多年以来，村民们都相信恩德利农场闹鬼。
For years, villagers believed that Endley farm was haunted.
这个农场由两兄弟——乔和鲍勃·考克斯——拥有。
The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
他们雇用了几个农场工人，但没有人愿意在那里长期干活。
They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
每当一个工人辞去工作，他都会讲同一个故事。
Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story.
农场工人们说，他们总是一觉醒来，发现夜间已经有人干了活。
Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
干草已被割过，牛棚也已被打扫干净。
Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned.
一个彻夜未眠的农场工人声称亲眼看见过一个身影在月光下割玉米。
A farm worker, who stayed up all night, claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
渐渐地，考克斯兄弟雇用了一个尽职尽责的鬼魂来替他们干大部分活儿，这成了公认的事实。
In time, it became an accepted fact that the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
没有人怀疑农场上还有另一个从未被人见过的人。
No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
情况确实如此。
This was indeed the case.
不久前，村民们惊讶地得知，恩德利的鬼魂死了。
A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
所有人都去参加了葬礼，因为那个"鬼魂"不是别人，正是埃里克·考克斯——一个据说年轻时就已去世的第三个兄弟。
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.
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。
After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
埃里克曾是家中的长子，比他的两个弟弟大得多。
Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
他曾被迫在第二次世界大战期间参军入伍。
He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
由于他憎恨军队生活，他决定逃离所在的部队。
As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
当他得知自己将被派往海外时，他回到了农场，父亲一直把他藏到战争结束。
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.
由于害怕当局，战争结束后埃里克仍然继续躲藏着。
Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
他的父亲告诉所有人，埃里克在战斗中牺牲了。
His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action.
知道这个秘密的其他人只有乔和鲍勃。
The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
他们甚至连自己的妻子都没有告诉。
They did not even tell their wives.
父亲去世后，他们认为让埃里克继续藏匿是自己的职责。
When their father died they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
这么多年来，埃里克一直过着隐士般的生活。
All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
他过去常常白天睡觉、夜里劳作，完全不知道自己已经成了恩德利的鬼魂。
He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.
然而当他去世时，他的两个兄弟发现再也无法保守这个秘密了。
When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.