Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 Graystripe had already left his nest when Fireheart awoke the next day. He could tell it was sunhigh by the light that glowed through the branches. He rose, his body still weary with grief, and pushed his head out of the den. Snow must have been falling all morning, for it lay thick on the ground and had drifted against the den. Fireheart found himself gazing out over a white wall that was as high as his shoulder. The usual bustle of the camp seemed muted. Fireheart could see Willowpelt and Halftail whispering on the far side of the clearing. Mousefur was picking her way laboriously toward the store of fresh-kill, a rabbit dangling from her jaws. She stopped and sneezed, then carried on. Fireheart lifted one paw and rested it on top of the snow. It felt hard at first, but when he pressed down, the thin covering of ice cracked and he gasped as his leg plunged into the drift. Fireheart snorted as he found himself up to his muzzle in snow. Shaking his head and lifting his chin, he leaped forward, only to sink into more deep snow. He struggled on, alarm rising in his chest. He felt

第十八章第二天，火心醒来时，灰条纹已经离开了他的窝。 透过树枝发出的光，他知道太阳已经出来了。 他站了起来，他的身体仍然因为悲伤而疲惫不堪，他把头从洞里探了出来。 雪一定下了整整一个上午，因为雪厚厚地铺在地上，飘到洞口。 火心发现自己正凝视着一堵齐肩高的白墙。 营地里惯常的喧嚣似乎消声了。 火心看见柳树皮和半尾巴在空地的另一边窃窃私语。 鼠毛费力地挑着路朝储藏新鲜猎物的地方走去，一只兔子吊在她的嘴里。 她停下来打了个喷嚏，然后继续说下去。 火心抬起一只爪子，放在雪地上。 一开始感觉很硬，但当他压下去时，薄薄的冰层裂开了，他倒吸了一口气，腿陷入了漂流中。 火心哼了一声，因为他发现自己被雪淹没了。 他摇着头，抬起下巴，向前一跳，却又陷进了更深的雪里。 他挣扎着往前走，心里充满了恐惧。 他觉得

as if he were drowning in snow! Then, all of a sudden, there was solid ground under his paws. He had reached the edge of the clearing. The snow here was only a mouse-length deep, and Fireheart sat down with a soft crunch, relieved. He tensed when he saw Graystripe plowing through the snow toward him. The gray warrior seemed unbothered by it, protected from its damp chill by his thick pelt. His face was shadowed with sorrow. "Have you heard about Bluestar?" he asked as he neared. "She lost a life to greencough." Fireheart flicked his ears impatiently. He could have told his friend that last night. "I know," he snapped. "I was with her." "Why didn't you tell me?" mewed Graystripe, shocked. "You weren't exactly in a friendly mood last night, if you remember. Anyway, if you weren't always off breaking the warrior code, you might know what was going on in your own Clan," he snarled. Graystripe's ears twitched uncomfortably. "I've just seen Cinderpaw," he meowed. "I'm sorry she's so sick."

好像他被雪淹死了！然后，突然间，他的脚掌下有了坚实的土地。 他已经到了空地的边缘。 这里的雪只有老鼠那么深，火心轻轻嘎吱一声坐了下来，松了口气。 当他看到“灰条”在雪地里向他驶来时，他紧张了起来。 灰衣战士似乎并不在意，厚厚的毛皮保护他不受湿冷的影响。 他的脸上笼罩着悲伤的阴影。 “你听说过蓝星公司吗？”他走近时问道。 “她因为绿色而失去了一条生命。” 火心不耐烦地摇了摇耳朵。 他昨晚本可以告诉他的朋友的。 “我知道。”他厉声说。“我和她在一起。” “你为什么不告诉我？”格雷斯特震惊地叫道。 “如果你还记得的话，你昨晚的心情可不太好。 不管怎么说，如果你不总是违反战士的准则，你也许会知道你自己部落里发生了什么。”他咆哮道。 灰条的耳朵不安地抽搐着。 “我刚刚看到了灰姑娘的爪子，”他喵喵地叫道。 “我很遗憾她病得这么厉害。”

"How is she?" "She looked bad, but Yellowfang said she's pulling through," replied Graystripe. Fireheart stared anxiously across the clearing and stood up. He wanted to see his apprentice for himself. Graystripe meowed, "She's asleep now. Frostfur's with her, and Yellowfang doesn't want anyone else disturbing her." Fireheart flinched involuntarily. How was he going to tell Frostfur that it was his fault that Cinderpaw went to the Thunderpath? Instinctively, Fireheart turned to Graystripe, seeking reassurance. But Graystripe was trudging across the snowy clearing toward the nursery. Off to see Silverstream, Fireheart guessed resentfully, sheathing and unsheathing his claws as he watched his friend disappear from sight. Fireheart noticed Speckletail, the oldest queen from the nursery and the mother of the kit with whitecough, only when she stopped right in front of him. "Is Tigerclaw inside?" she asked, pointing with her nose to the warriors' den. Fireheart shook his head.

“她怎么样了？”“她看起来很糟糕，但黄牙说她会挺过来的。” 火心焦急地望着空地那边，站了起来。 他想亲眼看看他的徒弟。 灰条叫道：“她睡着了。 Frostfur和她在一起，黄牙不想让任何人打扰她。” 火心不由自主地退缩了。 他要怎么告诉弗罗斯特这是他的错，灰姑娘爪子去了雷道？ 火心本能地转向灰条纹，寻求安慰。 但灰条正艰难地穿过积雪的空地，朝育儿室走去。 “去找银溪去了。”火心愤愤地猜测，一边不断地伸出爪子，看着他的朋友从视线中消失。 火心注意到了斑点尾巴，她是保育室里年纪最大的女王，也是白牙雀的母亲，这时她正好停在他面前。 “虎爪在里面吗？”她问，用鼻子指着战士们的洞穴。 火心摇了摇头。

Speckletail mewed, "There's greencough in the nursery. Two of Brindleface's kits are sick." "Greencough!" Fireheart gasped, shaken from his anger. "Will they die?" "They might. But leaf-bare always brings greencough," Speckletail pointed out gently. "Surely there's something we can do!" Fireheart protested. "Yellowfang will do what she can," answered Speckletail. "But in the end, it's up to StarClan." A new flash of fury flared in Fireheart's belly as Speckletail turned away and padded back to the nursery. How could the Clan tolerate these tragedies? He felt overwhelmed by the need to leave the camp, to escape the gloomy air that the rest of the Clan seemed content to breathe. He jumped up and raced blindly across the snowy clearing, through the gorse tunnel and out into the forest. He was startled to find himself heading instinctively for the training hollow. The thought that he should be there, teaching Cinderpaw, was more than he could bear. As he veered to avoid it, he heard the voices of Whitestorm and Brackenpaw. The white-furred

斑点尾巴叫道：“苗圃里的绿色已经够多了。 蓬头垢面的两个孩子病了。” “Greencough !”火心喘着气，从愤怒中惊醒过来。 “他们会死吗？”“他们可能。 不过光秃秃的叶子总能带来足够的绿色。”小斑点轻轻地指出。 “我们肯定能做点什么！”Fireheart抗议道。 “黄牙会尽她所能的。”斑点尾巴回答。 但最终还是要看《StarClan》。” 火心的肚子里又燃起了一股怒火，斑点尾巴转过身去，蹑手蹑脚地回到育儿室。 氏族怎么能容忍这些悲剧？ 他觉得有必要离开营地，逃离其他部落成员似乎乐于呼吸的阴郁空气。 他跳起来，盲目地跑过白雪皑皑的空地，穿过金雀花隧道，跑进了森林。 他吃惊地发现自己本能地朝训练场地走去。 一想到他会在那儿教灰姑娘抓爪子，他就受不了。 正当他转身避开它时，他听到了白风暴和蕨爪的声音。 的居住于

warrior must have taken Brackenpaw for training while Fireheart had been sleeping. Had no cat stopped to grieve for Bluestar's lost life? Fireheart's throat tightened as he fought back his rage and ran on, desperate to put as much distance as possible between himself and the camp. He finally stopped beneath Tallpines, his sides heaving with the effort of running through the snow. There was stillness here that calmed him. Even the birds had stopped singing. Fireheart felt as if he were the only creature in the world. He didn't know where he was going; he just padded on, letting the woods soothe him. As he walked, his mind cleared. He could do nothing for Cinderpaw, and Graystripe was out of reach, but he might be able to help Yellowfang fight the greencough. He would fetch some more catnip. Fireheart turned his steps toward his old kittypet home, weaving through the brambles in the oak woods that backed onto Twolegplace. He leaped to the top of the fence at the end of his old home, nudging a ridge of snow into the garden below. It fell with a soft clump. Fireheart peered

肯定是在火心睡觉的时候，大侠带着爪子去训练的。 难道没有猫停下来为蓝星逝去的生命哀悼吗？ 火心的喉咙绷紧了，他强忍着怒火继续往前跑，拼命想和营地保持尽可能远的距离。 他终于在高林尼山下停了下来，由于在雪地里奔跑的努力，他的身体上下起伏。 这里的寂静使他平静下来。 就连鸟儿也停止了歌唱。 火心觉得自己是世界上唯一的生物。 他不知道自己要去哪里；他只是慢吞吞地往前走，让树林抚慰他。 他走着走着，头脑清醒了。 他对灰爪无能为力，灰条也够不着，但他也许能帮助黄牙打败绿牙。 他再去拿些猫薄荷。 火心转身朝他那只小猫的老房子走去，穿过背对着双街的橡树林中的荆棘。 他跳上老家尽头的篱笆，把一堆雪推到下面的花园里。 它轻轻地落了一团。 Fireheart视线

down into the garden. He could see tracks, smaller than a cat's. A squirrel had been out hunting for its store of nuts. It didn't take Fireheart long to pluck a generous mouthful of leaves from the catnip bush. He wanted to take as much as he could. Its soft leaves might not survive this weather; this could be his last chance to gather it. With his mouth crammed, Fireheart stared toward the swinging flap he had used as a kit. He wondered if his Twoleg housefolk still lived there. They'd been kind to him. He had spent his first leaf-bare cosseted in their nest, warm and safe from the cruelties of Thunderpaths and greencough. The scent of this catnip must be going to my head, he thought sharply. He bounded up the garden and onto the fence with a single leap. He was unnerved by how much the thought of his Twoleg home had stirred him. Did he really want the safety and predictability of a kittypet's life? Of course not! Fireheart shook the thought away. But the idea of returning to camp didn't appeal to him yet.

下到花园。他能看到比猫的脚印还小的脚印。 一只松鼠出去寻找储藏的坚果。 火心没过多久就从猫薄荷丛里摘了一大口叶子。 他想尽可能多地拿走。 它柔软的叶子可能熬不过这样的天气；这可能是他最后的机会了。 火心嘴里塞满了东西，盯着他用作工具箱的那个摇摆的挡板。 他不知道特沃莱格家的人是否还住在那里。 他们对他很好。他第一次光秃秃地呆在他们的窝里，温暖而安全，远离了雷道的残酷，也足够绿了。 猫薄荷的香味一定让我头晕目眩，他尖锐地想。 他纵身跃过花园，跳到篱笆上。 想到他在特沃莱格的家，他感到很不安。 他真的想要小猫那样的安全和可预测的生活吗？ 当然不是！火心打消了这个念头。 但回到营地的想法还没有吸引他。