Chapter 0

TOTO THE NINJA CAT AND THE LEGEND OF THE WILDCAT DERMOT O'LEARY

忍者猫托托和野猫德莫特·奥莱利的传说

PROLOGUE The mist was still heavy on the water when the unlikely pair of old friends emerged from the bushes at the top of the beach and made their way down to the water's edge to collect their quarry. The rat and stoat were poachers. They had hidden in the undergrowth for the last few hours, ever watchful for the prying eyes of the human gamekeeper and his terrifying, bloodthirsty scent hound. The dog, Herbert, and the gamekeeper, Colin, had fearsome reputations

当这对不太可能的老朋友从海滩顶部的灌木丛中出来，走到水边去收集他们的猎物时，水面上的雾仍然很重。 老鼠和白鼬是偷猎者。 在过去的几个小时里，他们一直躲在灌木丛中，时刻警惕着猎场看守人和他那可怕的、嗜血的嗅探犬窥探的眼睛。 那只叫赫伯特的狗和猎场看守科林的名声都很可怕

for chasing down trespassers on their land (in spite of their not-so-scary names!). So any animal out in the cold spring dawn had better keep their wits about them, or risk being torn to shreds. Slowly, the pair stretched out their tired limbs- they were frozen stiff and eager to get back to the warmth

因为他们在自己的土地上追捕入侵者（尽管他们的名字并不可怕！） 因此，在寒冷的春日黎明外出的动物最好保持清醒，否则就有被撕成碎片的危险。 慢慢地，他们伸出疲惫的四肢——他们已经冻僵了，渴望回到温暖的地方

of their fires. Both the old pals had been poachers for as long as they could remember, though they didn't like the term being used in a negative way. As far as they and most animals were concerned, this was as much their land as any human's. Their fathers and mothers and grandparents before them had all taken the prized salmon and trout from the shores of the loch. Herbert and Colin weren't about to stop them now. ARCHIE MACTABB, the smaller of the two, was a thin wiry stoat with brown fur and a brilliant- white underbelly. He was famed across the whole of the Scottish wilds for his quick thinking and ability to wriggle his way in and out of the tiniest cracks and burrows in the ground. He was the first to move from their hiding place, his small feet padding quickly across the smooth beach to the shoreline, where he began to scratch around in the sand to uncover a rope

他们的火。这两个老朋友从记事起就一直是偷猎者，尽管他们不喜欢这个词被贬义使用。 对它们和大多数动物来说，这片土地和人类的一样，都是它们的。 在他们之前，他们的父亲、母亲和祖父母都曾从湖岸边捕捞过珍贵的鲑鱼和鳟鱼。 赫伯特和科林现在不打算阻止他们了。 阿奇·麦克塔布是两个人中较小的一个，是一头瘦骨嶙峋的白鼬，皮毛是棕色的，下腹部是亮白色的。 他思维敏捷，能从地面最细小的裂缝和洞穴中钻出来，在苏格兰荒野中闻名遐迩。 他是第一个从他们的藏身之处走出来的，他的小脚迅速地穿过平坦的海滩来到海岸线，在那里他开始在沙滩上抓来抓去，找出一根绳子

tied to an iron peg. He shook the sand from the rope and began to haul in their net from the chilly water as fast as he could. 'What on earth is your hurry, Archie?' His friend smiled as he ambled down to the water's edge. SANDY CAMPBELL was an impressive-looking rat. Dressed in a waxed jacket and flat cap he was every inch the Scottish gentleman. He was loved and admired by most of the wild animals in Scotland and widely regarded as the KING OF THE POACHERS. 'Well, for one thing I'm stone-cold and hungry, and I'd quite like to get back to my warm farmhouse. Plus, if we don't haul in these fish and get them to our customers by eight o'clock there'll be hell to pay. So do me a favour and come and give me a hand. Less chat, more do!' 'OK, OK, don't get your fur in a tangle. I'm coming, the rat replied cheerfully.

拴在铁钉上的。他抖掉绳子上的沙子，开始尽可能快地把网从冰冷的水中拉上来。 “阿尔奇，你到底急什么呢？ ”他的朋友微笑着走到水边。 桑迪·坎贝尔是一只长相令人印象深刻的老鼠。 他穿着上蜡的夹克衫，头戴平顶帽，完全是一位苏格兰绅士。 他受到苏格兰大多数野生动物的喜爱和钦佩，被广泛认为是偷猎者之王。 “嗯，首先，我又冷又饿，我很想回到温暖的农舍去。 另外，如果我们不能在8点之前把这些鱼拉上来送到顾客那里，我们就会付出惨重的代价。 所以帮我个忙，过来帮我一把。 少说，多做！“好吧，好吧，别把你的毛弄乱了。” “我来了，”老鼠高兴地回答。

The haul was good; a bounty of trout and crayfish meant that the poachers could look forward to a well- earned rest. 'We'll get these loaded on to the cart, three drop- offs and a bag of crayfish for each of us and we're home dry, said Sandy as he stopped to mop his brow with a hanky. 'Odd that the mist is still on the water. You'd have thought it would have gone by this time? As Sandy glanced at his friend for a response, he recognised the look of sheer terror in the small stoat's eyes and knew immediately what it meant. He turned to see the ENORMOUS HOUND and its owner emerging from a nearby bush. The poachers weren't the only ones who had been watching and waiting- they'd been beaten at their own game and now they'd pay the price. 'This is the last time you two will get the better of me, Herbert snarled, his enormous razor-sharp fangs

收获颇丰；大量的鳟鱼和小龙虾意味着偷猎者可以好好休息一下了。 “我们把这些东西搬到车上，每人送三件东西，一袋小龙虾，这样我们就干了。”桑迪说着停下来用手帕擦了擦额头。 奇怪的是，雾还在水面上。 你以为这个时候就没了吗？ 当桑迪瞥了一眼他的朋友，等待他的回答时，他认出了小白鼬眼中完全恐惧的神情，立刻明白了这是什么意思。 他转过身来，看到那只巨大的猎犬和它的主人正从附近的灌木丛中走出来。 偷猎者并不是唯一一直在观望和等待的人——他们在自己的游戏中被打败了，现在他们要付出代价了。 “这是你们俩最后一次占我的便宜。”赫伯特咆哮着，他的尖牙又大又尖