Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 Every hair on Lionpaw's pelt prickled with excitement. The moment he'd longed for had come—the chance to go to the mountains! Four ThunderClan cats wouldn't be enough to deal with the invaders, not if they were as strong as Stormfur and Talon said. Surely StarClan had arranged this, so that he could go visit the Tribe and find out about them, and show them how real warriors lived. His claws scratched the earth floor of the hollow as the walls loomed overhead, closing him in. He had never felt so confined before. The weight of stone seemed to press on his fur. He wanted to race up the nearest cliff and run through the forest, across the hills, all the way to the mountains, with the wind in his fur. "Calm down," Jaypaw mewed. "They're hardly going to take apprentices along!" Lionpaw rolled his eyes. "Jaypaw, I wish you wouldn't keep reading my mind." "You mean you want to go to the mountains?"

第十章 狮爪每一根毛发都因为兴奋微微发颤 他期盼已久的时刻终于来了——他得到了去山区的机会！ 如果入侵者真像暴毛和锐爪说的那样强悍，雷族只去四只猫根本不够应付 这一定是星族的安排，好让他去拜访部落、了解他们，还能向他们展示真正的武士是怎么生活的 头顶的岩壁耸立，将他困在当中，他忍不住用爪子抓挠着山洞的泥地 他从来没觉得这么憋闷过 石壁的重量仿佛都压在了他的身上 他真想立刻冲上最近的悬崖，跑过森林，越过高冈，一路奔向山区，让风吹透自己的毛发 “冷静点，”松鸦爪小声说 “他们才不会带学徒一起去呢！” 狮爪翻了个白眼 “松鸦爪，我希望你别总读我的心思” “你是说你也想去山区？”

Hollypaw asked. "They'll need more cats," Lionpaw pointed out, ready to defend himself. "Four's not enough. But Jaypaw's probably right," he added, his excitement fading as he realized that what the Tribe needed was help from experienced warriors. "They won't take apprentices." "Hollypaw wants to go, and so do I," Jaypaw announced unexpectedly. "Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight are going, so why shouldn't we see if we can go too? Even if they say no, they can't claw us just for asking." "You really want to go?" Lionpaw meowed to Hollypaw. She bounced to her paws, her tail fluffed out and her whiskers quivering. "I want to find out how the Tribe cats live. I've never met cats who are different from us. We could learn a lot." Jaypaw murmured agreement, though he said nothing about his own reasons for wanting to go. But that was Jaypaw, Lionpaw reflected; he always buried his thoughts deeper than hidden prey. "I want to know what else there is besides the

冬青爪问道 “他们需要更多猫，”狮爪开口辩解，随时准备维护自己的想法 “四只根本不够 不过松鸦爪可能说的对，”他补充道，兴奋慢慢退去，因为他也明白部落需要经验丰富的武士帮忙 “他们不会带学徒去的” “冬青爪想去，我也想去，”松鸦瓦出人意料地开口说 “黑莓掌和松鼠飞都要去，我们为什么不问问能不能一起去？ 就算不同意，他们总不会因为我们问了就抓我们一顿吧” “你真的想去？” 狮爪问冬青爪 她一下子蹦起来，尾巴蓬得鼓鼓的，胡须都激动得发颤 “我想看看部落的猫是怎么生活的 我从来没见过和我们不一样的猫 我们能学到好多东西” 松鸦爪小声表示同意，不过没说自己想去的原因是什么 狮爪心想，松鸦爪本来就是这样，他永远把心思藏得比藏好的猎物还深 “我也想知道除了”

forest, too," he confessed. "I know this is ThunderClan's home, but there are loads of other territories out there. What are they like?" "Well, then, we should—" Hollypaw began, breaking off as Firestar rose to his paws. "We need to discuss this," he meowed, "but my den is too small for all the cats who are going. Let's go into the forest." Glancing at the other cats who stood listening, he added, "Graystripe, Sandstorm, Leafpool, you come too." Lionpaw watched as the cats headed toward the thorn tunnel. The rest of the Clan seemed reluctant to go back to their dens or return to their duties. They huddled together, their eyes doubtful. "There's no way we should risk our own warriors to help the Tribe," Spiderleg complained, loud enough for the departing cats to hear him. "Haven't we got enough problems of our own?" Firestar's ears flicked as if he had heard what the young warrior said, but he didn't stop to reply before vanishing down the tunnel. "Things are pretty peaceful right now," Whitewing pointed out.

森林之外还有什么，”他坦白道 “我知道这里是雷族的家，可外面还有好多好多别的领地 它们都是什么样子的呀？” “那，我们应该——”冬青爪刚开口，火星站起身，她就停住了 “我们得商量一下这件事，”他说，“可是我的巢穴太小，装不下所有要去的猫 我们到林子里去吧” 他扫了一眼站着旁听的其他猫，补充道：“灰条、沙风、叶池，你们也一起来” 狮爪看着猫群朝荆藤隧道走去 族里剩下的猫都不想回窝，也不想回去干活 他们挤在一起，眼神里满是疑虑 “我们根本不该冒风险派自己的武士去帮部落，”蜘蛛腿大声抱怨，故意让走在前头的猫听见 “我们自己的麻烦还不够多吗？” 火星的耳朵动了动，好像听到了这话，可他没停下来回答，径直走进隧道不见了 “现在咱们族里挺太平的，”白翅说道

"Whitewing's right." Ashfur rose from where he was sitting between Cloudtail and Brightheart. "We can easily spare a few warriors. Brambleclaw's doing the right thing by helping the Tribe. Remember what they did for us when we made the Great Journey? We would have died in the snow if they hadn't found us." "Well, I think that's all nonsense!" Mousefur stalked up to Ashfur, her skinny brown tail lashing. "If the Tribe cats can't defend their own borders, that's their problem, not ours." Longtail padded up beside her and touched her shoulder briefly with his tail-tip. "I'd love to go back to the mountains." His voice was wistful. "I know I couldn't see where the Tribe lived, but I could feel the wide open spaces and the wind in my fur, and all the scents the wind carried from far away." "I'd like to go back, too!" Birchfall's eyes glowed with memories. "The Great Journey was fun! I had three good friends in ShadowClan: Toadkit, Applekit, and Marshkit. I wonder how they are now." "Who cares?" Berrynose flicked his tail;

“白翅说的对” 蜡毛从云尾和亮心中间站起身 我们匀出几只武士完全没问题 黑莓掌帮助部落，做得没错 还记得我们大迁徙的时候，他们帮过我们吗？ 要是他们没找到我们，我们早就冻死在雪地里了” “哼，我看这全是胡说八道！” 鼠毛大步走到蜡毛面前，瘦棕色的尾巴甩来甩去 “要是部落猫守不住自己的边界，那是他们的事，轮不到我们管” 长尾走到她身边，用尾尖轻轻碰了碰她的肩膀 “我真想再回山里看看” 他的声音带着深深的向往 “我虽然看不见部落住的地方，可我能感受到开阔的天地，风穿过我的毛发，还能闻到风从远方带来的各种气味” “我也想再回去！” 桦落的眼睛闪着光，全是回忆 “大迁徙太好玩了！ 我那时候在影族有三个好朋友： 蝌蚪崽、苹果崽和沼泽崽 不知道他们现在过得怎么样了” “谁关心他们？” 莓鼻甩了甩尾巴；

Lionpaw thought he could see jealousy in the cream warrior's eyes. "ShadowClan cats can't be your friends anymore. Have you forgotten how you nearly got your fur clawed off on the border?" And whose fault was that? Lionpaw asked silently, while Birchfall looked downcast, his tail drooping. "Anyway," Berrynose went on, "I don't see what's so great about the mountains. It sounds bare and cold up there, with no prey." "You know nothing about it," Dustpelt rasped, narrowing his eyes. "You weren't there." As Berrynose rudely turned his back on the senior warrior, Lionpaw beckoned with his tail for his littermates to follow him out of earshot of the group. "That does it!" he exclaimed. "If Birchfall could travel through the mountains and survive when he was just a kit, why shouldn't apprentices go? You'd be okay too," he added to Jaypaw. "Longtail coped, after all." He saw Jaypaw's neck fur begin to fluff up, but Lionpaw was too excited to fret about offending his brother. If Jaypaw wanted to be

狮爪觉得，他在那名浅奶色武士的眼中看到了嫉妒。 “影族猫再也不能做你的朋友了。 你忘了当初你在边境差点被撕碎皮毛吗？” 那到底是谁的错？ 狮爪在心里默默问道，此时桦落垂着头，尾巴也耷拉了下来。 “不管怎么说，”莓鼻接着说道，“我可不觉得那些山有什么了不起的。 那里听起来光秃秃冷飕飕，连一点猎物都没有。” “你根本什么都不懂，”尘皮眯起眼睛，哑声说道。 “你又没去过那里。” 莓鼻粗鲁地转身背对这位资深武士时，狮爪甩尾巴招呼同窝手足跟着他走到族群听不到说话的地方。 “够了！” 他大声说道。 “既然桦落还是幼崽的时候都能穿越大山脉活下来，为什么我们学徒就不行？ 你也肯定没问题的，”他对着松鸦爪补充道。 “毕竟长尾都能适应下来啊。” 他看到松鸦爪颈后的毛都炸了起来，但狮爪太兴奋，根本没心思担心是不是冒犯了弟弟。 如果松鸦爪想要

prickly every time some cat mentioned his blindness, that was his problem. "We've got to find Firestar and ask him right now," he meowed. "Before Brambleclaw and the others leave." He glanced around to see if any cat was paying attention to them. By now the group of cats was beginning to break up. Cloudtail called Sorreltail and Dustpelt to go out on a hunting patrol, while the elders returned to their den. Two or three of the other warriors padded over to the fresh-kill pile and picked out prey. Outside the nursery, Daisy and Millie stretched out in the sunshine and began sharing tongues, with Daisy's kits skipping around them. "Quick, while our mentors aren't looking!" Hollypaw urged, angling her ears to where Ashfur and Brackenfur were talking together in the middle of the clearing. Lionpaw dived after her as she bounded across the clearing and thrust her way through the thorn tunnel. When all three apprentices were out in the forest, she turned to Jaypaw. "Come on, you're best at scenting. Which way did Firestar go?"

每次有猫提起他失明的事就炸毛，那是他自己的问题。 “我们得立刻去找火星，向他提出请求，”他说道。 “赶在黑莓掌他们出发之前。” 他环顾四周，看看有没有猫在注意他们。 到这个时候，这群猫已经开始散开了。 云尾招呼栗尾和尘皮一起去参加捕猎巡逻，长老们则返回了巢穴。 另外两三名武士缓步走到新鲜猎物堆旁，挑选了自己的猎物。 育婴室外，黛西和米莉伸着身子晒太阳，还边互相舔毛聊天，黛西的幼崽在她们身边蹦跳玩耍。 “快点，趁我们的导师没注意！” 冬青爪催促道，她把耳朵竖向正在空地中央聊天的灰毛和蕨毛。 冬青爪奔过空地、冲进荆棘隧道的时候，狮爪紧跟着钻了进去。 三个学徒全都进入森林后，冬青爪转过身子面对松鸦爪。 “快来呀，你最擅长闻气味追踪了。 火星往哪一边走了？”