作已经在一夜之间完成。
Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
干草被剪掉了,牛棚也被打扫干净了.
A farm worker, who stayed up all night, claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
一个彻夜不眠的农场工人声称看到一个人影在月光下切割玉米。
In time, it became an accepted fact
随着时间的推移，它成为一个公认的事实
that the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
考克斯兄弟雇佣了一个尽职尽责的鬼魂，为他们做了大部分的工作。
No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
没有人怀疑农场里可能还有其他人从未见过。
This was indeed the case.
情况确实如此。
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已经死亡。
Everyone went to the funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox,
每个人都去参加葬礼，因为"幽灵"正是埃里克*考克斯,
a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man.
一个年轻时就应该死去的三兄弟。
After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
葬礼结束后，乔和鲍勃透露了一个他们保存了五十多年的秘密。
Eric had been the eldest son of the family,
埃里克是家里的长子,
very much older than his two brothers.
比他的两个兄弟大得多。
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,他决定放弃他的军团.
When he learnt that he would be sent abroad,
当他得知他将被派往国外时,
he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the end of the war.
他回到农场，他的父亲把他藏起来，直到战争结束。
Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
由于担心当局，埃里克在战后也躲藏起来。
His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
他父亲告诉大家埃里克在行动中被杀了.
The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
唯一知道这个秘密的人是乔和鲍勃。
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.
当他们的父亲去世时，他们认为他们有责任让埃里克躲起来。
All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
这些年来,埃里克一直是隐居者.
He used to sleep during the day and work at night,
他过去白天睡觉，晚上工作,
quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.
完全不知道他已经成为恩德利的幽灵。
When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
然而，当他去世时，他的兄弟们发现不可能再保守这个秘密了。
