Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 "Firestar," meowed Graystripe. "I want to ask you something." Firestar was crouching by the nettle patch. He had just seen Brackenfur leaving at the head of the evening patrol, and now he was eating his share of fresh-kill before rounding up a patrol of his own for an extra check on the ShadowClan border. "Sure," he replied. "What is it?" Graystripe crouched beside him, but before he could speak Tawnypaw came stalking out of the elders' den, her head and her tail held high as she headed for the gorse tunnel. Her amber eyes blazed with anger. Bramblepaw emerged behind her, his jaws clamped on a bundle of bedding moss. He looked worried. "Tawnypaw!" Firestar called. "What's the matter?" For a heartbeat he thought the apprentice was going to ignore him. Then she veered sharply to stand in front of him. "Smallear!" she spat. "If ever a cat asked to have his fur clawed off—" "You shouldn't talk like that about an elder," Firestar rebuked her. "Smallear's given good

第十四章“火星”。 “我想问你一件事。” 火星蹲在荨麻地里。 他刚刚看到布拉肯弗在夜间巡逻队的前面离开，现在他正在吃他那份新鲜的猎物，然后召集他自己的巡逻队在影子部落的边界上进行额外的检查。 “当然，”他回答。“什么事？”灰条纹蹲在他身边，他还没来得及说话，唐柏就从长老们的洞穴里走了出来，昂着头和尾巴朝金雀洞走去。 她琥珀色的眼睛发出愤怒的光芒。 蓝爪出现在她身后，咬住了一捆苔藓。 他看上去很担心。“Tawnypaw !”Firestar调用。 “怎么啦？”有那么一瞬间，他以为徒弟会不理他。 然后她突然转向，站到他面前。 “小！”她啐了一口。“如果有一只猫要求拔掉它的毛——”“你不该这样说长辈，”火星责备她。 “斯莫尔得到了好处

service to the Clan and we should respect that." "What about a bit of respect for me?" Tawnypaw was so furious she seemed to have forgotten she was talking to her leader. "Just because I was a little late going to clear out the old bedding, Smallear said that Tigerstar had never wanted to serve the elders either, and he could see I was going to turn out just like my father." She scraped her claws on the sandy floor of the clearing as if she were picturing the old tom's fur. "It's not the first time he's said things, either. I don't see why I should have to put up with it!" While she was speaking, Bramblepaw had come to join them, putting down the moss he was carrying. "You know Smallear's joints are aching because of the cold weather," he meowed. "You're not my mentor!" Tawnypaw flared up at her brother. "Don't tell me what to do." "Calm down, Tawnypaw," Firestar mewed. He wanted to reassure her that no cat believed she would end up a murderer and traitor like her father, but he knew that wasn't entirely true. "You're doing very well as an apprentice, and you're going to make a great warrior. Sooner or

我们应该尊重这一点。” “就不能给我一点尊重吗？”唐婆是如此的愤怒，她似乎忘记了她是在和她的领袖说话。 “就因为我去清理旧被褥的时候晚了一点，斯莫里说虎星也从来没有想过要为长老服务，他看得出我会变成和我父亲一样的人。” 她用爪子在空地上的沙地上蹭来蹭去，仿佛在描绘老汤姆的皮毛。 这也不是他第一次说这种话了。 我不明白我为什么要忍受这一切！”她说话的时候，蓝爪已经来到他们身边，放下手里拿着的苔藓。 “你知道，因为天气太冷，小家伙的关节都疼了。”他喵喵地说。 “你不是我的导师！”汤柏对她哥哥勃然大怒。 “别告诉我该怎么做。” “冷静点，汤爷爷。”火星叫道。 他想让她放心，没有一只猫相信她会像她父亲一样成为杀人犯和叛徒，但他知道这并不完全正确。 “你当学徒做得很好，你会成为一名伟大的战士。 或早或

later the Clan will see that." "That's what I've been telling her," Bramblepaw meowed, and added to his sister, "We've got to live down what Tigerstar did. That's the only way the Clan will believe in our loyalty." "Some cats believe in it already," Graystripe put in, and Bramblepaw flashed him a grateful glance. The worst of Tawnypaw's fury was fading, though her amber eyes still burned. With a toss of her head she turned away, flinging her parting words over her shoulder as she stalked toward the gorse tunnel. "I'm going to fetch some fresh moss." "I'm sorry, Firestar," Bramblepaw murmured when she had gone. "But Tawnypaw's right to be upset." "I know," Firestar reassured him. "If I can catch Smallear at a good moment, I'll have a word with him." "Thanks, Firestar." Bramblepaw dipped his head in gratitude, picked up his moss, and hurried after his sister. Firestar gazed worriedly after the two

以后氏族会明白的。” “我就是这么跟她说的，”蓝爪喵喵地叫着，又对妹妹说，“我们得忘掉虎星做过的事。 只有这样，部落才会相信我们的忠诚。” “有些猫已经相信它了。”灰条纹插嘴说，蓝爪感激地瞥了他一眼。 唐婆的怒火正在消退，但琥珀色的眼睛仍在燃烧。 她摇了摇头，转身离开，把临别的话甩过肩头，大步走向那条金雀花隧道。 “我去取些新鲜的苔藓来。” “对不起，火星。”她走后，蓝爪喃喃地说。 “但是爷爷生气是对的。” “我知道，”火星安慰他说。 “如果我能在合适的时候抓住斯马尔，我会和他谈谈的。” “谢谢,Firestar。”蓝爪感激地低下头，捡起苔藓，急忙追上妹妹。 火星忧心忡忡地望着他们俩

apprentices. He must talk to Smallear, he decided, and soon. Constantly taunting the young cats about their parent age was not the way to ensure their loyalty to ThunderClan. Realising that Graystripe was still waiting patiently beside him, he mewed, "Okay, tell me what's on your mind." "It's my kits," Graystripe confessed. "Ever since the Gathering, I can't get them out of my mind. Mistyfoot and Stonefur weren't there, so I couldn't ask them for news, but now that Tigerstar has essentially taken over RiverClan, I'm sure my kits are in danger." Firestar took a bite of vole and chewed thoughtfully. "I don't see why they should be at risk more than any other cat," he replied, swallowing his mouthful. "Tigerstar will want to look after all the apprentices to guarantee a strong fighting force." Graystripe didn't look reassured. "But Tigerstar knows who their father is," he pointed out. "He hates me, and I'm worried that he'll take it out on Featherpaw and Stormpaw." Firestar realized that Graystripe had a fair

学徒。他决定，必须尽快和斯莫尔谈谈。 不断地嘲笑小猫们父母的年龄并不能保证它们对ThunderClan的忠诚。 意识到灰条纹还在耐心地等在他身边，他叫道：“好吧，告诉我你在想什么。” “这是我的装备，”格雷斯特承认。 “自从聚会之后，我就无法把它们从我的脑海中抹去。 Mistyfoot和Stonefur不在那里，所以我不能向他们询问消息，但现在Tigerstar基本上接管了RiverClan，我确信我的套件处于危险之中。” 火星咬了一口田鼠肉，若有所思地咀嚼着。 “我不明白为什么它们比其他猫更危险，”他咽了一口，回答道。 “虎星会照顾好所有的徒弟，以保证强大的战斗力。” 灰条纹看起来并不放心。 “但虎星知道他们的父亲是谁，”他指出。 “他恨我，我担心他会拿羽爪和暴风爪出气。” Firestar意识到Graystripe有一个公平

point about Tigerstar's hostility. "What would you like to do?" Graystripe blinked nervously. "I want you to come with me across the river and bring them back to ThunderClan." Firestar stared at his friend. "Are you completely mouse-brained? You're asking your Clan leader to stroll into RiverClan territory and steal a couple of apprentices?" Graystripe scraped his forepaw on the ground. "Well, if you put it like that…" "How else would you put it?" Firestar tried to control his shock, but Graystripe's suggestion was too close to Brokentail's old crime of stealing kits. If Firestar agreed and RiverClan found out about it, they would be justified in attacking ThunderClan. And with ShadowClan to help them, that was a risk Firestar couldn't take. "I knew you wouldn't listen." Graystripe turned and began to retreat, his tail drooping. "I am listening. Graystripe, come back and let's think about this." As Graystripe stopped, Firestar went on: "You don't know that Featherpaw and Stormpaw are in danger. And they're apprentices

关于虎星的敌意。 “你想做什么？”“灰条”紧张地眨了眨眼。 “我要你和我一起过河，把他们带回雷家。” 火星盯着他的朋友。 “你脑子全是老鼠吗？” 你要让你的氏族首领溜进河族领地，偷几个徒弟？”灰条在地上蹭了蹭前爪。 “嗯，如果你这么说的话……”“不然你怎么说呢？”火星试图控制自己的震惊，但格雷条纹的建议太接近布罗肯泰尔以前偷工具包的罪行了。 如果Firestar同意并且RiverClan发现了这一点，他们便有理由攻击ThunderClan。 有了ShadowClan的帮助，这是Firestar无法承担的风险。 “我知道你不会听的。” 灰条转身开始后退，尾巴耷拉着。 “我在听。灰条纹，回来让我们考虑一下。” 灰条停了下来，火星接着说：“你不知道羽爪和风暴爪有危险。 他们是学徒

now, not kits. They have the right to decide their own future. What if they want to stay in RiverClan?" "I know." Graystripe sounded despairing. "Don't worry, Firestar. I understand there's nothing you can do to help." "I didn't say that." Against all his better judgment, Firestar knew he couldn't stand by and do nothing to help his friend. Graystripe pricked his ears, half-hopeful, as Firestar went on: "Suppose we go over there quietly, just the two of us, and check on them? If they're okay, then you won't need to worry any more. If they're not, I'll tell them there's a place for them in ThunderClan, if that's what they choose." Graystripe's yellow eyes had begun to glow as Firestar spoke. "That's great!" he meowed. "Thanks, Firestar. Can we go now?" "If you like. Let me finish this vole first. You find Whitestorm and tell him he's in charge of the camp. But don't tell him where we're going," he added quickly. Graystripe bounded off to the warriors' den while Firestar swallowed the last few gulps of vole

现在，不是套件。他们有权决定自己的未来。 如果他们想留在河族怎么办？”“我知道。” 灰条纹听起来很绝望。 “别担心，火星。我知道你帮不上什么忙。” “我可没那么说。”尽管火星做出了更好的判断，但他知道他不能袖手旁观，不去帮助他的朋友。 灰条纹有点希望地戳了戳耳朵，因为“火星”继续说道：“不如我们悄悄过去，就我们两个人，看看他们怎么样？ 如果他们没事，那你就不用再担心了。 如果他们没有，我会告诉他们，如果他们选择的话，在《ThunderClan》中也有他们的位置。” 当火星说话时，灰条的黄眼睛开始发光。 “太好了！”他叫道。 “谢谢,Firestar。我们现在可以走了吗？”“如果你愿意的话。 让我先完成这只田鼠。 你去找怀特风暴，告诉他营地由他负责。 但是不要告诉他我们要去哪里，”他赶紧补充道。 灰条跳向战士的巢穴，而火星吞下了最后几口田鼠