Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 Leafpool dropped the herbs she was carrying and looked down at the creamy-furred she-cat. "Cinderpelt says you need to eat these." Daisy blinked up at her from sleepy blue eyes, lifting her head from where she lay among the thick moss in the nursery. In the two days since they came to the camp, she and her kits had almost recovered from their exhausting journey. Daisy had groomed her fur back into soft silkiness, while her three kits were curled up together in a purring heap. "You're all so kind," Daisy murmured. She chewed up the herbs obediently, wrinkling her nose against the pungent scent. Careful not to disturb them, Leafpool bent to check the three kits. "They're beautiful," she mewed. "Have you given them names yet?" "Yes. The one with cream fur like mine is Berry, the bigger gray one is Mouse, and the smallest one is Hazel." Daisy rested her tail softly on each kit as she named it. "Those will work very well as Clan names,"

第十章 叶池放下叼着的草药，低头看向那只长着奶白色皮毛的母猫。 “炭皮说你得把这些吃下去。” 黛西睁开朦胧的蓝眼睛抬头望着她，从育儿室厚厚的苔藓窝上抬起了脑袋。 她们来到营地已经两天，她和幼崽们差不多都从疲惫的赶路中恢复过来了。 黛西把皮毛舔得重新变得柔滑，她的三只幼崽挤在一起团成一团，正舒服地打着呼噜。 “你们大家都太好了。”黛西轻声说。 她乖乖嚼碎草药，刺鼻的气味让她皱起了鼻子。 叶池放轻动作生怕吵醒它们，弯下腰检查这三只幼崽。 “它们真好看。”叶池轻声说。 “你给它们起名字了吗？” “起好了。 那只跟我一样长着奶白皮毛的叫贝瑞，大块头灰毛叫耗子，最小的那只叫榛子。” 黛西报出每个名字时，都把尾巴轻轻搭在对应的幼崽身上。 “这些名字拿来当族群名字再合适不过了”

Leafpool told her. "Here they'll be Berrykit, Mousekit, and Hazelkit. I'll let Firestar know." She thought Daisy looked a bit doubtful, as if she wasn't sure she wanted her kits to be part of the Clan, but before she could say any more Ferncloud crept in through the entrance with a mouse in her jaws. "I've brought you some fresh-kill," she meowed to Daisy, placing the mouse next to her. Purring, she settled down in the moss beside the kits. "They look fine now. I'm sure you have enough milk." Leaving them to discuss the kits, Leafpool said good-bye and emerged into the clearing. The weather was still gray and cold, and the trees above her head clashed in the wind. More than a half moon had passed since their encounter on the hillside, but there had been no word from Crowfeather. Half the time, Leafpool drifted around in a haze of happiness, remembering the look in his eyes and the scent of his pelt. But for the rest of the time she was clawed by guilt that she had agreed to meet him again. If

叶池对她说道。 “在这里它们会叫贝瑞崽、耗子崽和榛子崽。 我这就去告诉火星。” 叶池看出黛西有些犹豫，好像不太确定要不要让幼崽加入族群，可她还没来得及多说，蕨云就叼着一只老鼠从入口钻了进来。 “我给你带了新鲜猎物。”她对黛西说完，把老鼠放在她身边。 她轻声呼噜着，在幼崽身旁的苔藓上卧了下来。 “它们现在状态很好。 我肯定你的奶水足够喂它们啦。” 叶池道别后离开，让她们好好聊幼崽的事，自己走到了营地的空地上。 天气依旧阴冷，头顶的树木在风中哗哗摇晃。 他们在山坡碰面已经过去半个多月了，鸦羽却一点消息都没有。 一半的时间里，叶池都晕晕乎乎浸在幸福里，一遍遍回想他的眼神和他皮毛的气味。 剩下的时间里，她都被愧疚啃噬着——她居然答应了再和他见面。 如果

she was a true medicine cat, she wouldn't even be thinking about him. She tried harder than ever to concentrate on her tasks, so that she could become the cat she had always longed to be. Besides, she didn't want Cinderpelt to scold her, or suspect that the WindClan warrior was occupying her thoughts. Leafpool padded toward her den, but stopped short as a tortoiseshell cat hurtled through the thorn tunnel and skidded to a halt in the middle of the clearing. For an instant Leafpool thought it was Sorreltail, and her heart lurched at the thought of any harm coming to the kits she was carrying. Then she looked more closely and recognized Mosspelt, a warrior from RiverClan. "Leafpool!" she gasped. "Thank StarClan you're here!" "What's the matter?" Leafpool asked. "Mothwing sent me." Mosspelt's chest heaved. "There's sickness in RiverClan. It's bad— very bad." "And Mothwing wants me to come?" Mosspelt nodded. "Mothwing said you would understand what the trouble is."

她要是一名真正的巫医，根本就不该想念他。 她比以往任何时候都更努力集中精力完成任务，好成为自己一直渴望成为的那只猫。 再说，她也不想让炭皮责骂她，或是猜到风族武士占据了自己的心思。 叶池朝自己的巢穴走去，可突然停住脚步——一只玳瑁猫猛地冲过荆刺隧道，滑到空地中央猛地停了下来。 一瞬间叶池以为那是松鼠飞，一想到她怀着的幼崽可能出事，心猛地揪了一下。 接着她仔细一看，认出那是河族的武士苔藓毛。 “叶池！” 她喘着气说道。 “感谢星族你在这里！” “出什么事了？” 叶池问道。 “蛾翅派我来的。” 苔藓毛喘得胸脯不停起伏。 “河族闹传染病了。 情况很糟——非常糟。” “所以蛾翅想让我过去？” 苔藓毛点了点头。 “蛾翅说你知道这是什么麻烦。”

Leafpool swallowed, feeling as if a tough piece of fresh-kill were stuck in her throat. She understood too well. Feathertail's warning—that Twolegs would put RiverClan in great danger— had come true. Her dream, her long journey to tell Mothwing, had all been in vain. More cats had begun to gather in the clearing. Firestar appeared on the Highledge with Sandstorm, while Brightheart and several other warriors emerged from the warriors" den. Daisy peered cautiously out of the nursery, then ran across to Cloudtail and began talking urgently to him, twitching her tail anxiously as she spoke. Sootfur shot Mosspelt a hostile stare. "Why should we send our medicine cat all the way around the lake to help RiverClan? They should find help somewhere else." "Oh, come on!" Thornclaw argued. "WindClan isn't likely to help, are they? And ShadowClan has never been exactly generous toward other Clans." Leafpool was relieved to see Cinderpelt padding across to them. "What's going on? Mosspelt, are you in

叶池咽了口唾沫，感觉好像一块硬鲜肉卡在了喉咙里。 她实在太清楚了。 羽尾的警告——两脚兽会给河族带来巨大的灾难——真的应验了。 她做的梦，她长途跋涉给蛾翅报信，全都白费了。 越来越多的猫聚集到空地上。 火星和沙风一起出现在高岩上，亮心和其他几名武士从武士巢穴走了出来。 黛西小心翼翼从育儿室探出头，接着跑到云尾身边，急急忙忙跟他说着话，说话时尾巴不安地抽动着。 煤毛充满敌意地瞪着苔藓毛。 “我们为什么要把我们的巫医派去湖那头老远的地方帮河族？ 他们该去找别的地方帮忙。” “哎呀，得了吧！” 荆爪反驳道。 “风族本来就不会帮忙，不是吗？ 而且影族从来就没对别的族群大方过。” 看到炭皮朝他们走来，叶池松了口气。 “出什么事了？ 苔藓毛，你是不是

trouble?" "The whole of RiverClan is in trouble," the she-cat answered. More calmly, now that she had caught her breath, she repeated what she had told Leafpool. "Mothwing's den is full of sick cats," she mewed. "None have died yet, but they will die, if we don't have help." "May I go?" Leafpool begged. She was racked with guilt that she hadn't tried to do anything else to find out what the trouble might be. Perhaps she really was losing her ability to speak with StarClan. "Please, Cinderpelt!" Cinderpelt and Firestar exchanged a long glance. Then the medicine cat meowed, "If Firestar agrees." The Clan leader nodded. "We can't refuse to help another Clan in trouble. Besides, this sickness, whatever it is, might come here. Leafpool, try to find out everything you can about it." "I will," Leafpool promised. "Are you sure you can manage without me?" she asked Cinderpelt. Because of her lame leg, the medicine cat relied on Leafpool to collect most of the healing herbs

麻烦？ “整个河族都遇上麻烦了，” 这只母猫回答道。 她喘过气来后，镇定多了，把刚才对叶池说的话又说了一遍。 “蛾翅的巢穴里挤满了生病的猫，” 她喵声说道。 “目前还没有猫死去，但如果得不到帮助，他们迟早都会死。” “我能过去帮忙吗？” 叶池恳求道。 她满心愧疚，怪自己之前没有主动查清到底出了什么麻烦。 或许她真的正在失去和星族对话的能力。 “求求你，炭毛！” 炭毛和火星对视了很久。 接着这位巫医喵声道：“只要火星同意就行。” 这位族群首领点了点头。 我们不能拒绝帮助落难的其他族群。 再说了，这场病不管是什么，说不定也会传到我们这儿来。 叶池，尽量把这场病的所有情况都查清楚。” “我会的，” 叶池承诺道。 “没有我，你确定能应付得来吗？” 她问炭毛。 因为炭毛腿瘸，大部分药草都要靠叶池去采集

they needed. "Of course," Cinderpelt replied. "ThunderClan is lucky to have two medicine cats." A shadow flickered in her eyes. Brightheart stepped forward. "I could help you, Cinderpelt," she offered. "I think I know what most of the herbs look like—the common ones, anyway." "Thank you, Brightheart." Cinderpelt turned back to Leafpool. "There's no reason why you shouldn't go with Mosspelt. But come back as soon as you can. And may StarClan go with you." Leafpool nodded and followed Mosspelt out of the camp. Already she had begun to run through a list of the herbs she might need: juniper, watermint, chervil root.... She shook her head. She couldn't tell what she needed until she'd had a chance to examine the sick cats. StarClan, I need you now, she prayed silently. Show me what I have to do. A strong wind whisked across the surface of the lake as Leafpool and Mosspelt crossed WindClan's territory, buffeting the two cats" fur.

他们所需要的。 “当然没问题，” 炭毛回答道。 “雷族很幸运，拥有两位巫医。” 她的眼底掠过一丝阴影。 亮心走上前来。 “我可以帮你，炭毛，” 她主动请缨。 “我认得出大部分药草——至少常见的那些都认识。” “谢谢你，亮心。” 炭毛转回身面向叶池。 你完全可以跟着藓毛一起过去。 不过你要尽快回来。 愿星族与你同行。” 叶池点点头，跟着藓毛走出了营地。 她已经开始在脑子里梳理可能用到的药草：杜松、水薄荷、雪维菜根…… 她摇了摇头。 得等她检查过生病的猫，才能知道需要什么。 星族啊，我现在需要你们，她默默祈祷。 告诉我该怎么做。 叶池和藓毛穿过风族领地时，一阵狂风扫过湖面，吹得两只猫的毛发阵阵翻飞。