Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 Graystripe growled deep in his throat and gathered himself to spring. "No!" Firestar gasped, leaping on his friend before he could leave the shadow of the reeds. "If Tigerstar sees us, we're crowfood!" On Graystripe's other side Ravenpaw grabbed him by one shoulder. "Firestar's right," he hissed. "What chance would we have against all these cats?" Graystripe writhed desperately, as if he hadn't heard. "Let me go!" he snarled. "I'll flay that piece of fox dung! I'll rip his heart out!" "No!" Firestar repeated in an agonized whisper. "We'll be slaughtered if we show ourselves now. We won't leave your kits, Graystripe, I promise we won't, but we've got to wait for the right moment to rescue them." Graystripe went on struggling for a moment longer, then subsided with a grunt of agreement. Firestar let him go, nodding to Ravenpaw to do the same. "Listen," he murmured. "Let's find out what's going on."

第十五章灰条在喉咙深处咆哮着，鼓起勇气跳了起来。 “不!”火星喘着气，在他离开芦苇的阴影之前，跳到他的朋友身上。 “如果虎星看到我们，我们就是乌鸦的食物！”在灰条纹的另一边，拉文爪抓住了他的一个肩膀。 “火星说得对。”他嘶嘶地说。 “我们对付这些猫还有什么机会？”灰条绝望地扭动着身体，好像没听见似的。 “放开我！”他咆哮道。“我要剥了那块狐粪！”我要把他的心挖出来！”“不!”火星痛苦地低声重复道。 “如果我们现在露面，我们会被屠杀的。 我们不会丢下你的装备的，格雷stripe，我保证不会，但我们必须等待合适的时机去救它们。” 灰条纹又挣扎了一会儿，然后哼了一声表示同意。 火星放了他，向拉文爪点头示意他也放了他。 “听着，”他喃喃地说。“让我们看看到底发生了什么。”

While they had been holding Graystripe down, Tigerstar had begun to speak, his voice drowning the noise of their scuffle among the reeds. "Cats of TigerClan," he began, "you all know the hardships that we have to face. The cold of leaf-bare threatens us. Twolegs threaten us. The other two Clans in the forest, who have not yet realized the wisdom of joining with TigerClan, are a threat to us." Firestar's tail-tip twitched in anger and he flashed a look at Graystripe. Tigerstar was the threat! All that ThunderClan and WindClan wanted was to get on with their lives in peace, according to the ancient traditions of StarClan and the warrior code. But Graystripe's burning gaze was fixed on his two kits, cowering at the base of the Bonehill; he was unaware of Firestar's glance. "Surrounded as we are by enemies," Tigerstar went on, "we must be sure of the loyalty of our own warriors. There is no room in TigerClan for the halfhearted. No room for cats who might waver in battle, or worse still, turn on their own Clan mates. TigerClan will not tolerate traitors!"

当他们按住灰条的时候，虎星开始说话了，他的声音盖过了他们在芦苇丛中扭打的声音。 “虎族的猫们，”他开始说，“你们都知道我们必须面对的困难。 光秃秃的树叶的寒冷威胁着我们。 两条腿威胁着我们。森林里的另外两个氏族还没有意识到加入虎族的智慧，对我们来说是一个威胁。” 火星的尾巴尖气得抽搐了一下，他瞥了灰条纹一眼。 虎星才是威胁！雷霆氏族和风氏族想要的只是按照星际氏族的古老传统和战士守则，和平地生活下去。 但灰条纹燃烧的目光却盯着他蜷缩在骨山脚下的两个装备；他没有注意到火星的目光。 “我们被敌人包围了，”虎星接着说，“我们必须确保我们自己的战士的忠诚。 虎族没有三心二意的容身之地。 没有猫的空间，它们可能在战斗中动摇，或者更糟的是，背叛自己的部落成员。 虎族绝不容忍汉奸！”

Except the traitor who leads it, Firestar thought. Or Darkstripe, who would have watched his own Clan be devoured by dogs. The cats in the clearing broke out into yowls of agreement. Tigerstar allowed the clamor to continue for a moment before signaling with his tail for silence. The noise died and he began to speak again. "Especially we will not tolerate the abomination of half-Clan cats. No loyal warrior would ever take a mate from another Clan, diluting the pure blood that our warrior ancestors decreed for us. Bluestar and Graystripe of ThunderClan both flouted the warrior code when they took mates from RiverClan. The kits of such a union, like the ones you see in front of you now, can never be trusted." He paused, and his deputy Blackfoot yowled out, "Filth! Filth!" Darkstripe took up the cry, and a chorus of yowls and screeches echoed his words. This time Tigerstar let them fall quiet in their own time, gazing out over the cats below him with a look of

除了领导它的叛徒，火星想。 或者是Darkstripe，他会眼睁睁看着自己的家族被狗吃掉。 空地上的猫发出一致的叫声。 虎星让喧闹声继续了一会儿，然后用尾巴示意安静。 噪音消失了，他又开始说话了。 “我们尤其不能容忍令人憎恶的混血猫。 没有一个忠诚的战士会娶另一个氏族的配偶，这样会冲淡我们的战士祖先留给我们的纯正血统。 ThunderClan的Bluestar和Graystripe在从RiverClan取队友时都藐视了战士规则。 这样一个联盟的装备，就像你现在看到的这些装备一样，永远不能被信任。” 他顿了顿，他的副手黑脚大叫道：“污秽！污秽!”黑条纹也跟着喊了起来，一阵哀嚎和尖叫声呼应着他的话。 这次虎星让他们在自己的时间里安静下来，凝视着下面的猫

calm satisfaction. He and Blackfoot must have rehearsed all this, Firestar realized in horror. He noticed that it was the ShadowClan warriors who yowled the loudest. The RiverClan cats joined in less enthusiastically; Firestar guessed they might not all fully agree with the ShadowClan leader, but they did not dare stay silent. The two half-Clan apprentices flattened themselves close to the ground, as if they were afraid of being swept away in the gale of the Clan's fury. Stonefur crouched over them as if he could protect them, gazing around with defiance in his eyes. Where is Mistyfoot? Firestar wondered. Tigerstar knows she's half-Clan too. What has he done with her? Tigerstar spoke again. "Half-Clan cats have been tolerated until now, but the time for tolerance has passed. There is no place in TigerClan for warriors who owe allegiance to two Clans. How can we trust them not to betray our secrets, or even turn on us and kill us? Can we

平静的满意度。他和黑脚肯定事先排练过这一切，火星惊恐地意识到。 他注意到暗影族的战士们嚎叫得最大声。 河族的猫没有那么热情；火星猜测他们可能并不完全同意暗影氏族首领的意见，但他们不敢保持沉默。 两个半氏族的徒弟紧贴着地面蹲下身子，似乎害怕被氏族的狂怒狂风卷走。 斯通弗蹲在他们身边，好像他能保护他们似的，用蔑视的目光环顾四周。 雾蒙蒙的脚在哪里？Firestar很好奇。 虎星也知道她是半个氏族。 他对她做了什么？ 虎星又说话了。“到目前为止，半氏族猫一直被容忍，但容忍的时代已经过去了。 虎族中不允许同时效忠两个氏族的战士。 我们怎么能相信他们不会泄露我们的秘密，甚至背叛我们，杀死我们？ 我们可以

expect StarClan to fight on our side if we allow those who are not pure in heart and blood to walk freely among us?" "No!" Darkstripe screeched, flexing his claws and lashing his tail from side to side. "No, my friends. We must get rid of the abominations in our midst! Then our Clan will be clean again and we can be sure of the favor of StarClan." Stonefur sprang to his paws. He was so weak that he stumbled and almost fell, but he managed to stay upright and face Tigerstar. "No cat has ever questioned my loyalty," he snarled. "Come down here and tell me to my face that I'm a traitor!" Firestar wanted to wail aloud at the blue-gray warrior's hopeless courage. Tigerstar could have swatted him aside with one paw, and yet Stonefur still remained defiant. "Mistyfoot and I never even knew that Bluestar was our mother until a couple of moons ago," Stonefur insisted. "We have been loyal RiverClan warriors all our lives. Let any cat who thinks different come out here and prove it!"

如果我们允许那些心灵和血液不纯洁的人在我们中间自由行走，指望星际战队站在我们这边吗？”“不!”“黑条”尖声叫道，爪子弯曲，尾巴左右摆动。 “不，我的朋友们。我们必须除掉我们中间的可憎之物！这样我们的氏族就又干净了，我们就可以肯定会得到星族的青睐。” 斯通弗跳了起来。 他太弱了，绊了一下，差点摔倒，但他设法保持直立，面对虎星。 “从来没有猫质疑过我的忠诚，”他咆哮道。 “到这儿来，当着我的面说我是叛徒！”火星真想为这位蓝灰战士毫无希望的勇气大声恸哭。 虎星本可以用一只爪子把他打到一边，但斯通弗仍然目中无人。 “直到几个月前，我和迷雾脚才知道蓝星是我们的母亲。”斯通弗坚持说。 “我们一辈子都是忠诚的河族战士。 让那些有不同想法的猫出来证明一下吧！”

Tigerstar angrily swept his tail toward Leopardstar. "You showed poor judgment when you chose this cat as your deputy," he growled. "RiverClan is choked by the weeds of treachery, and we must root them out." To Firestar's dismay, Leopardstar bowed her head. The gesture showed just how far Tigerstar's power extended, that the once-formidable RiverClan leader was unable or unwilling to protect her own deputy. Yet the dark tabby's words gave Firestar hope. It sounded as if Tigerstar was about to banish Stonefur and the two apprentices. If he did, then Firestar and his friends could wait for them at the border, ready to take them back to ThunderClan, where they would be safe. When Tigerstar spoke again, his voice was measured and cold. "Stonefur, I will give you a chance to show your loyalty to TigerClan. Kill these two half-Clan apprentices." An eerie silence spread through the clearing, broken only by Graystripe's gasp of outrage. Luckily the TigerClan warriors were so intent on the scene in front of them that no cat heard him.

虎星生气地向豹星甩尾巴。 “你选这只猫当你的副手，真是判断力太差了。”他咆哮道。 “河族已被背叛之草所吞噬，我们必须将其铲除。” 令火星沮丧的是，豹星低下了头。 这一举动显示了虎星的势力有多强大，这位曾经令人敬畏的河族领袖无法或不愿保护自己的副手。 然而，黑斑猫的话给了火星希望。 听起来虎星好像要驱逐石弗和两个徒弟。 如果他做到了，那么Firestar和他的朋友们就可以在边境等着他们，准备把他们带回ThunderClan，在那里他们是安全的。 虎星再次说话时，他的声音是冷静而冷静的。 “石弗，我给你一个机会，让你对虎族表示忠心。 杀了这两个半氏族的徒弟。” 空地上一片诡异的寂静，只有灰条纹愤怒地喘着气。 幸运的是，虎族的战士们都很专注于眼前的场景，没有猫听到他的声音。