Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 "Another day of sunshine!" Fireheart purred to Graystripe, feeling his flame-colored pelt glow in the weak morning sun. Thanks to the fine weather, he had visited Princess nearly every day recently, slipping away to see her between patrols, hunting, and training sessions. Now he walked with his friend along the short trail to the sandy hollow where Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw would be waiting. "Let's hope it stays clear for the rest of leaf- bare," Graystripe meowed. Fireheart knew how much his thick-coated friend hated rain—when Graystripe's fur got wet, it clung to him and stayed damp long after Fireheart's shorter fur had dried off. The two warriors arrived at the edge of the hollow just as Cinderpaw pounced on a pile of frosty leaves, sending them flying in all directions. She leaped and twisted to catch one as it fluttered back to the ground. Fireheart and Graystripe glanced at each other, amused. "At least Cinderpaw will be warmed up and

第十一章“又是一个晴天！”火心对着灰条纹咕噜着，感觉自己火红的皮毛在微弱的晨曦中闪闪发光。 多亏了好天气，他最近几乎每天都去看公主，在巡逻、狩猎和训练间隙溜出去看她。 现在，他和他的朋友沿着一条小路走到沙洞，灰姑娘爪子和爪子会在那里等着。 “让我们希望剩下的光秃秃的叶子能保持晴朗。”灰条喵喵地说。 火心知道他的厚毛朋友有多讨厌下雨——当灰条的毛湿了，它就会粘在他身上，而且在火心的短毛干了很久之后还能保持潮湿。 两个战士来到山谷边缘时，灰姑娘的爪子突然扑向一堆结霜的树叶，把他们打得四下乱飞。 她跳起来，扭身去抓一只飞回地面的苍蝇。 火心和灰条纹互相看了一眼，觉得很好笑。 “至少灰姑娘的爪子会暖和起来。

ready for today's assignment," Graystripe observed. Brackenpaw jumped to his paws and looked up at his mentor, his eyes wide. "Good morning, Graystripe," he meowed. "What is today's assignment?" "A hunting mission," Graystripe told him. He padded down into the hollow, followed by Fireheart. "Where?" mewed Cinderpaw, dashing toward them. "What are we going to catch?" "We're going to Sunningrocks," Fireheart replied, suddenly sharing her enthusiasm. "And we'll catch whatever we can." "I'd like to catch a vole," declared Cinderpaw. "I've never tasted vole." "I'm afraid everything we catch today goes straight back to the elders," Graystripe warned. "But I'm sure if you asked one of them nicely, they'd be happy to share." "Okay," mewed Cinderpaw. "Which way is Sunningrocks?" She bounded up one side of the hollow and peered into the forest, her tail sticking straight up.

准备好今天的任务了。” 爪子跳了起来，抬头看着他的导师，眼睛睁得大大的。 “早上好，灰条。”他叫道。 “今天的作业是什么？”“一次狩猎任务。”格雷斯特告诉他。 他蹑手蹑脚地走进山谷，火心跟在后面。 “在哪儿？”灰姑娘叫道，朝他们冲了过去。 “我们要抓什么？”“我们要去桑宁岩。”火心答道，突然和她一样兴奋起来。 “我们会抓住一切我们能抓到的东西。” “我想抓一只田鼠，”灰姑娘说。 “我从来没吃过田鼠肉。”“恐怕我们今天抓到的所有东西都会直接回到长辈那里去。”格雷斯特里特警告说。 “但我敢肯定，如果你友好地问他们，他们会很乐意分享的。” “好吧，”灰姑娘叫道。“太阳岩怎么走？”她跳上山谷的一边，朝森林里张望，尾巴笔直地翘着。

"This way!" meowed Fireheart, leaping up the opposite side. "Okay." Cinderpaw raced down the slope, across the hollow, and up to Fireheart's side, sending fallen leaves flying everywhere. Graystripe leaped up and caught one as it drifted past his nose. He pinned it to the ground with a purr of satisfaction and saw Brackenpaw staring at him. "Er, never miss a chance to practice your hunting skills," Graystripe told him quickly. The four cats made their way along the familiar scent-trails to Sunningrocks. The sun was above the trees by the time they emerged into open territory. Ahead of them, a slope of rock rose out of the soft earth, its smooth surface lined with cracks. The cats had to narrow their eyes as they looked at it. After the shade of the woods, the flat rock face reflected the sun with dazzling glare. "This is Sunningrocks," Fireheart announced, blinking. "Come on!" "Mrrrrr! It feels nice!" mewed Cinderpaw as she raced up the stone slope behind him. Fireheart realized she was right. The stone felt

“这边走！”火心叫道，跳到了对面。 “好吧。”Cinderpaw跑下斜坡，穿过山谷，跑到火心身边，落叶飞得到处都是。 灰条纹跳起来抓住了一条从他鼻子边漂过的鱼。 他心满意足地哼了一声，把猫钉在地上，看见爪子正盯着他。 “呃，千万不要错过任何一个练习狩猎技能的机会。” 四只猫沿着熟悉的气味痕迹向桑宁岩走去。 当他们进入开阔地带时，太阳已经升到树的上方了。 在他们前面，一块岩石从松软的土地上隆起，光滑的表面布满了裂缝。 猫们不得不眯着眼睛看它。 树林的阴影过后，平坦的岩石表面反射着耀眼的阳光。 “这里是太阳岩。”火心眨着眼睛宣布。 “来吧!”“Mrrrrr !感觉好极了！”灰姑娘叫着跟在他后面跑上石坡。 火心意识到她是对的。 石头毡

comfortingly warm and smooth after the ice-cold forest floor. They rested at the top, where the far side fell away steeply to the forest. Fireheart listened for the gentle bubbling of the river that followed the RiverClan border, flowing down from the uplands. It touched the Sunningrocks before turning to run deeper into RiverClan territory. He could barely hear it—perhaps the water was low after the dry weather. Fireheart stretched out, enjoying the warmth of the rock beneath him and the soft heat of the sun on his pelt. He closed his eyes, feeling proud to be lying here, a place where generations of ThunderClan cats had come to warm themselves, and which they had battled hard to keep. Graystripe joined him. "Come on," he meowed to the two apprentices. "Make the most of the sun while it's here. There are enough cold, damp days ahead of us." The two apprentices lay down beside their mentors and purred as the warmth seeped into their fur. "Is this where Redtail died?" asked Brackenpaw.

经过冰冷的森林地面后，温暖而光滑。 他们在山顶休息，在那里，山的另一边陡峭地向森林延伸。 火心静听着河族边界上从高地流下的潺潺流水声。 它触碰了太阳岩，然后转向河族领地的深处。 他几乎听不到声音——也许是干燥的天气过后水位太低了。 火心伸开四肢，享受着脚下岩石的温暖，享受着阳光照在毛皮上的柔热。 他闭上眼睛，为自己能躺在这里而感到骄傲，这是世世代代的雷族猫来这里取暖的地方，也是它们为保住这里而艰苦奋斗的地方。 灰条纹也加入了他。“来吧，”他喵喵地对两个徒弟说。 “趁太阳还在的时候，要充分利用它。 在我们前面有足够多的寒冷、潮湿的日子。” 两个学徒躺在他们的导师身边，当温暖渗透到他们的皮毛时，他们发出呼噜声。 “这是红尾巴死的地方吗？”

"Yes," Fireheart answered cautiously. "And where Tigerclaw avenged his death by killing Oakheart?" Cinderpaw piped up. Fireheart's fur prickled as he remembered Ravenpaw's account of the fight—that Redtail had been responsible for Oakheart's death and then Tigerclaw had killed Redtail, the deputy of his own Clan. Fireheart pushed away the disturbing thoughts and replied simply, "This is the place." The two apprentices fell silent and looked down the slope in awe. Suddenly Fireheart heard a noise. He pricked his ears. "Hush," he hissed. "What can you hear?" The two apprentices strained their ears forward. "I think I can hear some scrabbling," Brackenpaw whispered. "It might be a vole," murmured Graystripe. "Can you tell where it's coming from?" "Over there!" mewed Cinderpaw, leaping to her paws. The scrabbling noise became more furious and then disappeared. "I think it heard you," Fireheart remarked. Cinderpaw looked crestfallen. Brackenpaw purred

“是的。”火心谨慎地回答。 “虎爪在哪里杀了奥克哈特报了仇？”Cinderpaw尖声说。 火心想起拉文爪对这场战斗的描述——红尾巴对奥克哈特的死负有责任，然后虎爪杀死了自己氏族的代表红尾巴，他的毛刺痛了。 火心打消了烦恼的念头，简单地回答道：“就是这里。” 两个徒弟默不作声，敬畏地望着山下。 突然，火心听到一个声音。 他扎了耳朵。“嘘，”他嘶嘶地说。 “你能听到什么？”两个学徒侧耳倾听。 “我想我能听到有人在抓斗。”爪子小声说。 “可能是一只田鼠。”格雷斯特低声说。 “你能分辨出它是从哪里来的吗？”“在那儿！”灰姑娘叫着，跳向她的爪子。 抓斗的声音越来越激烈，然后消失了。 “我想它听到了。”火心说。 Cinderpaw看起来垂头丧气。 Brackenpaw呼噜

with amusement at his sister's clumsiness. "Never mind," meowed Graystripe. "Now you know that it's better to creep up slowly, especially on voles. They're fast!" "Sit still and listen," Fireheart advised. "Next time we hear something, work out where it is and then begin to move toward it very slowly. A mouse could probably hear even the rustling of your fur, so let him think it's just the wind blowing across the rock." The cats remained where they were, no one daring to move until they heard the scrabbling sound again. His ears pricked, Fireheart rose and crept forward, placing each paw noiselessly in front of the other until he reached the edge of a small crack that ran across the rock face. He paused. The scrabbling noise continued. Fireheart lunged forward and reached down into the crack with a forepaw. He scooped out a fat vole that had been hiding in the shadows and flung it onto the bright stone. It squealed as it landed, but the hard ground stunned it and Fireheart finished it off quickly. "Wow!" mewed Cinderpaw. "I want to do

对妹妹的笨拙感到好笑。 “没关系，”灰条叫道。 “现在你知道了，最好是慢慢爬上去，尤其是对田鼠。 他们快!”“坐好，听着。”火心建议。 “下次我们听到什么声音时，找出它在哪里，然后开始慢慢地朝它移动。 老鼠甚至可能听到你皮毛的沙沙声，所以让他以为那只是风吹过岩石的声音。” 猫们都呆在原地，谁也不敢动，直到它们再次听到抓东西的声音。 他的耳朵刺痛了，火心站起身来，蹑手蹑脚地向前爬去，两只爪子无声地放在一起，一直走到岩石表面上一条小裂缝的边缘。 他停顿了一下。抓斗的声音还在继续。 火心向前扑去，把前爪伸到裂缝里。 他挖出一只躲在阴影里的胖田鼠，扔到那块明亮的石头上。 它落地时尖叫了一声，但坚硬的地面把它打晕了，火心很快就把它干掉了。 “哇！”灰姑娘叫道。“我想做。