Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 The sun had set by the time Brambleclaw led Stormfur and Brook through the thorn tunnel into the ThunderClan camp. Shadows lay thickly in the stone hollow, and only one or two cats still lingered by the fresh-kill pile. Rainwhisker, on guard by the entrance, jumped in surprise at the appearance of Stormfur and Brook, but seeing that Brambleclaw was with them he just gave them a nod of greeting and said nothing. "Let's go and see Firestar," Brambleclaw suggested, bounding across the clearing to the rockfall. When he reached his leader's den, with Stormfur and Brook scrambling up behind him, he found Firestar already curled in his mossy nest at the back of the cave. He raised his head as Brambleclaw paused in the opening. "Good, you're back," he meowed, sitting up and shaking scraps of moss from his pelt. "What did you—" He broke off when he realized that Brambleclaw was not alone. "Is that Stormfur and Brook?" he mewed in surprise.

第十六章 荆爪带着暴毛和溪儿穿过荆刺隧道进入雷族营地时，太阳已经落山了。 石凹里阴影浓重，只有一两只能猫还留在新鲜猎物堆旁。 在入口放哨的雨须看到暴毛和溪儿突然出现，吓了一跳，但看到荆爪和他们同行，就只是点头打了招呼，没有多问。 “我们去找火星吧。”荆爪提议着，蹦跳着穿过空地走向岩堆。 当他走到族长巢穴，暴毛和溪儿跟在他身后爬上来时，他发现火星已经蜷在洞穴深处铺着苔藓的窝里了。 荆爪在洞口停下时，火星抬起了头。 “太好了，你回来了。”他喵呜叫着坐起身，抖掉皮毛上沾的苔藓碎渣。 “你找到——”他话没说完，才发现荆爪不是独自前来。 “是暴毛和溪儿吗？ 他惊讶地喵声问道。

"That's right." Brambleclaw stepped inside and dipped his head to his Clan leader. "I'm sorry, Firestar. Something happened." Firestar beckoned Stormfur and Brook into the den with a sweep of his tail. "Is there a problem in RiverClan?" "You could put it that way," Brambleclaw replied. Rapidly he told Firestar everything, from the moment when he spotted Brook chasing the squirrel, to when he invited the banished cats to come back with him to ThunderClan. "You did the right thing," Firestar meowed when he had finished. "You couldn't have left Stormfur and Brook with nowhere to spend the night." Turning to Stormfur, he added, "You're both welcome to stay for as long as you want." Stormfur's ears twitched. "We thought just for tonight—" he began. "That's up to you," Firestar told him. "But you deserve some time to decide what you want to do. ThunderClan owes you that, at least, after all the help you gave us when the badgers attacked." "Thank you," mewed Stormfur, and Brook added, "You don't know how much this means to

“没错。” 荆爪走进巢穴，向自己的族长发低了头。 “对不起，火星。 出了些意外。” 火星甩了一下尾巴，示意暴毛和溪儿进巢穴。 “河族出麻烦了吗？” “可以这么说。”荆爪回答。 他飞快地把整件事告诉了火星，从他撞见溪儿追松鼠开始，一直讲到他邀请这两只被放逐的猫和自己回雷族。 “你做得没错。”荆说完后，火星开口道。 “你不可能把暴毛和溪儿扔在外头，连过夜的地方都不给。” 他转向暴毛补充道：“欢迎你们想住多久就住多久。” 暴毛的耳朵抖了抖。 “我们原本只想住一晚——”他开口说道。 “这由你们自己决定。”火星告诉他。 “但你们值得好好想想，再决定接下来要怎么办。 当初獾群袭击我们的时候，你们帮了大忙，雷族至少欠你们这份人情。” “谢谢你，”暴毛喵声道，溪儿也跟着说：“你不知道这对我们

us." It was obvious to Brambleclaw that Firestar would be quite happy to welcome Stormfur and Brook into ThunderClan permanently. Much as he liked Stormfur and his Tribemate, he wasn't sure that was the right decision. What about the rest of the Clan? And how would RiverClan react when they found out? "Brambleclaw, take them to get something to eat, and then find them sleeping places," Firestar directed. "We'll talk more in the morning." Brambleclaw led the way out of the den and down into the clearing. He realized just how hungry he was; he hadn't eaten since that morning, when he caught the mouse near the Twoleg pelts. There wasn't much left on the fresh-kill pile—hunting patrols would need to go out first thing—but Brambleclaw chose a magpie for himself, while Stormfur and Brook shared a rabbit. By the time they had finished eating, it was completely dark, and Silverpelt glittered above their heads as Brambleclaw led the way to the warriors" den. The thorn tree's new growth

来说意义重大。” 荆爪看得很清楚，火星很乐意永远欢迎暴毛和溪儿加入雷族。 尽管荆爪也喜欢暴毛和他的部落同伴，他却不确定这是正确的决定。 族里其他猫会怎么想？ 河族发现这件事后，又会是什么反应？ “荆爪，带他们去找点吃的，再给他们安排睡觉的地方。”火星吩咐道。 “我们明早再详谈。” 荆爪带头走出巢穴，下到营地空地上。 他这才意识到自己有多饿； 从早上在两脚兽兽皮旁抓到那只老鼠之后，他就再也没吃过东西。 新鲜猎物堆里没剩多少东西——明早一得派狩猎队出去，但荆爪给自己选了一只喜鹊，暴毛和溪儿分了一只兔子。 等他们吃完，天已经全黑了，荆爪带他们去往武士巢穴时，银带在头顶闪闪发亮。 荆树新长出来的枝叶

hadn't covered all traces of the damage from the badgers, and the warriors were curled closely together in their mossy nests. Most of them were asleep or drowsily sharing tongues, and at first no cat took much notice of the new arrivals. "Are you sure there's room for us?" Stormfur asked as they slipped between the outer branches. "Plenty," Brambleclaw assured them. He headed for some spare space closer to the rock wall, accidentally treading on Dustpelt's tail as he padded past. The brown tabby tom lifted his head. "What's going on?" he mewed irritably. "Sorry," Brambleclaw muttered. "It's only Stormfur and Brook. They're staying for a while." Dustpelt grunted. "Does Firestar know about this?" "Of course." Brambleclaw bristled at the suggestion that he would bring strange cats into the den without asking the Clan leader. Dustpelt just twitched his whiskers and curled up again, pointedly drawing his tail close to his side. Brambleclaw managed to escort his friends to an empty space without disturbing any

还没有遮住獾群破坏留下的全部痕迹，武士们都紧紧蜷在铺着苔藓的窝里。 大多数猫要么睡着了，要么昏昏欲睡地互相舔毛，一开始没人太在意这两个新来的客人。 “你确定这里挤得下我们吗？ 暴毛在他们钻过外层树枝时问道。 “地方足够。”荆爪向他们保证。 他朝岩壁边的一块空地走去，经过的时候不小心踩到了尘皮的尾巴。 这只棕斑公猫抬起了头。 “怎么回事？”他不耐烦地喵声问道。 “对不起。”荆爪低声说。 “就是暴毛和溪儿， 他们要在这里住一阵。” 尘皮哼了一声。 “火星知道这件事吗？ “当然知道。” 尘皮暗指他没请示族长就带陌生猫进巢穴，荆爪听了不由得炸起毛。 尘皮只是抖了抖胡须，又蜷回身子，特意把尾巴收到自己身边。 荆爪好不容易把朋友领到那块空地上，没有再惊动其他

other cat. To his relief Squirrelflight was nearby; she looked up as Brambleclaw approached. Her voice was friendly as she meowed, "Hi, Stormfur, Brook. What are you doing here?" "I'll tell you in a moment," Brambleclaw replied. "Let's get Stormfur and Brook settled in first." "Sure." Squirrelflight moved over to make more space. Cloudtail was asleep next to her; she poked one paw hard into his side. "Move over, will you? You're taking up more room than a badger." "Badger? Where?" Cloudtail looked up, blue eyes wide with alarm. "Nowhere, mouse-brain," Squirrelflight snapped as several more cats stirred, heads popping up all over the den. "Go back to sleep." Brambleclaw helped Stormfur and Brook make nests for themselves in the moss, and finally settled down beside Squirrelflight. His jaws parted in a huge yawn; he could hardly stay awake to tell the story yet again. "I wish I'd been there," Squirrelflight mewed when he had finished. "I'd have shredded

另一只猫。 令棘爪松口气的是，松鼠飞就在附近；棘爪走近时，她抬起了头。 她友好地喵了一声：“嗨，石毛，溪儿。 你们来这儿做什么呀？” “我一会儿就告诉你，”棘爪回答。 “咱们先给石毛和溪儿安排好住处吧。” “好呀。” 松鼠飞挪了挪，腾出更多地方。 云尾在她旁边睡觉，她伸出爪子用力戳了戳他的腰。 “挪过去点，行不行？ 你占的地方比獾都大。” “獾？ 在哪儿？”云尾一下子抬起头，蓝眼睛睁得大大的，满是惊慌。 “哪儿也没有，笨蛋老鼠脑，”松鼠飞厉声说，这时又有几只猫被惊动，整个窝到处都冒出脑袋来。 “接着睡吧。” 棘爪帮石毛和溪儿在苔藓里铺好了窝，最后在松鼠飞身边躺了下来。 他张开嘴打了个大哈欠，困得都快睁不开眼，没法再讲一遍事情经过了。 “真可惜我不在场，”他讲完后，松鼠飞轻声说。 我肯定把

Hawkfrost's ears." "No, you wouldn't," Brambleclaw responded. "Not in the middle of the RiverClan camp." Squirrelflight flexed her claws. "He'd better stay out of my way, that's all. Do you think they'll stay?" she added, angling her ears toward Stormfur and Brook, who were already asleep, curled closely together among the moss and bracken. "I hope so." His jaws gaped in another yawn; his voice was blurred as he added, "ThunderClan needs good warriors." "RiverClan's loss is our gain," Squirrelflight agreed. She rasped her tongue over Brambleclaw's ears; the warm, rhythmic strokes were the last thing he felt as he slid into sleep. Gray dawn light was filtering through the branches of the thorn tree when Brambleclaw awoke. Outside he could hear Sandstorm beginning to sort out the patrols. Hurriedly he sprang up and pushed his way out into the clearing.

鹰霜的耳朵撕碎。” “不，你才不会呢，”棘爪回答说。 “总不能在河族营地正中央动手呀。” 松鼠飞张开爪子动了动。 他最好别挡我的道，就这样。 你觉得他们会留下来吗？” 她补充了一句，耳朵转向已经在苔藓和蕨类之间紧紧蜷成一团睡着了的石毛和溪儿。 “我希望他们留下。” 他又张开嘴打了个哈欠； 他说话都含糊了，补充道：“雷族需要优秀的武士。” “河族的损失就是我们的收获，”松鼠飞赞同地说。 她用舌头舔顺棘爪耳朵上的毛； 温暖有节奏的舔舐，是他沉入睡梦中前感受到的最后一件事。 棘爪醒来的时候，灰蒙蒙的晨光正透过荆刺树的枝桠照进来。 他听见外面沙风已经在安排巡逻队了。 他连忙跳起身，钻出窝来到了空地上。