Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 Shocked and angry caterwauls rose up from the cats surrounding the Great Rock. Every muscle in Fireheart's body urged him to creep backward into the bushes and hide from their fury. It took all his strength to stay where he was. Sandstorm pressed against his side, as shaken as he was, and he found her warmth comforting. On top of the Great Rock, Tallstar whipped around to face Bluestar. "Is this true?" he snarled. Bluestar did not reply to him at once. With great dignity, she stepped forward and faced Nightstar. The moonlight glowed on her fur, turning it to silver, so that Fireheart could almost believe that a warrior of StarClan had leaped down from Silverpelt to join them. She waited until the noise from below had died down. "How do you know this?" she coolly asked Nightstar when she could make herself heard. "Have you been spying on our camp?" "Spying!" Nightstar spat the word out. "There's no need to spy when your apprentices gossip so freely. My warriors heard this at the last Gathering. Do you dare to stand here now and tell

第十九章大岩石周围的猫发出震惊和愤怒的叫声。 火心的每块肌肉都催促他往后退，躲进灌木丛里，躲避他们的怒火。 他用尽了全身的力气才呆在原地。 沙暴紧紧贴在他身边，他和他一样颤抖，他觉得她的温暖很安慰。 在巨石顶上，高星转身面对蓝星。 “这是真的吗？”他咆哮道。 蓝星没有立即回答他。 她威严地走上前去，面对着夜星。 月光照在她的皮毛上，把它变成了银色，火心几乎以为是星族的战士从银皮上跳下来加入了他们。 她一直等到下面的喧闹声平息下来。 “你怎么知道的？”等她能听见自己说话时，她冷冷地问夜星。 “你一直在监视我们的营地吗？”“间谍!”夜星吐出了这个词。 “你的徒弟们都这么随便说闲话，你就没必要监视了。 我的战士们在上次集会上听到了这个。 你现在还敢站在这里说出来吗

me they are wrong?" As he spoke, Fireheart remembered seeing Swiftpaw with the ShadowClan apprentices at the end of the last Gathering. No wonder the young cat had looked guilty, if he had been telling his friends all about ThunderClan's prisoner, so soon after Bluestar had ordered all her Clan to keep quiet! Bluestar hesitated. Fireheart felt a pang of sympathy for her. Many of her own Clan had been unhappy with her decision to shelter blind Brokentail. How was she going to defend herself in front of the other Clans? Tallstar crouched in front of her, his ears flattened. "Is it true?" he repeated. For a moment Bluestar did not speak. Then she lifted her head defiantly. "Yes, it's true," she meowed. "Traitor!" spat Tallstar. "You know what Brokenstar did to us." Bluestar's tail tip twitched; even from his place below the rock Fireheart could see the strain in every muscle of her body, and knew she was struggling to keep calm. "No cat dares to call me

他们错了吗？”说着，火心想起上次聚会结束时，曾见过Swiftpaw和影子氏族的徒弟们在一起。 在蓝星命令她的族人保持安静之后不久，如果这只小猫告诉他的朋友们关于雷霆氏族俘虏的一切，难怪它看起来很内疚！蓝星犹豫了。 火心对她感到一阵同情。 她自己氏族中的许多人都对她庇护盲人布罗肯泰尔的决定感到不满。 她要如何在其他氏族面前为自己辩护？ 高斯特蹲在她面前，耳朵贴得很平。 “是真的吗？”他重复道。 蓝星一时没有说话。 然后她挑衅地抬起头来。 “是的，这是真的。”她喵喵叫道。 “叛徒！”“你知道布罗肯斯塔对我们做了什么。” 蓝星的尾巴尖抽搐了一下；即使站在岩石下面，火心也能看到她全身的肌肉都在紧张，他知道她在努力保持镇静。 “没有猫敢叫我

traitor!" she hissed. "I dare," retorted Tallstar. "You are nothing but a traitor to the warrior code, if you are willing to give shelter to that…that heap of foxdung!" All around the clearing WindClan cats leaped to their paws, yowling in support of their leader. "Traitor! Traitor!" At the foot of the Great Rock, Tigerclaw and Deadfoot, the WindClan deputy, faced each other with their hackles raised, lips drawn back to show their sharp teeth, their noses no more than a mouse-length apart. Fireheart sprang up too, his fighting instinct sending energy to his paws. He caught a glimpse of Willowpelt snarling at the WindClan queens with whom she had been sharing tongues a few moments before. A couple of ShadowClan warriors paced threateningly toward Darkstripe, and Mousefur leaped to his side, ready to attack. "Stop!" Bluestar yowled from her place on the Great Rock. "How can you break the truce like this? Would you risk the wrath of StarClan?" As she spoke, the moonlight began to fade. Every cat in the clearing froze. Looking up,

叛徒！”“我敢，”塔尔斯特反驳道。 “如果你愿意给那……那堆狐粪提供庇护，那你就是对武士准则的叛徒！”在空旷的风氏族周围，所有的猫都跳起来，嚎叫着支持他们的领袖。 “叛徒!叛徒!”在巨石脚下，虎爪和风族的副手死脚面对面，竖起了鬃毛，嘴唇向后缩，露出尖利的牙齿，他们的鼻子相距不过一只老鼠那么长。 火心也跳了起来，他的战斗本能给他的爪子带来了能量。 他瞥见威洛佩特正对着几分钟前还在说舌语的风氏族女王咆哮。 两名暗影族战士威胁地朝暗条纹走来，鼠毛跳到了他身边，准备进攻。 “住手!”蓝星在大岩石上嚎叫着。 “你怎么能这样破坏休战？” 你愿意冒被星际战队激怒的风险吗？”她说话的时候，月光开始暗淡下来。 空地上的每只猫都僵住了。 抬起头,

Fireheart saw a wisp of cloud passing over the face of the moon. He shivered. Was that a warning from StarClan, because the Clans seemed about to break the sacred truce? Clouds had covered the moon once before, a sign of StarClan's anger that had brought the Gathering to an end. As the cloud passed away the moonlight strengthened again. The moment of crisis had passed. Most of the cats sat down, though they continued to glare at one another. Whitestorm pushed himself between Deadfoot and Tigerclaw, and started to mew urgently into the ThunderClan deputy's ear. On the top of the Great Rock, Crookedstar stepped forward to stand beside Bluestar. He looked calm; Fireheart realized that of all the Clans, RiverClan had least reason to hate Brokentail. He had not crossed the river into their territory, or stolen their kits. "Bluestar," he meowed, "tell us why you have done this." "Brokentail is blind," Bluestar replied, her voice ringing out so that every cat in the clearing could hear her. "He is an old, defeated cat. He is

火心看见一缕云从月亮表面掠过。 他不禁打了个哆嗦。这是来自星际战队的警告吗，因为星际战队似乎要打破神圣的休战？ 以前有一次云遮住了月亮，这是星族的愤怒导致聚会结束的标志。 云散去后，月光又增强了。 危机时刻已经过去了。 大多数猫都坐了下来，尽管它们仍然互相怒目而视。 白风暴挤到死脚和虎爪之间，开始急切地向雷族代表的耳朵里探去。 在巨石顶，弯星走上前去，站在蓝星身边。 他看上去很平静；火心意识到，在所有氏族中，大河氏族最没有理由讨厌布罗肯泰尔。 他没有过河进入它们的领地，也没有偷走它们的工具箱。 “蓝星，”他叫道，“告诉我们你为什么要这么做。” “布罗肯泰尔是个瞎子。”蓝星回答，她的声音响亮得让空地上的每只猫都能听到。 “他是一只老猫，被打败了。 他是

no danger, not anymore. Would you have him starve to death in the forest?" "Yes!" Nightstar's voice rose, shrill and insistent. "No death is too cruel for him!" Flecks of foam spun from the ShadowClan leader's lips. He thrust his head aggressively toward Tallstar and snarled, "Will you forgive the cat who drove you out?" For a moment Fireheart wondered why Nightstar should be so frantic, so intent on whipping up Tallstar's hatred like this. He was Clan leader now. What harm could a blind prisoner do him? Tallstar flinched away from the ShadowClan leader, clearly taken aback by his fury. "You know how much this means to my Clan," he meowed. "We will never forgive Brokenstar." "Then I tell you, you're wrong," meowed Bluestar. "The warrior code tells us to show compassion. Tallstar, don't you remember what ThunderClan did for you when you were defeated and driven out? We found you and brought you home, and later we fought beside you against RiverClan. Have you forgotten what you owe us?"

不再有危险了。你想让他饿死在森林里吗？”“是的!”夜星的声音提高了，尖锐而坚决。 “对他来说，没有什么死是残酷的！”泡沫从暗影氏族首领的唇边喷出。 他咄咄逼人地把头伸向塔尔斯特，咆哮道：“你能原谅把你赶出去的那只猫吗？”火心想了一会儿，为什么夜星会如此疯狂，如此一心要挑起高星的仇恨。 他现在是部落首领了。一个盲人囚犯能对他造成什么伤害呢？ 高斯塔尔从暗影氏族首领面前退缩了，显然被他的愤怒吓了一跳。 “你知道这对我们家族有多重要。”他喵喵地说。 “我们永远不会原谅布罗肯斯塔。” “那我告诉你，你错了。”蓝星叫道。 “战士守则告诉我们要表现出同情心。 高星，你不记得雷霆帮在你被打败和驱逐的时候为你做了什么吗？ 我们找到了你，把你带回家，后来我们和你一起对抗河族。 你忘了欠我们什么吗？”

Far from soothing Tallstar, Bluestar's words angered the WindClan leader more than ever. He stalked up to her, his fur bristling. "Does ThunderClan claim to own us?" he spat out. "Is that why you brought us back, to bow to your wishes and accept your decisions without question? Do you think WindClan has no honor?" Bluestar bowed her head in the face of the WindClan leader's fury. "Tallstar," she meowed. "You're right that no Clan can own another. That's not what I meant. But remember how you felt when you were weak, and try to show compassion now. If we drive Brokentail out to die, we're no better than he is." "Compassion?" spat Nightstar. "Don't give us tales fit for kits, Bluestar! What compassion did Brokenstar ever show?" Yowls of agreement filled the air as he spoke. Nightstar added, "You must drive him out now, Bluestar, or I'll want to know the reason why." Bluestar's eyes narrowed to glittering blue slits. "Don't tell me how to run my Clan!" "I'll tell you this," Nightstar growled. "If ThunderClan keeps on sheltering Brokenstar, you

蓝星的话非但没有安抚高星，反而比以往更加激怒了风氏族的首领。 他昂首阔步地走向她，毛都竖起来了。 “难道雷霆家族声称拥有我们？”他吐了出来。 “这就是你把我们带回来的原因吗，为了服从你的意愿，毫无疑问地接受你的决定？” 你以为风氏族没有荣誉吗？”面对风氏族首领的愤怒，蓝星低下了头。 “高个子，”她叫道。“你说得对，没有一个部族可以拥有另一个部族。 我不是这个意思。但记住你软弱时的感受，现在试着表现出同情心。 如果我们把布罗肯泰尔赶出去等死，我们就比他强不了多少。” “同情？”夜星啐道。 “蓝星，别给我们编小故事！”布罗肯斯塔有什么同情心吗？”他说话时，空气中充满了赞同的吼声。 夜星补充道：“你现在必须把他赶出去，蓝星，否则我要知道原因。” 蓝星的眼睛眯成一条闪闪发光的蓝缝。 “别告诉我怎么管理我的部落！”“我告诉你，”夜星咆哮道。 “如果ThunderClan继续庇护Brokenstar，你