Chapter 23

CHAPTER 24 When Firestar emerged from his den the following morning, the camp was already full of activity. Mousefur was leaving at the head of a patrol. Sandstorm was rounding up Willowpelt's three kits, who bounced around her in wild excitement as she herded them toward the gorse tunnel on their way to the training hollow. Mistyfoot and the two RiverClan apprentices followed them. Brackenfur passed them at the entrance to the camp, a piece of fresh-kill in his jaws. Firestar spotted Whitestorm with Bramblepaw and Ashpaw beside the thorn wall that surrounded the camp, and padded across to join them. The white warrior came to meet him. "I'm getting these two to inspect the defenses and patch any gaps," he meowed. "If BloodClan get this far…" He stopped, his blue eyes worried. "Good idea." Firestar suppressed a shiver at the thought of BloodClan breaking into the camp. He turned sharply at the sight of movement in the gorse tunnel, and flashed a glance of astonishment at Whitestorm as Ravenpaw appeared, followed

第二十四章第二天早上，当火星从他的窝里出来时，营地里已经充满了活动。 鼠毛走在一队巡逻队的前头。 沙暴正在围拢威洛佩尔特的三只幼崽，当她把它们赶向通往训练场地的金雀隧道时，它们兴奋地在她身边跳来跳去。 雾脚和河族的两个徒弟跟在他们后面。 布莱肯弗在营地入口处从他们身边走过，嘴里叼着一块刚宰杀的肉。 火星在包围营地的荆棘墙旁发现了白风暴、荆棘爪和阿什爪，便快步走过去和他们会合。 白衣武士来迎接他。 “我要让这两个人检查防御系统，修补漏洞。”他喵喵地说。 “如果血族走到这一步……”他停了下来，蓝眼睛里流露出担忧。 “好主意。”想到血族会冲进营地，火星忍住了颤抖。 看到金雀花隧道里有动静，他猛地转过身来。拉文爪出现在后面，他惊讶地瞥了白风暴一眼

by Barley. The black-and-white loner had never been to the ThunderClan camp before. Leaving his deputy to finish instructing the apprentices, Firestar padded toward them. Ravenpaw hurried forward confidently, but Barley lagged behind, glancing warily around, as if he wasn't sure of a welcome. "We have to talk to you," Ravenpaw blurted out. "Last night we met Onewhisker on the border of his territory and he told us about Scourge and BloodClan." The raven-colored fur on his shoulders bristled. "We want to help, but more important, Barley has some information for you." Firestar dipped his head in greeting. "It's good to see you both," he meowed. "And we're grateful for any help we can get. Perhaps you'd better come to my den." Barley relaxed at Firestar's friendly greeting, and the two loners followed Firestar to the hollow beneath the Highrock. Early-morning sunshine slanted through the entrance and into the peaceful den. Firestar could almost forget the threat from Scourge and his bloodthirsty followers. But the

大麦。这个黑白相间的独行侠以前从来没有去过雷霆部落的营地。 火星让他的副手继续指导徒弟们，他朝他们走去。 拉文爪自信地快步向前，但巴利落在后面，小心翼翼地扫视着四周，似乎不确定是否会受到欢迎。 “我们得跟你谈谈。”拉文爪脱口而出。 “昨晚我们在他领地的边界遇到了一个胡须，他告诉了我们关于天灾军团和血族的事。” 他肩上乌黑的毛竖了起来。 “我们想帮忙，但更重要的是，巴利有一些信息要告诉你。” 火星低下头打招呼。 “见到你们俩真高兴。”他喵喵地叫道。 “我们很感激能得到的任何帮助。 也许你最好到我的窝里来。” 在火星友好的问候下，巴利放松了下来，两个孤独的人跟着火星来到了海岩山下的山谷。 清晨的阳光斜照进入口，照进宁静的书房。 火星几乎可以忘记天灾和他嗜血的追随者的威胁。 但是,

serious expressions of his visitors reminded him all too clearly of the shadow over the future of the forest. "What is it?" he prompted, once the two loners were settled. Ravenpaw was gazing around him with an almost awestruck look—Firestar guessed he was remembering Bluestar, and maybe wondering at how the apprentice who had trained with him had come to take the former leader's place. Barley, however, looked uneasy, crouching with his paws tucked under him as he began to speak. "I was born in Twolegplace," he began quietly. "I know too much about Scourge and his warriors. I…I suppose you could say I was once a member of BloodClan." Firestar's interest quickened. "Go on." "The first thing I remember is playing with my littermates on a patch of waste ground," Barley explained. "Our mother taught us to hunt and find food among Twoleg rubbish. Later on she showed us how to defend ourselves." "Your mother mentored you?" Firestar asked, surprised. "All of you?"

客人们严肃的表情使他非常清楚地想起了笼罩在森林前途上的阴影。 “怎么了？”两个孤独的人安顿下来后，他问。 拉文爪带着一种近乎敬畏的神情环顾四周——火星猜想他想起了蓝星，也许在想，跟他一起训练的徒弟怎么会取代了前任领袖的位置。 然而，巴利看起来很不安，他开始说话时蹲在地上，把爪子夹在身下。 “我出生在特勒格place，”他平静地开始说。 “我太了解天灾和他的战士了。 我……我想你可以说我曾经是血族的一员。” 火星的兴趣更大了。 “继续。”巴利解释说：“我记得的第一件事是和同伴们在一块荒地上玩耍。” “我们的母亲教我们在特沃莱格垃圾中寻找食物。 后来她教我们如何保护自己。” “你妈妈指导你的？”火星惊讶地问。 “你们所有人？”

Barley nodded. "BloodClan doesn't have a proper system of mentors and apprentices. It's not a Clan at all in the way you forest cats understand it. Most cats listen to Scourge because he's the strongest and the most vicious, and Bone is a kind of deputy, insofar as he carries out Scourge's dirty work." "Bone?" Fireheart asked. "Is that a big black- and-white cat? He was there at Fourtrees." "That sounds like him, yes." The loner's voice was filled with disgust. "He's almost as bad as Scourge. Any cats who don't do as they're told are chased off, if they're lucky, or more likely killed." Firestar stared at him. "But what about caring for kits and elders?" Barley shrugged. "A she-cat's mate will probably hunt for her while she's nursing her kits," he mewed. "Even Scourge realizes that if there are no kits, sooner or later there's no Clan. But elders, or cats who are sick or injured—well, they're left to fend for themselves. It's kill or be killed, hunt or starve. There's no room for weakness." Firestar felt every hair on his pelt bristle at the

大麦点点头。“《BloodClan》没有合适的导师和学徒体系。 这根本不是你们森林猫所理解的部落。 大多数猫都听天灾的，因为他是最强壮、最恶毒的，而伯恩是一种副手，因为他在执行天灾的肮脏工作。” “骨头?”Fireheart问道。“那是一只大的黑白猫吗？” 他在四棵树那儿。” “听起来像他，是的。” 孤独者的声音里充满了厌恶。 “他几乎和天灾一样坏。 任何不听话的猫，如果幸运的话，都会被赶走，或者更有可能被杀死。” 火星盯着他。“但是照顾孩子和老人呢？”大麦耸耸肩。 “母猫的配偶可能会在她照顾幼崽的时候寻找她，”他喵喵地说。 “就连天灾军团也意识到，如果没有装备，迟早也不会有战队。 但是老人，或者生病或受伤的猫——好吧，它们只能自己照顾自己。 要么杀人，要么被杀，要么狩猎，要么饿死。 没有软弱的余地。” 火星觉得他的毛都竖起来了

thought of a Clan that did not care for cats who were in need, where cats who had given good service were allowed to die if they could not care for themselves. "Then why does any cat follow Scourge?" he burst out. "Some of them enjoy killing." Barley's tone was cold and his eyes were bleak, staring at something Firestar could not see. "And others are too scared to do anything else. You can't lead your own life in Twolegplace if you're not a kittypet with a Twoleg nest to go to. Either you're with Scourge or against him, and cats who are against him don't last long." Ravenpaw shifted closer to his friend and pressed his muzzle comfortingly against his flank. "That's why Barley left," he meowed. "Tell Firestar about it, Barley." "There's nothing much to tell." Barley flinched, shrinking from some dark memory. "I couldn't bear what Scourge was doing, so one night I slipped away. I was terrified that Scourge or his warriors would catch me, but I reached the edge of Twolegplace and crossed the

我想到了一个不关心有需要的猫的氏族，在那里，那些服务出色的猫如果不能照顾自己，就会被允许死去。 “那为什么还有猫跟着天灾？” “他们中的一些人喜欢杀人。” 巴利的语气很冷淡，他的眼睛很凄凉，盯着什么火星看不见的东西。 还有一些人因为太害怕而不敢做其他事情。 如果你不是一只有窝的小猫，你就无法在Twolegplace过自己的生活。 你要么支持天灾，要么反对他，反对他的猫是不能长久的。” 拉文爪靠近他的朋友，把它的嘴紧贴在他的胁腹上，安慰他。 “这就是巴利离开的原因。”他叫道。 “把这事告诉火星吧，巴利。” “没什么可说的。” 巴利畏缩了一下，从某种黑暗的记忆中退缩了。 “我无法忍受天灾的所作所为，所以有天晚上我溜了出去。 我很害怕天灾或他的战士们会抓住我，但我还是到达了双城的边缘，越过了

Thunderpath. I scented cats in the forest, but at the time I thought they would be just like Scourge and his lot, so I kept away from them. And finally I came to the farm, where it seemed I could live unchallenged. The Twolegs leave me in peace. They have no use for their mice." He fell silent while Firestar thought rapidly. Barley's words confirmed what he had already known, that Scourge was a violent and dangerous enemy. "Scourge must have weaknesses," he meowed to Barley. "There must be some way of defeating him." Barley met his eyes and leaned toward Firestar. "His one great strength is his one great weakness," he replied. "Scourge and his warriors don't believe in StarClan." Firestar wondered what he meant. Cloudtail had no belief in StarClan, but he was still a loyal ThunderClan cat. What was Barley trying to tell him? "BloodClan has no medicine cat," Barley went on. "I've already told you, they don't care for the sick, and if they don't believe in StarClan, there aren't any signs that could be interpreted."

Thunderpath。我在森林里闻到了猫的气味，但当时我认为它们就像天灾和他的同伴一样，所以我远离它们。 最后我来到了农场，在那里我似乎可以无拘无束地生活。 特立格兄弟让我清静。 他们不需要老鼠。” 他沉默了，而火星却在快速思考。 巴利的话证实了他早就知道的，天灾是一个暴力而危险的敌人。 “天灾一定有弱点。”他喵喵地对巴利说。 “一定有办法打败他的。” 巴利与他的目光相遇，向火星探过身来。 “他最大的优点就是他最大的缺点，”他回答说。 “天灾和他的战士们不相信星际战队。” 火星不知道他是什么意思。 云尾巴不相信星际战队，但他仍然是一只忠诚的雷霆战队猫。 巴利想告诉他什么？ “血族没有药猫，”巴利继续说。 “我已经告诉过你了，他们不关心病人，如果他们不相信《星际战队》，就没有任何可以解释的迹象。”