Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 "I'm still really tired," Jaypaw complained. Leafpool was leading him down to the lake. "But sunhigh's the best time to collect mallow, when the leaves are dry." Jaypaw yawned. His paws were still sore and he felt as if he'd hardly closed his eyes before Leafpool nudged him awake. At least the day was warm. There was no chance of newleaf being driven back by the long claws of leaf-bare now. The sunshine striking through the new foliage was hot enough to make his pelt itch as they padded through the trees. Birds called to one another, and far off he could hear the shrieks and splashes of Twolegs playing in the water. Jaypaw shivered, remembering his fall into the lake when Crowfeather had rescued him. He wasn't going to get his paws wet again if he could help it. Water babbled nearby. He had only been this way once before. A brook ran down out of the forest and into the lake. Like the stream that led up to the Moonpool, it carried the scent of the

第四章 “我真的还是好累，”松鸦爪抱怨道。 叶池领着他往湖边走去。 “不过正午是采锦葵最好的时间，这时候叶子都是干的。” 松鸦爪打了个哈欠。 他的爪子还在酸痛，感觉自己刚合上眼就被叶池推醒了。 至少今天天气很暖和。 现在秃季的利爪绝不可能再把新叶季赶回去了。 他们穿过树林时，阳光透过新长的树叶洒下来，热得让他的皮毛都发痒。 鸟儿相互啼鸣，远处能听到两脚兽在水里玩耍的尖叫和溅水声。 松鸦爪打了个哆嗦，想起自己掉进湖里被鸦羽救下的事。 只要能避开，他可不想再把爪子沾湿了。 水流在旁边潺潺作响。 他之前只来过这里一次。 一条小溪从森林流出，汇入湖泊。 就像通往月亮池的溪流，它带着

mountains. Leafpool led him along the edge, weaving around the trees that lined its path. The grass felt soft and cool on his pads and he was sorry when Leafpool veered off the grassy bank and down onto the pebbly shore. "The lake's higher than I'd hoped," she meowed, stopping. "We won't be able to collect all the herbs I wanted, but I can see a clump over there." She darted away toward a sweet scent, and Jaypaw began to pad after her. Suddenly, in the forest behind him, leaves fluttered and paw steps beat quick and light on the forest floor. A squirrel! Tiny paws skittered along the bank of the stream behind him and scrabbled up a tree, rustling its leaves. Then splashing. A hunting patrol was plunging toward him, down the shallow stream. "Did you hear where it went?" Birchfall's excited mew sounded from the trees. Jaypaw flicked his nose toward where the squirrel was leaping along a low branch. "I'll get it!" Pebbles rattled and water splashed

群山。 叶池领着他沿着溪边前行，在路边的树木间绕来绕去。 青草踩在爪垫上又软又凉，所以当叶池拐离草岸、走向鹅卵石滩时，松鸦爪有点不舍。 “湖面比我预想的要高，”她停下脚步说道。 “我们采不到我想要的全部药草，但我看到那边有一丛。” 她朝着那股甜甜的香味冲了过去，松鸦爪跟在她后面往前走。 突然，他身后的树林里叶子晃动，轻快急促的脚步声落在林地上。 是一只松鼠！ 小小的爪子在他身后的溪岸掠过，扒着树干爬上树，叶子沙沙作响。 接着是溅水声。 一支狩猎巡逻队正沿着浅溪冲下来，朝他这边过来。 “你听到它跑哪去了吗？” 桦落兴奋的声音从树林里传出来。 松鸦爪甩了甩鼻子，指向松鼠在低枝上跳跃的方向。 “我去抓它！” 鹅卵石滚动，水花四溅

as Mousepaw scooted from the stream and up the tree trunk. Jaypaw ducked and blinked as shards of bark sprayed him, gouged out by Mousepaw's eager claws. The branch overhead creaked, and Jaypaw heard a surprised squeal. But it wasn't the squirrel. It was Mousepaw. The apprentice tumbled off the branch and crashed onto the pebbles beside Jaypaw. "Fox dung!" Mousepaw scrambled to his paws, embarrassment flashing from his ruffled pelt. "Catch it?" Jaypaw inquired. Leaves rustled above them as the squirrel made its getaway. "Nice try!" Spiderleg called from the stream. "Next time, I'll get it!" Mousepaw called back to his mentor. The scent of the stream had confused Jaypaw, but as the ThunderClan patrol clambered out, shaking water from their paws, he recognized their distinctive smells. Ashfur and Lionpaw were with Birchfall, Spiderleg, and Mousepaw. Lionpaw bounded down onto the shore. "Hi, Jaypaw." "Good morning for hunting," Jaypaw replied,

鼠爪就窜出小溪，爬上了树干。 松鸦爪赶紧低头眨眼，碎树皮溅了他一身，都是鼠爪急切扒爪弄下来的。 头顶的树枝吱呀作响，松鸦爪听到一声惊讶的尖叫。 不过那不是松鼠的声音。 那是鼠爪。 这名学徒从树枝上摔下来，重重砸在松鸦爪身旁的鹅卵石上。 “狐狸屎！” 鼠爪连忙爬起来，蓬乱的皮毛都透着尴尬。 “抓到了吗？” 松鸦爪问道。 松鼠逃走的时候，头顶的叶子沙沙作响。 “已经很棒啦！” 蜘蛛腿从溪边喊道。 “下次我一定抓到它！” 鼠爪对着自己的导师喊道。 溪流的气味打乱了松鸦爪的判断，但当雷族巡逻队爬上岸、抖掉爪子上的水时，他认出了他们各自独特的气味。 蜡毛和狮爪，还有桦落、蜘蛛腿、鼠爪在一起。 狮爪蹦跳着来到岸边。 “嗨，松鸦爪。” “今天打猎天气不错，”松鸦爪回答道，

flicking his brother's pelt with his tail. "Mmm." Jaypaw stiffened, curious. Lionpaw was distracted, his mind not entirely on the hunt. "What are you doing down there, Jaypaw?" Birchfall called from the bank. "I'm helping Leafpool collect herbs," Jaypaw told him, nodding toward Leafpool, who was farther down the shore scuffling among the mallow stems. "What's she doing?" Lionpaw asked. "Digging up mallow," Jaypaw told him. "Can you see any more of it about?" "There's a clump of it by an old stick over there." Lionpaw nudged his brother in the right direction. "Look out though, there are lots of twigs and lumps of wood washed up on the shore. Don't trip." "Come on," Ashfur called impatiently. "Let's get back to the hunt!" "Can you manage?" Lionpaw wound around Jaypaw. "Of course!" "Okay. See you later." Lionpaw bounded

尾巴轻轻扫了扫哥哥的皮毛。 “嗯。” 松鸦爪绷紧身体，心里好奇起来。 狮爪有些心不在焉，心思没完全放在打猎上。 “你到这儿来做什么呀，松鸦爪？” 桦落从岸边喊道。 “我帮叶池采药草，”松鸦爪回答，朝叶池点了点头，她在岸边更远处的锦葵丛里翻找呢。 “她在做什么？” 狮爪问道。 “挖锦葵，”松鸦爪告诉他。 “你还能在附近找到别的锦葵吗？” “那边一根枯木头旁边有一丛。” 狮爪把哥哥领到正确的方向。 “不过要小心哦，岸上冲上来好多细枝和木块， 别绊倒了。” “走吧，”蜡毛不耐烦地喊道。 “我们回去打猎啦！” “你自己可以吗？” 狮爪绕到松鸦爪身边。 “当然可以！” “好的。 回头见。” 狮爪蹦跳着

away, making the pebbles clatter. Jaypaw listened to the patrol disappear back into the trees, envying his brother a little. In this weather, hunting would be way more fun than gathering leaves. He turned with a sigh toward the patch of mallow Lionpaw had spotted. He could smell it now, its sweet rose scent warmed by the sun. Carefully, he picked his way over the shore, avoiding the rubbish left washed up by the floodwater. He stretched out his nose, touching a mallow leaf and sniffing deeply. His front paw bumped into something hard. Was this the stick Lionpaw had mentioned? He leaned down to sniff it and felt it smooth on his nose. The bark had been stripped away, the wood beneath it bone-dry. It could not have been in the water long, or it still would be sodden despite the newleaf sunshine. Jaypaw ran his paw over it. The exposed wood felt sleek beneath his pad. He could feel something odd, too: scars scratched across the branch, too neat and regular to be natural. Some of them were crossed by other lines, like two paths going in different directions.

他们走开了，碰得鹅卵石咔哒作响。 杰爪听着巡逻队消失在树林深处，心里有点羡慕哥哥。 这种天气，打猎可比收集树叶有意思多啦。 他叹着气转身，朝狮爪发现的那片锦葵丛走去。 他现在闻到味道了，甜甜的玫瑰香气被太阳烘得暖暖的。 他小心翼翼地在岸边走，躲开洪水冲上来搁浅的垃圾。 他伸长鼻子，碰了碰一片锦葵叶，深深吸了口气。 他的前爪撞到了一个硬邦邦的东西。 这就是狮爪提到过的那根棍子吗？ 他俯下身去闻，鼻子碰到一块滑溜溜的东西。 树皮都已经脱落了，露出来的木头干得像骨头。 它不可能泡在水里太久，不然就算有新叶季的太阳晒，也还是会湿漉漉的。 杰爪用爪子蹭了蹭它。 露出来的木头在爪垫底下摸起来光滑极了。 他还感觉到有点不对劲：树枝表面刻着好多印子，这些印子太整齐规则了，不可能是天然形成的。 有些印子被别的线条交叉着，就像两条朝向不同方向的小路。

"What's that?" Leafpool's voice close behind him made him jump. He had been so absorbed that he hadn't heard her approach. "A stick." With an effort, he rolled it from beneath the mallow plant where it had lodged. "Look at the lines." She sniffed it. "No scent," she commented. "From by the lake, I expect." "But the lines feel strange," Jaypaw prompted. "They're too even." "You're right," Leafpool agreed. "I wonder what made them? A fox, maybe a badger?" "They're too fine to be badger or fox marks." "Perhaps it's some Twoleg thing," Leafpool suggested. She flicked her tail. "Come on. I'll dig up some roots from this plant to add to the others I've collected." Jaypaw could smell the fishy stench of lake mud on her paws. "You start stripping off some leaves," Leafpool went on. "If we're lucky, they'll dry before the next rain." Why wasn't she more interested in the stick? They had never come across anything like this

“这是什么呀？” 叶池的声音突然在身后响起，吓了杰爪一跳。 他刚才太投入了，都没听见叶池走过来。 “一根棍子呀。” 他费了点劲，把卡在锦葵丛里的棍子滚了出来。 “你看看这些纹路。” 她闻了闻棍子。 “一点味道都没有，”她说道。 “我猜是从湖边飘过来的吧。” “可是这些纹路摸起来怪怪的，”杰爪提醒她。 “它们太整齐了。” “你说得对，”叶池认同道。 “我好奇是什么弄出来的？ 狐狸？说不定是獾弄的？” “这些印子太细了，不可能是獾或者狐狸抓的。” “搞不好这是两脚兽的东西呢，”叶池猜测道。 她甩了甩尾巴。 “走吧。 我挖点这株植物的根，加到我之前收集好的那些里去。” 杰爪闻到她爪子上带着湖泥的鱼腥味。 “你先来摘叶子，”叶池接着说。 “运气好的话，下场雨之前它们就能晒干了。” 她怎么就对这根棍子没兴趣呢？ 他们从来都没遇见过这样的东西