Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 A raw, damp cold pushed its way through Firestar's fur as he padded through Tallpines. The sky was heavy with gray cloud and seemed undecided between sending rain or snow onto the forest. Here, where the ravages of the fire had been worst, ash still covered the ground, and the few plants that had begun to grow back had shriveled again with the coming of leaf-bare. It was the day after his announcement to the Clan, and Firestar had left his new deputy in charge of the camp while he patrolled the border alone. He wanted some time by himself, to get used to being leader and to think about what lay ahead. Sometimes he felt he would burst with the pride of being chosen by StarClan to lead ThunderClan, but he also knew it would not be easy. Grief for Bluestar was a dull ache that would stay with him forever. And he was afraid of what Tigerstar might do next. Firestar could not be comforted, as the other cats were, by the absence of any traces of ShadowClan in their territory. He knew Tigerstar would not rest until he had brought his enemy down—and news that Firestar

第7章当火星穿过高林尼时，一种湿冷的寒气穿过他的皮毛。 天空乌云密布，似乎还没有决定是下雨还是下雪。 在这里，大火造成的破坏最严重，灰烬仍然覆盖着地面，少数开始重新生长的植物又因光秃秃的叶子而枯萎了。 那是他向氏族宣布消息的第二天，火星让他的新副手负责营地，而他独自在边境巡逻。 他需要一些独处的时间，习惯做领袖，思考未来的路。 有时候，他觉得被StarClan选中领导ThunderClan的自豪感会迸发出来，但他也知道这并不容易。 蓝星的悲伤是一种隐隐的疼痛，将永远伴随着他。 他很担心虎星下一步会做什么。 火星不能像其他猫一样，因为在他们的地盘上没有影子氏族的痕迹而感到安慰。 他知道虎星不把敌人打倒是不会罢休的

was now the leader of ThunderClan would only fuel the fires of his revenge. Firestar emerged from the trees near Twolegplace and looked up at Princess's fence to see if his sister had ventured out of her Twoleg nest. But there was no sign of her, and when he drank in the air he caught only a faint scent. Padding along the edge of the trees, Firestar came to a part of the forest he rarely visited, and recognized the Twoleg nest where he himself had lived as a kittypet, so many moons ago. Overcome by curiosity, he darted across the stretch of open ground at the edge of the trees and leaped to the top of the fence. Memories of playing there as a kit flooded over him as he looked down at the stretch of grass bordered by Twoleg plants. There was a more recent memory, too, of coming here to find catnip when Bluestar was ill with greencough. Firestar could see the clump of catnip now from where he was sitting, and smell its tempting scent. A flicker of movement from the nest caught his gaze, and he saw one of his old Twolegs pass by the window and disappear again. Firestar

现在雷霆氏族的首领只会点燃他复仇的火焰。 Firestar从Twolegplace附近的树林里钻了出来，抬头看了看公主的围栏，看看他的妹妹是否冒险离开了她的Twoleg巢穴。 但是没有她的影子，他在空气中喝了一口，只闻到一股淡淡的气味。 火星沿着树林的边缘走着，来到了他很少去的森林的一部分，认出了他自己在很多个月前作为一只小猫住过的特沃雷格巢穴。 出于好奇，他跑过树边的一块空地，跳到篱笆顶上。 当他低头看着那片被特沃莱格植物包围的草地时，儿时在那里踢球的回忆涌上心头。 还有一个更近的记忆是，蓝星病得很重的时候，他来这里找猫薄荷。 从他坐的地方，火星可以看到那丛猫薄荷，闻到诱人的香味。 巢里的一个闪动吸引了他的目光，他看见他的一条老特立格从窗口经过，又消失了。 Firestar

suddenly wondered how his Twolegs had felt when he left them to live in the forest. He hoped they hadn't worried about him. They had cared for him well, in the way that Twolegs tried to, and Firestar knew he would always be grateful. He would have liked to tell them how happy he was in the forest, and how he was fulfilling the destiny StarClan had laid out for him, but he knew there was no way he could make Twolegs understand. He was bunching his muscles, ready to leap down into the forest, when something black and white moved in the next garden. Glancing down, he saw Smudge, his old friend from his kittypet days. He looked as plump as ever, with a contented expression on his broad face. He was talking to a pretty brown tabby she-cat, a stranger to Firestar; their mews reached him but they were too far away for him to make out the words. He almost jumped down to say hello, until he remembered that they would probably be frightened by the sight of a ruffian like himself. Not long after coming to the forest, Firestar had met Smudge in the woods, and nearly scared the life out of him before his friend recognized him.

突然想知道当他离开他的两条腿住在森林里时，它们是什么感觉。 他希望他们没有为他担心。 他们把他照顾得很好，就像特莱格斯努力做的那样，火星知道他会永远感激的。 他本想告诉他们他在森林里是多么快乐，他是如何完成了星族给他安排的命运，但他知道他不可能让特立格理解。 他正绷紧肌肉，准备跳进森林里，这时隔壁花园里有个黑白相间的东西在动。 他低头一看，看见了斯玛奇，他当小猫时的老朋友。 他看起来和以前一样丰满，宽厚的脸上露出满足的表情。 他正在和一只漂亮的棕色虎斑母猫说话，这只母猫对火星并不熟悉；他们的消息传到了他的耳朵里，但是距离太远了，他听不清这些话。 他几乎要跳下去跟他们打招呼，但他又想起，他们见到像他这样的恶棍，大概会吓一跳。 来到森林后不久，火星在树林里遇到了斯玛奇，差点把他吓得魂飞魄散，他的朋友才认出了他。

The life he led now was worlds away from theirs. The sound of a door opening roused Firestar from his thoughts, and he edged along the fence into the shelter of a holly bush as one of his old Twolegs came out of the house and called. At once the pretty brown tabby meowed good-bye to Smudge and scrambled under the fence that divided the gardens. She ran up to the Twoleg, who scooped her up and stroked her before carrying her indoors, purring loudly. She's their new kittypet! Firestar thought. The closing of the door stirred a pang of envy in him, just for a heartbeat. The little tabby would have no need to catch her prey before she could eat; she would have a warm place to sleep, and no risk of dying in battle or from one of the many dangers that beset the forest cats. She would have the friendship of Smudge and other kittypets, and the care of her Twolegs—everything that Firestar had turned his back on to live as a Clan cat in the forest. But at the same time she would never know the satisfaction of learning warrior skills, or of racing into battle beside her friends. She would

他现在的生活和他们的生活截然不同。 门打开的声音把火星从他的思绪中唤醒，他沿着篱笆爬进了一棵冬青灌木的遮蔽处，这时他的一只老特立格狗从房子里出来喊道。 那只漂亮的棕色虎斑猫立刻喵喵地向斯玛奇道别，爬到分隔花园的栅栏下面。 她跑到特沃莱格人跟前，特沃莱格人把她抱起来，抚摸着她，然后把她抱进屋里，大声地咕噜着。 她是他们的新宠物！Firestar思想。 门的关上激起了他内心的一阵嫉妒，哪怕只是一瞬间。 小虎斑猫不需要在吃东西之前抓住猎物；她将有一个温暖的地方睡觉，而且不会有在战斗中死亡的风险，也不会有森林猫所面临的许多危险。 她将得到斯玛奇和其他小猫的友谊，得到她的两条腿的照顾——这一切都是火星为了在森林里做一只氏族猫而抛弃的。 但与此同时，她永远也体会不到学习武士技能的满足感，也体会不到与朋友们并肩作战的满足感。 她会

never understand what it meant to live by the warrior code, and to follow the will of StarClan. If I could relive my life, Firestar thought, I wouldn't change a thing. Suddenly claws scrabbled on the fence below him and from the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of quick, brown movement. Turning his head, he found himself face-to-face with Bramblepaw. It was a moment before Firestar recovered himself enough to speak. "What are you doing here?" "I followed you from camp, Firestar. I…I was curious about where you were going, and I wanted to practice my tracking skills." "Well, they seem good enough, if you got this far." Firestar wasn't sure whether he was angry with his apprentice or not. Bramblepaw shouldn't have followed him without permission, but it was impressive to have tracked him all the way from the camp. He felt a twinge of guilt, too, that Bramblepaw should have caught him looking over a Twoleg fence at a pair of kittypets. Once before, when Firestar was an apprentice, Tigerstar had

永远不会明白什么是战士的准则，什么是遵从星族的意志。 如果我能重来一次，火星想，我不会改变任何事情。 突然，爪子在他下面的篱笆上抓来抓去，他从眼角瞥见了一个快速移动的棕色物体。 他转过头来，发现自己正对着荆棘爪子。 过了一会儿，火星才回过神来说话。 “你在这儿干什么？”“我从营地跟着你，火星。 我……我很好奇你要去哪里，我想练习一下我的跟踪技能。” “嗯，如果你读到这里，它们似乎够好了。” 火星不确定自己是不是生徒弟的气。 未经允许，荆棘爪不应该跟着他，但能从营地一路跟踪他，真是令人印象深刻。 他也感到一阵内疚，因为他越过特沃格的栅栏看一对小猫时，被蓝爪抓住了。 以前，当火星还是学徒的时候，虎星

spied on him and caught him talking to Smudge. The huge tabby had reported straight back to Bluestar, deliberately calling into question Firestar's loyalty to Clan life. Meeting Bramblepaw's eyes, Firestar saw the young cat's nervousness fading, to be replaced by a steady gaze, as if he were weighing his mentor up. It was a long, intelligent look, and Firestar realized that he could see respect in the amber depths. He was aware yet again of his certainty that Bramblepaw could be an outstanding warrior, if only he could escape his father's dark heritage. But would Bramblepaw ever be truly loyal to his birth Clan, with his father still in the forest? "Can I trust you?" Firestar blurted out suddenly. The young cat didn't rush to defend himself. Instead Bramblepaw held him with that serious gaze for a moment more. "Can I trust you?" he responded, twitching his ears in the direction of the Twoleg garden. Bristling, Firestar initially had no intention of justifying himself to his apprentice; it was not Bramblepaw's place to question the actions of his

监视他，发现他在和斯玛奇说话。 这只巨大的虎斑猫直接向蓝星汇报，故意质疑火星对部落生活的忠诚。 面对着蓝爪的眼睛，火星看到这只小猫的紧张情绪消失了，取而代之的是坚定的目光，仿佛在掂量他的导师。 这是一个漫长而睿智的眼神，火星意识到他可以在琥珀色的深处看到尊重。 他又一次确信，只要蓝爪能摆脱他父亲的黑暗遗传，他就能成为一名杰出的战士。 但是，在他父亲还在森林里的情况下，蓝爪会真正忠于自己的氏族吗？ “我能信任你吗？”火星突然脱口而出。 这只小猫并没有急于自卫。 可是，蓝爪又用那种严肃的目光盯着他看了一会儿。 “我能信任你吗？”他回答道，耳朵朝着特沃莱格花园的方向抖动着。 怒火中烧，火星最初并没有打算向他的学徒证明自己；蓝爪没有资格质疑他的行为