Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 Fireheart lifted his head, about to speak, but Cinderpaw beat him to it. "It's my fault, Tigerclaw." She stared boldly up at the great tabby. "We were hunting on the frozen stream by the training hollow, on the bend by the deep pool. Even that bit was frozen. I slipped and Graystripe came to help me, but the ice wasn't thick enough for him and it cracked and he fell into the water." Tigerclaw looked into her clear, bright eyes as she added, "It really is deep there. Fireheart had to pull him out." Fireheart cringed, remembering how he had stood motionless with terror at the sight of Graystripe disappearing into the river. Tigerclaw nodded and looked at Graystripe. "You'd better get yourself to Yellowfang before you freeze to death." The ThunderClan deputy stood up and stalked away, and Fireheart breathed a sigh of relief. Graystripe didn't hesitate. The long run home hadn't stopped his teeth from chattering. He bounded away to Yellowfang's den. Brackenpaw glanced at Cinderpaw and padded off to his nest,

第十二章火心抬起头来，正要说话，但是灰爪抢在他前面。 “是我的错，虎爪。” 她大胆地抬头盯着那只大斑猫。 “我们在训练洼地旁边结冰的小溪上打猎，在深水池旁边的弯道上打猎。 甚至那部分都被冻住了。我滑倒了，格雷斯特过来救我，但是冰不够厚，冰裂开了，他掉进了水里。” 虎爪看着她清澈明亮的眼睛，补充道：“那里真的很深。 火心只好把他拉了出来。” 火心畏缩了，想起他当时是怎样惊恐地站在那里，看着灰条纹消失在河里。 虎爪点点头，看着灰条。 “你最好在被冻死之前赶紧去黄牙。” 雷霆族的副手站起身，大步走开，火心松了一口气。 灰条纹没有犹豫。 虽然跑了很长时间回家，但他的牙齿还是在打战。 他蹦蹦跳跳地奔向黄牙的巢穴。 爪子扫了一眼灰姑娘的爪子，然后蹑手蹑脚地回巢去了，

his tail drooping with exhaustion. Fireheart looked at Cinderpaw. "Aren't you even a bit frightened by Tigerclaw?" he asked curiously. "Why should I be?" replied Cinderpaw. "He's a great warrior. I admire him." Of course, why shouldn't she? Fireheart thought. "You lie very well," he growled sternly, trying his best to act like a mentor. "Well, I try not to," mewed Cinderpaw. "I just thought the truth wouldn't be very helpful here." Fireheart had to admit she had a point. He shook his head slowly. "Go and get warm." "Yes, Fireheart!" Cinderpaw dipped her head and charged after Brackenpaw. Fireheart padded over to the warriors' den. He was worried at how easily the story about Graystripe's soaking had tumbled from Cinderpaw's mouth. But he also believed she was a well-meaning and honest cat. He thought of Ravenpaw, another good cat. Had the story he'd told about Tigerclaw killing Redtail simply been just that—a story that tumbled from his mouth in the heat of the moment? Fireheart shook the

他筋疲力尽，尾巴耷拉着。 火心看着灰姑娘的爪子。 “你一点也不怕虎爪吗？”他好奇地问。 “我为什么要害怕呢？” “他是一个伟大的战士。我钦佩他。” 当然，她为什么不能？ Fireheart思想。“你撒得很好。”他严厉地咆哮着，竭力表现得像个导师。 “好吧，我尽量不去。” “我只是觉得真相在这里不会有多大帮助。” 火心不得不承认她是有道理的。 他慢慢地摇了摇头。“去暖和暖和。” “是的,Fireheart !”Cinderpaw低下头去追Brackenpaw。 火心蹑手蹑脚地来到战士们的洞穴。 他很担心灰条被淋湿的事这么轻易地从灰爪嘴里说出来。 但他也相信她是一只善意而诚实的猫。 他想到了拉文爪，另一只好猫。 难道他讲的虎爪杀死红尾巴的故事只是他一时冲动脱口而出的吗？ 火心摇了摇

thought away. Ravenpaw had been terrified when he spoke to Fireheart. He obviously believed his own story. Why else would he have been frightened enough to leave the Clan? Fireheart chose a few pieces of fresh-kill and carried them over to the nettle clump. He settled himself beside it and began to gnaw thoughtfully on a mouse. The admiration in Cinderpaw's voice when she had spoken of Tigerclaw worried him. It seemed as though he alone suspected there was more to the ThunderClan deputy than met the eye. Bluestar's attitude toward Tigerclaw certainly hadn't changed. She had been treating him with the same trust and respect that she had always shown him. With a flash of frustration, Fireheart ripped another mouthful from his meal. A loud sneeze made him look up. Graystripe was heading toward him. "How are you?" Fireheart asked as Graystripe arrived, smelling of one of Yellowfang's herb concoctions. Graystripe sat down heavily and coughed. "I've saved you some food," Fireheart meowed, pushing a plump thrush and a vole toward his

想走了。拉文爪跟火心说话的时候吓坏了。 他显然相信自己的话。 不然他为什么会害怕到离开氏族呢？ 火心挑了几片刚杀的猎物，把它们带到荨麻丛那里。 他坐在它旁边，开始若有所思地啃着一只老鼠。 当她谈到虎爪的时候，灰姑娘声音里的钦佩使他很担心。 似乎只有他一个人怀疑雷霆家族的副手还有其他的东西。 蓝星对虎爪的态度当然没有改变。 她对他一如既往地信任和尊重。 火心感到一阵沮丧，他又吃了一口。 一个响亮的喷嚏使他抬起头来。 灰条纹朝他走来。 “你好吗？”火心问道，这时灰条来了，身上散发着黄牙的一种草药混合物的味道。 灰条重重地坐了下来，咳嗽起来。 “我给你留了些吃的。”火心喵喵地叫着，把一只胖乎乎的画眉和一只田鼠推到他面前

friend. "Yellowfang says I have to stay in camp. She says I have a chill," Graystripe meowed thickly. "I'm not surprised. What did she dose you with?" "Feverfew and lavender." Graystripe lay down and began to nibble at the thrush. "This'll be enough for me," he mumbled. "I'm not very hungry." Fireheart looked at his friend in amazement. That wasn't something he had ever thought he'd hear Graystripe say. "You sure?" he asked. "There's plenty here." Graystripe stared down at the thrush and didn't reply. "Are you sure?" Fireheart repeated. "What?" Graystripe turned his faraway gaze on Fireheart. "Uh, yeah," he meowed. He must have a fever, Fireheart decided, shaking his head. Oh, well, at least he was still here, thanks to that RiverClan cat. A few days later Fireheart woke to find the first fog of leaf-bare filling the den. When he crept

朋友。“黄方说我必须呆在营地里。 她说我感冒了。”灰条嘶哑地叫着。 “我并不感到惊讶。她给你下了什么药？”“小白菊和薰衣草。” 灰条躺下，开始啃那只画眉。 “这对我来说就够了。”他咕哝着。 “我不是很饿。”火心惊讶地看着他的朋友。 他从没想过会听到格雷斯特里特说这句话。 “你确定？”他问。“这里有很多。” 灰条低头盯着画眉，没有回答。 “你确定吗？”Fireheart重复。 “什么?”灰条纹把他遥远的目光转向火心。 “嗯，是的，”他喵喵叫道。“他一定是发烧了。”火心摇着头断定。 至少他还在这里，多亏了那只河族的猫。 几天后，火心醒来，发现洞穴里弥漫着第一层光秃秃的叶子雾。 当他蹑手蹑脚时

outside, he could barely see the other side of the clearing. He heard pawsteps hurrying toward him, and Mousefur appeared out of the gloom. "Tigerclaw wants to see you," she meowed. "Right, thanks," answered Fireheart. Alarm shot through him. He'd slipped away to visit Princess yesterday. Had Tigerclaw noticed? "What was that?" Graystripe's voice wheezed behind him. He sat down beside Fireheart, sneezed, and yawned. "Tigerclaw wants to see me." Fireheart looked at his friend. "You should be asleep." He was beginning to worry about Graystripe. He ought to have recovered by now. "Did you rest up yesterday?" he asked. "As much as I could between coughing and sneezing," complained Graystripe. "Then why weren't you in your nest when I got back from"—Fireheart hesitated, remembering he'd spent the afternoon talking with Princess —"training?" "Do you think I get any peace and quiet in there?" Graystripe flicked his head back at the den. "Warriors trooping in and out all day! I found

在外面，他几乎看不到空地的另一边。 他听见有脚步声向他匆匆走来，老鼠从黑暗中出现了。 “虎爪要见你。”她叫道。 “好的，谢谢。”火心回答。 他突然惊慌起来。他昨天溜去看公主了。 虎爪注意到了吗？“那是什么？”灰条纹的声音在他身后喘着气。 他在火心旁边坐下，打了个喷嚏，打了个哈欠。 “虎爪要见我。” 火心看着他的朋友。 “你应该睡觉。”他开始担心灰条纹了。 他现在应该已经康复了。 “你昨天休息了吗？”他问。 “在咳嗽和打喷嚏之间，我尽可能多地咳嗽。”格雷stripe抱怨道。 “那我训练回来的时候，你为什么不在你的窝里？”——火心犹豫了一下，想起他整个下午都在和公主聊天——“训练？”“你觉得我在那里能得到安宁吗？”灰条朝那窝轻轻摇了摇头。 “战士们整天进进出出！”我发现

somewhere quieter, that's all." Fireheart was about to ask where, but Graystripe spoke first. "I wonder what Tigerclaw wants?" Fireheart's paws prickled. "I'd better go and find out." He could just see the shapes of Tigerclaw and Whitestorm through the mist, sitting below the Highrock. As Fireheart padded over to them, they stopped talking and Tigerclaw turned to him. "It's time Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw were assessed," he growled. "Already?" Fireheart meowed in surprise. The apprentices had not been training long. "Bluestar wants to see how their training is progressing. Especially with Graystripe being too ill to train Brackenpaw. If Brackenpaw is falling behind, she needs to know so she can appoint another mentor for him." Fireheart's tail twitched with annoyance. Surely Graystripe would recover soon. It would be unfair to entrust his first apprentice to someone else. "I've been taking Brackenpaw out with me and Cinderpaw every day," he meowed quickly.

找个安静点的地方，就这样。” 火心刚想问去哪儿，但灰条纹先开口了。 “不知道虎爪想要什么？”火心的爪子刺痛了。 “我最好去看看。” 他只能透过薄雾看到坐在海岩山下的虎爪和白风暴的身影。 火心走到他们跟前，他们停止了谈话，虎爪转向他。 “是时候评估一下Cinderpaw和Brackenpaw了。”他咆哮道。 “已经?”火心惊讶地叫了起来。 学徒们训练的时间不长。 “蓝星想看看他们的训练进展如何。 尤其是灰条病得太重，没法训练抱抱猴。 如果爪子落后了，她需要知道，这样她才能为它指派另一位导师。” 火心恼怒地抖动着尾巴。 当然，Graystripe很快就会恢复过来。 把他的第一个徒弟托付给别人是不公平的。 “我每天都带着宝爪和灰姑娘一起出去。”他很快地喵了一声。