Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 Brambleclaw raced back to the hedge with Feathertail right behind him. All his instincts told him to dash into the garden and rescue the other cats, but the memory of what happened when they had first crossed the Thunderpath warned him to be more careful. Instead, he pushed his way through the branches until he could peer out while still remaining hidden. What he saw made his belly flip over. Near the Twoleg nest, two huge kittypets had cornered Stormfur and Crowpaw. The WindClan apprentice was crouched close to the ground, his ears flattened and his lips drawn back in a snarl. Stormfur had one paw stretched out in front of him, threatening the kittypets with unsheathed claws. Brambleclaw could see that they wouldn't get away without a fight, and there was nowhere for them to retreat except through the half-open door of the Twoleg nest. "Great StarClan!" Feathertail gasped in his ear. "Those kittypets are bigger than most warriors!"

第十六章 荆爪拼命往树篱跑，羽尾紧紧跟在他身后。 他的本能告诉他该立刻冲进花园救其他猫，但初次过雷路的教训提醒他得更谨慎。 于是他拨开树枝钻进去，藏在枝叶后偷偷往外观察。 眼前的景象吓得他心头一沉。 在两脚兽巢穴旁，两只大块头宠物猫把石毛和鸦爪逼到了角落。 风族学徒鸦爪紧贴地面伏低身子，耳朵压平，龇牙咧嘴地低吼。 石毛伸出一只爪子挡在身前，亮出爪子威慑那两只宠物猫。 荆爪看得出来，不打一场他们跑不掉，而且除了两脚兽巢穴那扇半开的门，他们没地方可退。 “伟大的星族啊！” 羽尾在他耳边倒抽一口冷气。 “这两只宠物猫比大部分武士都要壮！”

Brambleclaw wasn't sure that mattered. Size and a glossy pelt didn't make a warrior. He didn't have any doubts that he and his friends would win the battle, but the two kittypets were defending their territory, and they looked capable of inflicting nasty wounds—wounds the Clan cats could not afford if they were to keep on with their journey. He tensed his muscles, preparing to leap on the kittypets from behind, but before he could move, a flame-colored streak flashed down from the fence and across the garden. "Squirrelpaw, no!" Brambleclaw yowled. The apprentice took no notice; he was not even sure she had heard. Hurling herself into the midst of the bristling cats, she clawed at the nearest kittypet. Both of them swung around, snarling. At once Brambleclaw called out, "Stormfur, Crowpaw! Over here!" Crowpaw shot across the grass and crashed into Feathertail's flank as he charged under the hedge, but Stormfur stayed where he was, screeching at the advancing kittypets with

荆爪觉得个头大小根本不重要。 块头大、毛发光亮可不代表就是厉害的武士。 他完全相信自己和伙伴们能打赢，但这两只宠物猫是在守卫自己的领地，看起来很可能会打出重伤——要是还要继续赶路，族群猫可受不起伤。 他绷紧肌肉，准备从背后扑向那两只宠物猫，可还没等他动身，一团火红色影子从围栏冲下来，飞快穿过了花园。 “松鼠爪，别去！” 荆爪大吼道。 那学徒根本没理他，荆爪甚至不确定她有没有听见。 她猛地冲进炸毛对峙的猫群，一爪子挠向离得最近的那只宠物猫。 两只宠物猫都猛地转回身，低吼着。 荆爪立刻大喊：“石毛，鸦爪！ 到这边来！” 鸦爪窜过草地，往树篱下冲的时候撞到了羽尾的侧腹，石毛却待在原地，对着冲来的宠物猫厉声嘶吼。

Squirrelpaw beside him. At the same moment Tawnypelt appeared on top of the fence from the next garden and leaped down to join them. "Back off, fox dung!" Squirrelpaw spat as the two kittypets closed in. The nearest of them lashed at her with one paw, missing her by a whisker. Then the door to the Twoleg nest was flung open and a female Twoleg appeared, shouting and waving her arms. The kittypets fled around the side of the nest, while the Clan cats dashed for the refuge of the hedge. The Twoleg glared after them for a moment and then retreated into her nest, banging the door behind her. "Squirrelpaw!" Brambleclaw hissed as the apprentice skidded to a halt. "What were you thinking of out there? Those two could have clawed your fur off." Squirrelpaw shrugged, quite unrepentant. "No, they couldn't. All kittypets are soft," she meowed. "Anyway, Stormfur and Crowpaw were there." "Brambleclaw, don't scold her." Stormfur's amber eyes glowed as he gazed at Squirrelpaw.

松鼠爪就站在他身边。 就在这时，褐皮从隔壁花园出现在围栏顶，跳下来加入了他们。 “滚开，臭狐狸屎！” 两只宠物猫逼近时，松鼠爪狠狠啐道。 离得最近的那只一爪挥向她，就差一根胡须的距离就挠到她。 接着两脚兽巢穴的门被猛地推开，一个女两脚兽走出来，挥着胳膊大喊。 两只宠物猫绕到巢穴侧面跑走了，族群猫则飞快冲进树篱躲起来。 那两脚兽瞪了他们一会儿，就退回巢穴，砰的一声关上了门。 “松鼠爪！” 松鼠爪急刹住脚，荆爪低声呵斥道。 “你刚才在那儿想什么呢？ 那两个家伙差点把你的毛都挠下来！” 松鼠耸耸肩，一点都不后悔自己的行为。 “才不会，他们做不到。 所有宠物猫都软乎乎的，”她喵呜说道。 “再说了，石毛和鸦爪都在那儿啊。” “荆爪，别骂她了。” 石毛盯着松鼠爪，琥珀色的眼睛亮闪闪的。

"That was the bravest thing I've ever seen." Feathertail murmured agreement, and Brambleclaw began to feel uncomfortable. Tawnypelt gave the young cat a nod of approval, too; only Crowpaw looked cross, perhaps aware that Squirrelpaw had come off better than him, perhaps regretting that in the moment of crisis he had obeyed an order from Brambleclaw. "I never said she wasn't brave," Brambleclaw defended himself hotly. "Just that she needs to think first. We've still got a long way to go, and if any of us is injured it's going to hold us back." "Well, we're all here now," Tawnypelt pointed out. "Let's get going." Brambleclaw led the way back to the patch of rough ground where he had waited with Feathertail. By now the sun had gone, but red streaks stained the sky, showing them the path they must follow. "We could spend the night here," Feathertail suggested. "There's shelter, and prey." "It's too close to the Twoleg nests," Stormfur argued. "If we cross the Thunderpath into those fields, we'll be able to find a safer place."

“这是我见过最勇敢的事了。” 羽尾轻声表示赞同，荆爪开始觉得有点不自在。 褐皮也给这只小猫点头表示赞许； 只有鸦爪一脸不高兴，或许是他看不惯松鼠爪比他出彩，或许是后悔危急时刻自己听了荆爪的命令。 “我从没说她不勇敢，”荆柱激动地为自己辩解。 “我只是说她做事前该先动动脑子。 我们还有很长的路要走，谁要是受伤，都会拖慢我们的行程。” “好了，现在我们所有人都没事了，”褐皮开口说。 “我们赶紧出发吧。” 荆爪带头走回他之前和羽尾一起等候的那片荒地。 这会儿太阳已经下山，天空还留着几道红霞，给他们指明了要走的路。 “我们可以在这儿过夜，”羽尾提议道。 “这儿能躲风，还有猎物。” “这儿离两脚兽巢穴太近了，”石毛反对道。 “要是我们过了雷路到那些田里，就能找到更安全的地方。”

No cat disagreed with that. StarClan sent them an easy crossing of the second Thunderpath, and as twilight gathered they began the trek across the fields. The surface was rough, with boggy patches and heaps of stone, as if once there had been Twoleg nests here that had been allowed to fall into ruin. It was almost dark when they came to a stretch of broken-down wall. Ferns and grasses had rooted in the cracks, giving some shelter, and moss covered the fallen stones. "This doesn't look too bad," Stormfur meowed. "We could stop here." "Oh, yes, please!" Squirrelpaw agreed. "I'm so tired I think my paws will drop off!" "Well, I think we should go on a bit farther," Crowpaw objected stubbornly. Brambleclaw suspected he was just trying to be difficult. "There's no prey-scent here." "We've traveled a long way today," Brambleclaw meowed. "If we go any farther we could run into more trouble, or have to spend the night in the open. Let's look around first, though, and make sure there aren't any nasty surprises.

没有猫反对这个决定。 星族保佑他们顺利穿过了第二条雷路，暮色降临时，他们动身穿越田野。 地面凹凸不平，分布着泥沼和石堆，这里似乎曾经建有两脚兽的巢穴，后来被废弃坍塌了。 他们走到一段坍塌的墙跟前时，天几乎全黑了。 蕨类和野草在墙缝扎了根，能遮些风，倒塌的石块上也长满了苔藓。 “这地方看起来还不赖。”石毛开口道。 “我们可以在这里停下休息。” “哦对呀，快歇歇吧！” 松鼠爪连忙附和。 “我太累啦，爪子都快要累掉了！” “唔，我觉得我们还能再往前走一点。”鸦爪固执地反对。 黑莓掌心想，他就是故意找麻烦。 “这里根本闻不到猎物的气味。” “我们今天已经走了很远的路了。”黑莓掌说道。 “要是再往前走，说不定会遇上更多麻烦，或是只能在露天过夜。 不过我们先到处转转，确认不会有什么讨厌的意外。

No badgers or foxes holed up nearby." The rest of the cats agreed, all except Crowpaw, who grunted disagreeably. Squirrelpaw went to investigate on the other side of the wall. When she had been gone for a while, Brambleclaw set off after her, bracing himself to find that she had run into trouble again, only to meet her bouncing back around the line of stones. "This is a great place!" she announced, shaking droplets of water from her whiskers, while Brambleclaw wondered where all her energy came from. "There's a puddle on the other side, with plenty of water." "Water? Lead me to it," Tawnypelt mewed, trotting in the direction Squirrelpaw indicated. "My mouth's as dry as last season's leaves." A moment later she came back, and stalked threateningly across to Squirrelpaw with her tail bristling. "That was a dirty trick," she growled. Squirrelpaw looked bewildered. "Trick? I don't know what you mean." Tawnypelt spat. "The water tastes disgusting. Full of salt or something."

附近也没有獾或者狐狸打洞安家。” 其他猫都同意了，只有鸦爪不开心地闷哼了一声，表示不认同。 松鼠爪跑到墙的另一边探查情况。 她走了好一会儿，黑莓掌便跟了过去，做好了她又遇上麻烦的准备，结果刚走不远就撞见她蹦蹦跳跳从石墙那头跑回来。 “这地方太棒啦！” 她大声宣布，水珠从胡须上往下掉，黑莓掌不禁纳闷，她哪来这么多精力。 “墙那边有个水洼，水可充足了。” “有水？ 带我去。”褐皮喵了一声，快步朝松鼠爪指的方向跑去。 “我嘴巴干得就像上一季的枯叶一样。” 没过多久她就回来了，炸着尾巴气势汹汹地朝松鼠爪走过去。 “你可真够坏的。”她吼道。 松鼠爪一脸茫然。 “坏？ 我根本听不懂你说的是什么意思呀。” 褐皮啐了一口。 “那水难喝死了。 全是盐之类的怪味儿。”