Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 "Well, if it isn't our newest apprentice, Firepaw!" Fireheart looked up from his vole to see Longtail swaggering toward him, his tail waving in the air. "Ready for a training session?" the warrior sneered. "Tigerclaw sent me to be your mentor." Taking his time, Fireheart swallowed the last of the vole and rose to his paws. He could guess what had happened. Bluestar had told Tigerclaw about the punishment, and Tigerclaw had wasted no time in organizing the first patrol. Naturally he would choose the cat who disliked Fireheart the most to supervise his hunting. Beside him, Graystripe jumped up and took a pace toward Longtail. "Watch what you say," he snarled. "We're not apprentices!" "That's not the way I heard it," replied Longtail, swiping his tongue appreciatively over his jaws as if he had just swallowed a tasty morsel. "Then we'd better put you right," Fireheart hissed, beginning to lash his tail. "Do you want me to tear your other ear?" Longtail took a step back. He was clearly

第十五章“哎，这不是我们的新徒弟火爪吗？”火心从他的田鼠身上抬起头来，看见长尾巴大摇大摆地朝他走来，尾巴在空中挥舞着。 “准备好训练了吗？”战士冷笑着说。 “虎爪派我来做你的导师。” 火心不慌不忙地吞下最后一口田鼠肉，站起身来。 他能猜到发生了什么事。 蓝星把惩罚的事告诉了虎爪，虎爪立刻组织了第一次巡逻。 自然，他会选择最不喜欢火心的那只猫来监督他的狩猎。 在他身边，灰条纹跳了起来，朝长尾巴走了一步。 “说话小心点。”他咆哮道。 “我们不是学徒！”“我听到的不是这样。”长尾回答道，一边用舌头在下巴上赞赏地滑动，好像刚刚吞下了一块美味的食物。 “那我们最好把你纠正过来。”火心嘶嘶地说，开始鞭打自己的尾巴。 “你想让我撕开你的另一只耳朵吗？”长尾巴往后退了一步。 他显然

remembering Fireheart's arrival in the camp. He had fought Longtail fiercely, showing no fear in spite of the warrior's "kittypet" taunts. Fireheart knew that even if the other cats let Longtail forget his defeat, his torn ear would remind him forever. "You'd better watch it," the warrior blustered. "Tigerclaw'll have your tails off if you touch me." "It would be worth it," Fireheart retorted. "Call me Firepaw once more, and you'll find out." Longtail said nothing, only turning his head aside to lick his pale fur. Fireheart relaxed his threatening stance. "Come on, then," he grunted. "If we're going to hunt, let's get on with it." He and Graystripe led the way out of the gorse tunnel and up the side of the ravine. Longtail followed, loudly suggesting where to hunt as if he were in charge, but once they were in the forest Fireheart and Graystripe did their best to ignore him. The day was cold and gray, and a thin rain had begun to fall. Prey was hard to find. Graystripe caught sight of movement in some bracken fronds and went to investigate, but Fireheart was almost ready to give up by the time he saw a chaffinch

记得火心来到营地。 他和长尾搏斗得很激烈，尽管长尾奚落他是“小猫”，他还是毫无惧色。 火心知道，即使其他猫让长尾巴忘记他的失败，他那只被撕裂的耳朵也会永远提醒他。 “你最好小心点，”武士吼道。 “如果你们敢碰我，虎爪就会把你们的尾巴咬下来。” “这是值得的。”火心反驳道。 “再叫我火爪，你就知道了。” 长尾什么也没说，只是转过头去舔自己苍白的皮毛。 火心放松了威胁的姿态。 “那就来吧。”他咕哝着说。 “如果我们要打猎，那就开始吧。” 他和灰条纹带路走出了金雀花隧道，爬上了峡谷的一侧。 长尾巴跟在后面，大声建议去哪里打猎，好像他是老大似的，但他们一进了森林，火心和灰条纹就尽量不理睬他。 天气又冷又阴沉，下起了细雨。 猎物很难找到。灰条看到一些蕨类植物的叶子有动静，就去查看，但火心几乎要放弃了，这时他看到了一只苍头燕雀

pecking around the roots of a hazel bush. He dropped into a crouch, creeping forward paw by paw while the bird pecked on unawares. He was preparing to pounce, his haunches rocking from side to side, when Longtail jeered, "Call that a crouch? I've seen better on a three- legged rabbit!" As soon as he spoke the chaffinch fluttered away in a panic, letting out a loud alarm call. Fireheart whirled around furiously. "That was your fault!" he snarled. "As soon as it heard you—" "Rubbish," meowed Longtail. "Don't make excuses. You couldn't catch a mouse if it sat between your paws." Fireheart flattened his ears and bared his teeth, but as he braced himself for a fight, he suddenly wondered if Longtail was deliberately provoking him. Longtail would have a fine story to tell Tigerclaw if Fireheart attacked him. "Fine," Fireheart growled through his teeth. "If you're so good, show us how it's done." "As if there'll be any prey left, after the racket that bird made when you scared it," Longtail sneered.

啄着榛树的根。 他蹲下身子，一只爪子一个爪子地向前爬，而那只鸟却在不知不觉中啄着他。 他正准备扑过去，他的臀部左右摇晃着，这时长尾嘲笑道：“这叫蹲下吗？ 我在三条腿的兔子身上看到过更好的！”他话音刚落，苍头燕雀就惊慌地飞开了，发出一声响亮的警报。 火心愤怒地转过身来。 “那是你的错！”他咆哮道。 “胡说。”长尾巴叫道。 “不要找借口。如果老鼠坐在你的爪子中间，你是抓不到它的。” 火心竖起耳朵，露出牙齿，但当他准备战斗时，他突然怀疑长尾巴是不是故意挑衅他。 如果火心攻击长尾巴，他会有一个很好的故事告诉虎爪。 “好吧。”火心从牙缝里咆哮道。 “如果你这么厉害，就给我们示范一下怎么做。” “你把那只鸟吓得叫个不停，好像还会有什么猎物似的。”长尾讥笑道。

"Now who's making excuses?" Fireheart spat back. Before Longtail could reply, Graystripe emerged from the bracken with a vole in his jaws. He dropped it beside Fireheart and began to kick earth over it to bury it until they were ready to return to camp. Longtail used the interruption to turn away and stalk toward the tunnel Graystripe had made in the bracken. Graystripe watched him go. "What's the matter with him? He looks as if he's swallowed mouse bile." Fireheart shrugged. "Nothing. Come on, let's keep going." After that, Longtail left them alone, and by sunset the two young warriors had collected a respectable pile of fresh-kill to carry back to the camp. "You take some to the elders," Fireheart suggested to Graystripe as they dragged the last pieces in. "I'll see to Yellowfang and Cinderpaw." He chose a squirrel and headed toward the medicine cat's den. Yellowfang was standing

“现在是谁在找借口？”火心反唇相讥。 长尾还没来得及回答，灰条就从蕨类植物中钻了出来，嘴里叼着一只田鼠。 他把它扔在火心旁边，开始用土把它埋起来，直到他们准备回营地。 长尾利用这一打断，转身向灰条在蕨类植物中开辟的隧道走去。 灰条纹目送他离去。 “他怎么啦？” 他看起来好像吞了老鼠的胆汁。” Fireheart耸耸肩。“没什么。 来吧，让我们继续前进。” 在那之后，长尾就离开了他们，到日落时分，这两个年轻的战士已经收集了一大堆新鲜的猎物，准备带回营地。 “你拿一些给长老们。”当他们把最后的碎片拖进来时，火心向灰条纹建议。 “我来照顾黄牙和灰姑娘。” 他选了一只松鼠，朝药猫的窝走去。 黄牙站着

outside the cleft in the rock, with Cinderpaw sitting in front of her. Fireheart's former apprentice looked happy and alert. She was sitting very straight, with her tail wrapped around her paws, and her blue eyes were fixed on Yellowfang as she listened to the old cat. "We can chew up ragwort leaves and mix them with crushed juniper berries," rasped Yellowfang. "It makes a good poultice for aching joints. Do you want to try doing it?" "Okay!" Cinderpaw mewed enthusiastically. She sprang up and sniffed the heap of herbs Yellowfang had laid on the ground. "Does it taste bad?" "No," answered Yellowfang, "but try not to swallow it. A bit won't hurt you, but too much will give you a bellyache. Yes, Fireheart, what do you want?" Fireheart crossed the clearing, dragging the squirrel between his front paws. Cinderpaw was already crouching in front of the ragwort, chewing vigorously, but she flicked her tail at Fireheart in greeting. "This is for you," Fireheart mewed as he

在岩石的裂缝外面，灰姑娘的爪子坐在她的前面。 火心的前徒弟看上去既高兴又警觉。 她坐得很直，尾巴缠在爪子上，蓝眼睛盯着黄牙，听老猫说话。 “我们可以嚼碎狗舌草的叶子，把它们和碎杜松子混在一起，”黄牙粗暴地说。 “它是治疗关节疼痛的好药膏。 你想试试吗？”“好吧!”Cinderpaw兴奋地喵喵叫着。 她跳起来，嗅了嗅黄牙放在地上的那堆草药。 “味道不好吗？”“不，”黄牙回答说，“但尽量不要吞下去。 吃一点不会伤到你，但吃太多会让你肚子痛。 是的，火心，你想要什么？”火心穿过空地，用前爪拖着松鼠。 灰姑娘爪已经蹲在猪蹄草前，使劲地嚼着，但它朝火心甩了甩尾巴，表示欢迎。 “这是给你的。”火心叫道

dropped the squirrel beside Yellowfang. "Oh, yes, Runningwind told me you were back on apprentice duties," Yellowfang growled. "Mouse-brain! You might have known some cat would find out you were helping RiverClan." "Well, it's done now." Fireheart didn't want to talk about his punishment. To his relief, Yellowfang seemed happy to change the subject. "I'm glad you've come," she meowed, "because I want a word with you. You see that poultice?" She lifted her muzzle toward the green mash of chewed leaves Cinderpaw was making. "Yes." "It's for Smallear. He's in my den now, with the worst case of stiff joints I've seen in moons. He can hardly move. And if you ask me, it's all because his nest was recently lined with damp moss." Her tone was mild, but her yellow eyes burned into Fireheart's. Fireheart felt his heart sink. "This is about Cloudkit, isn't it?" "I think so," mewed Yellowfang. "He's been careless about the bedding he's brought in. If you

把松鼠放在黄牙旁边。 “哦，对了，奔风告诉我你回来当学徒了。” “老鼠大脑!你早该知道，总有一天会发现你在帮河族。” “好了，现在一切都结束了。”火心不想谈论对他的惩罚。 让他松了一口气的是，黄方似乎很乐意改变话题。 “我很高兴你来了，”她喵喵叫道，“因为我想和你说句话。 你看到那个药膏了吗？”她抬起嘴对着灰姑娘爪子正在做的嚼碎的绿叶糊状物。 “是的。”“这是给小的。 他现在在我的窝里，关节僵硬得很厉害。 他几乎不能动了。如果你问我，我会说，这都是因为他的巢最近长满了潮湿的苔藓。” 她的语气温和，但她那双黄眼睛灼灼地盯着火心。 火心感到心一沉。 “这是关于Cloudkit的，对吗？”“我想是的。”黄牙叫道。 “他对带进来的床上用品很粗心。 如果你