Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24 Fireheart leaped from one stepping-stone to the next across the swiftly flowing river. The floodwater had retreated and the stones were clearly visible again. It was the day after Silverstream had died; the sky was gray with a thin drizzle of rain, as if StarClan were mourning her too. Fireheart was on his way to take the news of Silverstream's death into RiverClan, although he had not sought Bluestar's permission first. He had slipped away without telling any cat because he thought Silverstream's Clan had the right to know what had happened to her. And he suspected that not every cat in ThunderClan would agree with him. Reaching the opposite bank, Fireheart stood with his head raised, tasting the air for fresh scents. He caught one almost at once, and a heartbeat later a small tabby tom appeared from the ferns above the path. He hesitated, looking startled, before sidling down the bank to confront Fireheart. "You're Fireheart, aren't you?" he meowed. "I recognize

第二十四章火心跨过湍急的河流，从一块踏脚石跳到另一块踏脚石。 洪水退去了，石头又清晰可见了。 那是银溪死后的第二天；天空灰蒙蒙的，下着细雨，好像星族也在哀悼她。 虽然火心并没有事先征求蓝星的同意，但他已经准备将银溪死亡的消息带回河族。 他没告诉任何一只猫就溜走了，因为他认为银溪氏族有权知道她的遭遇。 他怀疑并不是所有的猫都会同意他的观点。 到了对岸，火心昂着头站在那里，嗅着空气中的新鲜气味。 他几乎立刻就抓住了一只，不一会儿，一只斑猫从小路上方的蕨类植物中出现了。 他犹豫了一下，看起来很吃惊，然后侧身下了岸，去找火心。 “你是火心，是不是？”他叫道。 “我承认

you from the last Gathering. What are you doing on our side of the river?" He was trying to sound confident, but Fireheart could detect nervousness in his voice. He was a very young cat—an apprentice, Fireheart guessed, anxious at being away from the camp without his mentor. "I'm not here to fight, or to spy," Fireheart promised. "I need to talk to Mistyfoot. Will you fetch her for me?" The apprentice hesitated again, as if he would have liked to protest. Then the habit of obeying warriors' orders won over, and he padded along the riverside in the direction of the RiverClan camp. Fireheart watched him go and scrambled up the bank to a spot where he could lie concealed in the bracken until Mistyfoot appeared. It was a long time before she came, but at last Fireheart caught sight of her familiar blue-gray shape trotting rapidly toward him. Familiar because of Bluestar, he realized with a jolt. His leader's daughter was practically her double. To his relief she was alone. As she paused to sniff the

上次聚会上的你。 你在我们这边做什么？”他努力装出自信的样子，但火心听得出他声音里的紧张。 它是一只非常年轻的猫——一个学徒，火心猜想，因为没有导师的陪伴而离开营地而焦虑不安。 “我不是来打仗的，也不是来侦察的。” “我要和迷雾脚谈谈。 你能帮我把她叫来吗？”学徒又犹豫了一下，好像他想抗议似的。 这时，服从战士命令的习惯占了上风，他沿着河边朝河族营地的方向走去。 火心看着他离开，爬上河岸，躲在蕨菜树丛里，等雾脚出现。 过了好长时间她才来，但火心终于看见了她熟悉的蓝灰色身影，正快步向他走来。 因为蓝星而熟悉，他猛然意识到。 他领导的女儿简直就是她的翻版。 使他感到宽慰的是，只有她一个人。 她停下来嗅了嗅

air, he called out softly to her, "Mistyfoot! Up here!" Mistyfoot's ears twitched; moments later she was pushing her way into the ferns beside him. "What is it?" she meowed, looking worried. "Is it about Silverstream? I haven't seen her since yesterday." Fireheart felt as if a bone were lodged in his throat. He swallowed uncomfortably. "Mistyfoot," he mewed, "it's bad news. I'm so sorry… Silverstream is dead." Mistyfoot fixed him with wide blue eyes full of disbelief. "Dead?" she echoed. "She can't be!" Before Fireheart could respond, she added more harshly, "Did some of your ThunderClan warriors catch her over there?" "No, no," Fireheart replied quickly. "She was at the Sunningrocks with Graystripe, and the kits started to come. Something was wrong… there was a lot of blood. We did everything we could, but… oh, Mistyfoot, I'm so sorry." Pain flooded into Mistyfoot's eyes as he explained. She let out a long, low wailing sound, her head flung back and her claws digging into the

在空中，他轻轻地对她喊道：“雾蒙蒙的脚！在这里!”迷雾脚的耳朵抽搐了一下；片刻之后，她挤进了他身边的蕨类植物。 “怎么了？”她喵喵叫着，看上去很担心。 “是关于银溪的吗？” 从昨天起我就没见过她。” 火心觉得喉咙里好像卡了一根骨头。 他不舒服地咽了口气。 “迷雾脚，”他叫道，“坏消息来了。 我很遗憾……银溪死了。” 迷雾脚瞪着大大的蓝眼睛盯着他，眼睛里充满了怀疑。 “死了？”她重复道。“她不可能！”还没等火心反应过来，她又更严厉地补充道：“你们雷霆族的战士在那边抓住她了吗？”“不，不。”火心很快回答。 “她和Graystripe一起在Sunningrocks，然后球衣就来了。 出事了…有很多血。 我们已经尽力了，但是……噢，迷雾脚，我很抱歉。” 当他解释的时候，迷雾脚的眼睛里充满了痛苦。 她发出一声长长的、低沉的哀号，头向后一仰，爪子往洞里挖

ground. Fireheart moved closer to try to comfort her, and felt every muscle in her body rigid with tension. There were no words he could say that would do any good. At last the terrible wailing died away and Mistyfoot relaxed a little. "I knew no good could come of it," she murmured. There was no anger or accusation in her voice, only a weary sadness. "I told her not to meet Graystripe, but would she listen? And now… I can't believe I'll never see her again." "Graystripe buried her by the Sunningrocks," Fireheart told her. "If you'll meet me there one day, I'll show you the place." Mistyfoot nodded. "I'd like that, Fireheart." "Her kits are alive," Fireheart added, in an attempt to ease some of the queen's grief. "Her kits?" Mistyfoot sat up, alert again. "Two kits," mewed Fireheart. "They're going to be fine." Mistyfoot blinked, suddenly deep in thought. "Will ThunderClan want them, when they're half RiverClan?" "One of our queens is suckling them,"

地面。火心走近她，想安慰她，却感到她全身的肌肉都因紧张而僵硬。 他说什么也说不出来。 最后，可怕的哀号声消失了，迷雾脚放松了一点。 “我就知道这不会有什么好结果，”她喃喃地说。 她的声音里没有愤怒或指责，只有一种疲惫的悲伤。 “我告诉她不要去见格雷斯特，但她会听吗？” 而现在……我不敢相信我再也见不到她了。” “灰条纹把她埋在太阳岩边。”火心告诉她。 “如果有一天你在那里遇到我，我会带你去看那个地方。” Mistyfoot点点头。“我很乐意，火心。” “她的孩子们还活着，”火心补充说，试图缓解女王的悲伤。 “她的包?”雾脚坐了起来，又警觉起来。 “两个工具包。”火心说。 “他们会没事的。” 迷雾脚眨了眨眼睛，突然陷入了沉思。 “雷霆氏族既然是半个大河氏族，还会要他们吗？”“我们的一位女王正在给他们喂奶。”

Fireheart assured her. "The Clan's angry with Graystripe, but no cat would take it out on the kits." "I see." Mistyfoot was silent for a while, still thoughtful, and then rose to her paws. "I must get back to camp and tell the Clan. They don't even know about Graystripe. I can't imagine what I'm going to say to Silverstream's father." Fireheart knew how she felt. Many warrior fathers did not stay close to their kits, but Crookedstar had maintained a close bond with Silverstream. His grief at her death would be mixed with anger that she had betrayed her Clan by taking Graystripe as a mate. Mistyfoot gave Fireheart a quick lick on the forehead. "Thank you," she mewed. "Thank you for coming to tell me." Then she was gone, sliding rapidly through the ferns. Fireheart waited until she was out of sight before he padded down the pebbly shore and crossed the stepping stones back to his own territory. Hunger roused Fireheart from sleep. Peering

火心向她保证。“氏族对灰条很生气，但没有猫会拿球衣出气。” “我明白了。”雾蒙蒙的脚沉默了一会儿，仍然在沉思，然后站起身来。 “我必须回营地去告诉氏族。 他们甚至不知道Graystripe。 我真不知道该对银溪的父亲说些什么。” 火心知道她的感受。 许多战士父亲不会和他们的幼崽呆在一起，但克鲁克之星与银溪保持着密切的联系。 他对她的死感到悲伤，同时也对她背叛了自己的氏族，娶了格雷stripe为妻感到愤怒。 雾脚在火心的额头上迅速舔了一下。 “谢谢你，”她叫道。“谢谢你来告诉我。” 然后她就走了，飞快地滑过蕨类植物。 火心一直等到她看不见了，才沿着鹅卵石铺成的海岸，穿过垫脚石回到自己的地盘。 饥饿把火心从睡眠中唤醒。 凝视

through the dim light in the warriors' den, he saw that Graystripe had left his nest already. Oh, no! Fireheart thought irritably. He's gone off to meet Silverstream again! Then he remembered. Two dawns had passed since Silverstream's death. The shock the Clan felt about her affair with Graystripe was beginning to die down, though none of the warriors except Fireheart and Brackenfur would talk to Graystripe or go on patrols with him. Bluestar had still not announced what his punishment would be. Fireheart stretched and yawned. All night his sleep had been disturbed by Graystripe twitching and whimpering, but the weariness inside him went deeper than that. He couldn't see how the Clan could possibly recover from the blow that had been struck by the discovery of Graystripe's disloyalty. There was an atmosphere of uncertainty and distrust that dulled conversation and cut short the familiar rituals of sharing tongues. With a determined shake, Fireheart slipped out through the branches and padded over to the pile of fresh-kill. The sun was rising, dappling the

透过战士洞穴里昏暗的灯光，他看到灰条纹已经离开了他的巢穴。 哦,不!火心烦躁地想。 他又去见银溪了！然后他想起来了。 银溪死后已经过了两个黎明。 氏族对她与灰条纹的恋情感到震惊，但除了火心和布雷肯弗，没有一个战士愿意和灰条纹说话，也不愿和他一起巡逻。 蓝星还没有宣布对他的惩罚。 火心伸了伸懒腰，打了个哈欠。 整晚他的睡眠都被格雷条纹的抽搐和呜咽所打扰，但他内心的疲倦比这更深。 他不知道氏族怎样才能从发现格雷斯特里特不忠所造成的打击中恢复过来。 一种不确定和不信任的气氛使谈话变得沉闷，缩短了熟悉的交流语言的仪式。 火心果断地抖了抖身子，从树枝间溜了出来，蹑手蹑脚地走到那堆刚宰杀的猎物跟前。 太阳升起来了，把大地染得斑驳