Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 Fireheart's flanks heaved as he fought for breath, and his cheek stung where claws had raked across it. As he staggered to his feet, Brightpaw took a couple of steps back. "I haven't hurt you, have I?" the ginger-and- white apprentice asked anxiously. "No, I'm fine." Fireheart gasped. "Did Whitestorm show you that move? I never saw it coming. Well done." Trying not to limp, he padded across the training hollow to where Swiftpaw, Thornpaw, and Cloudpaw were watching. He had been assessing the apprentices' fighting skills, and they had all held their own against him. They had the makings of formidable warriors. "I'm glad you're all on my side. I wouldn't want to meet you in battle," Fireheart meowed. "I've had a word with your mentors, and they think you're ready, so I'm going to ask Bluestar if you can be made warriors." Brightpaw, Thornpaw, and Swiftpaw exchanged excited glances. Cloudpaw tried to look nonchalant, but there was a gleam of

第四章火心挣扎着喘着气，他的侧翼起伏，他的脸颊被爪子划过的地方刺痛了。 亮爪摇摇晃晃地站了起来，向后退了几步。 “我没有伤害你吧？”姜白衣的徒弟焦急地问。 “不，我很好。”Fireheart气喘吁吁地说。 “白风暴给你看过那个动作吗？” 我从来没料到会这样。做得好。” 他尽量不跛行，蹑手蹑脚地穿过训练场地，走到燕爪、刺爪和云爪正在注视的地方。 他一直在评估徒弟们的格斗技巧，而他们都以自己的方式与他对抗。 他们具有强大战士的素质。 “我很高兴你们都站在我这边。 我可不想在战场上见到你。”火心叫道。 “我和你们的导师谈过了，他们认为你们已经准备好了，所以我要去问问蓝星，你们能不能成为战士。” 亮爪子、刺爪子和雨燕爪子兴奋地交换了一下眼色。 云爪试图装出若无其事的样子，但还是有一丝

anticipation in his eyes too. "Okay," Fireheart went on. "Hunt on your way back to camp, and see that the elders and the queens are fed. Then you can eat." "If there's anything left," mewed Swiftpaw. Fireheart flicked a glance at him. Swiftpaw sometimes picked up discontented rumblings from his mentor, Longtail, who had once been a close ally of Tigerclaw, but on this occasion he seemed to be trying to make a joke. All four young cats sprang up and dashed out of the training hollow. Fireheart heard Brightpaw yowling to Cloudpaw, "Bet I catch more prey than you!" It seemed a long time since he had been that carefree, Fireheart reflected as he followed more slowly. Under the weight of his responsibilities as deputy, he sometimes felt older than the elders. The Clan was surviving, managing to find food and to rebuild the devastated camp, but all the warriors were overstretched. Fireheart was on his paws from dawn to sunset, and every night he went to his den with tasks still undone. How long can we go on? he asked himself. It'll get harder,

他的眼中也充满了期待。 “好吧。”火心接着说。 “你回去的路上去找找，确保长辈和女王都吃饱了。 然后你就可以吃了。”“如果还剩下什么东西的话。” 火心瞥了他一眼。 他的导师长尾巴曾经是虎爪的亲密盟友，但这一次，他似乎是想开个玩笑。 四只小猫都跳了起来，冲出了训练场地。 火心听见亮爪对云爪嚎叫：“我敢打赌我抓到的猎物比你多！”他似乎很久没有这样无忧无虑了，火心一边想，一边慢慢地跟在后面。 在副手职责的重压下，他有时觉得自己比长辈老。 氏族幸存下来，设法寻找食物并重建被摧毁的营地，但所有的战士都筋疲力尽。 火心从早到晚都站着，每天晚上它都带着尚未完成的任务回到窝里。 我们还能坚持多久？他问自己。 会越来越难，

not easier, when leaf-bare comes. Already the few leaves that the fire had left on the trees were turning red and gold. As Fireheart paused at the top of the hollow, he felt a chill breeze ruffle his fur, though the sun shone brightly. He slipped quietly back into camp and stood for a moment near the entrance, looking around. Darkstripe, who was in charge of the rebuilding, had started to patch the remaining gaps in the branches of the warriors' den. Dustpelt was working with him and the two younger apprentices, Fernpaw and Ashpaw. On the other side of the camp Fireheart saw Cinderpelt making her way to the elders' den, carrying some herbs in her jaws. In the center of the clearing, Goldenflower's two kits were playing with Speckletail's kit, while the queens sat watching them near the entrance to the nursery. Willowpelt was there too, carefully guarding her litter, who were much younger, from the rough play of the older kits. Fireheart's gaze rested on Bramblekit, the bigger of Goldenflower's kits. That strong, muscular body and dark brown pelt were

不容易，当光秃秃的树叶来了。 大火留下的几片树叶已经变成了红色和金色。 当火心停在山谷顶端时，尽管阳光明媚，他还是感到一阵寒风吹皱了他的皮毛。 他悄悄地溜回营地，在入口附近站了一会儿，环顾四周。 负责重建的“暗条纹”已经开始修补战士洞穴树枝上剩下的缝隙。 达斯特佩特和他还有两个年轻的徒弟，Fernpaw和Ashpaw一起干活。 在营地的另一边，火心看到灰姑娘正朝长老的巢穴走去，嘴里叼着一些草药。 在空地的中央，“小花”的两只小鹦鹉在和小斑点尾巴的小鹦鹉玩耍，蚁后则坐在育儿室入口附近看着它们。 Willowpelt也在那里，小心翼翼地保护着她的幼崽，这些幼崽要小得多，不受年长幼崽的粗暴玩耍的伤害。 火心的目光落在了布兰布莱吉身上，他是金花的孩子中较大的一个。 那强壮、肌肉发达的身体和深棕色的皮毛

disturbingly familiar; no cat who looked at the kit could doubt that Tigerstar was his father. The thought always made Fireheart uneasy, and he struggled to push it aside. Logically, he knew that he should feel just as suspicious of the kit's sister, Tawnykit, but though she shared the same father, she didn't share the misfortune of looking exactly like him. Fireheart knew it was unfair to blame Bramblekit for his father's crimes. Yet Fireheart could not banish the memory of the young kit clinging to a branch of a blazing tree, wailing in terror as Fireheart tried to reach him. And he could not forget that while he was rescuing Bramblekit, the fire had trapped Yellowfang in her den. Had he sacrificed Yellowfang to save Tigerstar's son? Suddenly a shrill squeal came from the group of kits. Bramblekit had bowled over Snowkit and was holding him down on the ground with his claws. The squealing came from the sturdy white kit, who didn't seem to be trying to defend himself. Fireheart shot forward, barreling into Bramblekit and knocking him away from his

令人不安的是熟悉;没有一只猫会怀疑虎星是他的父亲。 这种想法总是让火心感到不安，他努力把它推到一边。 从逻辑上讲，他知道他应该对基特的妹妹唐妮基特感到同样的怀疑，但尽管她和基特是同一个父亲，她却没有不幸长得和基特一模一样。 火心知道，把他父亲的罪行归咎于布兰布吉是不公平的。 然而，火心无法抹去小kit的记忆，他紧紧抓住一棵燃烧着的树枝，当火心试图接近他时，他惊恐地嚎叫着。 而且他不能忘记，在他营救布兰布利特的时候，大火把黄牙困在了她的窝里。 他牺牲了黄牙是为了救虎星的儿子吗？ 突然，一群幼崽发出了尖锐的尖叫声。 布兰布吉把雪宝打倒在地，用爪子把他按倒在地。 尖叫声来自那只强壮的白色小猫咪，它似乎并没有自卫的意思。 火心向前冲去，猛地撞到布兰布吉身上，把他从他的手里撞了下来

victim. "Enough!" he snarled. "What do you think you're doing?" The dark tabby kit picked himself up, amber eyes glaring with shock and indignation. "Well?" Fireheart demanded. Bramblekit shook dust off his fur. "It's nothing, Fireheart. We're only playing." "Only playing? Then why was Speckletail's kit crying out like that?" The glow died from Bramblekit's amber eyes and he shrugged. "How should I know? He can't play properly anyway." "Bramblekit!" It was Goldenflower who spoke, coming to stand beside her kit. "How many times do I have to tell you? If somebody squeals, you let go. And don't be so rude to Fireheart. Remember, he's the deputy." Bramblekit's eyes flicked to Fireheart and away again. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "Yes, well, make sure it doesn't happen again," Fireheart snapped. Bramblekit padded past him to where Snowkit still crouched on the ground. Speckletail was giving his white fur a brisk lick. "Come on, get

受害者。“够了！”他咆哮道。 “你以为你在干什么？”那只深色虎斑猫站了起来，琥珀色的眼睛里闪烁着震惊和愤慨。 “嗯?”Fireheart问道。 布兰布利特抖掉毛皮上的灰尘。 “没什么，火心。我们只是在玩。” “只有玩吗?那为什么散斑尾巴的装备会那样喊叫呢？”布兰布吉琥珀色眼睛里的光芒消失了，他耸了耸肩。 “我怎么知道？”反正他也打不好。” “Bramblekit !”是金花说话了，她走过来站在她的工具箱旁边。 “我要跟你说多少遍？” 如果有人尖叫，你就放手。 别对火心这么无礼。 记住，他是副手。” 布兰布吉的目光转向火心，又转向别处。 “对不起，”他咕哝着说。“是啊，好吧，确保这种事不会再发生。”火心厉声说。 布兰布利奇从他身边走过，走到雪基特仍然蹲在地上的地方。 小花尾巴轻快地舔着他的白毛。 “来吧，快点。

up," she meowed. "You're not hurt." "Yeah, come on, Snowkit," Bramblekit mewed, swiping his tongue over the kit's ear. "I didn't mean it. Come and play, and you can be Clan leader this time." Bramblekit's sister, Tawnykit, was sitting a couple of tail-lengths away, her tail curled around her paws. "He's no fun," she mewed. "He never has any good games." "Tawnykit!" Goldenflower cuffed her lightly across one ear. "Don't be so nasty. I don't know what's gotten into the pair of you today." Snowkit was still crouched on the ground, and got up only when his mother nudged him to his feet. "Maybe you should let Cinderpelt check him," Fireheart advised the pale tabby queen. "Make sure he's not hurt." Speckletail swung her head around and glared at her Clan deputy. "There's nothing wrong with my kit!" she growled. "Are you saying that I can't look after him properly?" Turning her back on Fireheart, she herded Snowkit back into the nursery.

起来。”她叫道。“你没有受伤。” “是啊，来吧，雪宝特。”布兰布利特叫道，用舌头在雪宝特的耳朵上蹭了蹭。 “我不是那个意思。来玩吧，这次你可以当部落首领了。” 布兰伯吉的妹妹唐妮吉坐在两条尾巴以外的地方，尾巴蜷曲在爪子周围。 “他没意思，”她叫道。“他从来没有打过好比赛。” “Tawnykit !”金花轻轻扇了她一耳光。 “别这么刻薄。我不知道你们俩今天怎么了。” 雪基特仍然蹲在地上，只有他妈妈把他推起来，他才站起来。 “也许你应该让灰姑娘检查他，”火心建议苍白的虎斑猫王后。 “确保他没有受伤。” 小斑点尾巴转过头来，怒视着她的部族副手。 “我的装备没有问题！”她咆哮道。 “你是说我不能好好照顾他吗？”她转身背对火心，把雪kit赶回育儿室。