Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21 Leafpaw jumped up from her nest in the ferns outside Cinderpelt's den. The sun was just rising, its rays glittering on drops of water that trembled on each fern frond and blade of grass. There was a chill in the air, reminding Leafpaw that leaf-fall would give way to leaf-bare before many moons. At first she was not sure what had awakened her. There was no sound except for the gentle sigh of wind in the treetops and the distant murmur of the warriors rousing in the main clearing. Cinderpelt had not called her, yet Leafpaw's fur prickled with the certainty that there was something she had to do. Almost of their own accord her paws took her to the mouth of Cinderpelt's den. Peering into the cleft in the rock, she meowed softly, "Cinderpelt, are you awake?" "I am now." The medicine cat's voice was sleepy. "What's the matter? ShadowClan attacking? StarClan walking among us?" "No, Cinderpelt." Leafpaw shuffled her paws. "I just wanted to check if we have any burdock

第二十一章 叶爪从炭毛巢穴外的蕨丛窝垫里跳了起来。 太阳刚刚升起，阳光洒在每片蕨叶和草叶颤动的露珠上，闪闪发亮。 空气里带着凉意，提醒叶爪用不了多少个月份，落叶季就要步入秃叶季了。 一开始她完全不清楚是什么把自己惊醒了。 除了树梢轻柔的风声，还有主空地远处武士们起身活动的低语，没有其他声响。 炭毛没有叫她，可叶爪的毛发还是发紧，她确定有一件事等着自己去做。 她的爪子不由自主地带她走到了炭毛的巢穴洞口。 她探头往岩石裂缝里看，轻声唤道：“炭毛，你醒着吗？” “我现在醒了。” 这位巫医的声音还带着睡意。 “出什么事了？ 影族来进攻了？ 星族降临我们之中了吗？” “不是的，炭毛。” 叶爪蹭了蹭爪子。 “我就是想看看我们还有没有牛蒡

root." "Burdock root?" Leafpaw heard her mentor scramble to her paws, and a heartbeat later Cinderpelt poked her head out of the den. "What do you want that for? Come on, Leafpaw, what do we use burdock root for?" "Rat bites, Cinderpelt," Leafpaw meowed. She sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws, trying to calm her heart, which was pounding as if she'd just run all the way from Fourtrees. "Especially if they're infected." "That's right." Cinderpelt slipped out of the den and made a quick tour of the clearing, prodding the clumps of fern with one paw. "No, just as I thought. No rats here," she pronounced at last. "I know there aren't any rats," Leafpaw mewed helplessly. "I just needed to check that we have burdock root, that's all." Cinderpelt's eyes narrowed. "Have you been dreaming?" "No, I—" Leafpaw broke off. "Actually, I think perhaps I have, but I don't know what it means. I can't even remember what the dream

根。” “牛蒡根？” 叶爪听见她的导师连忙站起身，没过一会儿炭毛就从巢穴里探出头来。 “你要牛蒡根做什么？ 快说，叶爪，我们用牛蒡根治什么来着？” “治老鼠咬伤，炭毛，”叶爪开口说。 她坐下，把尾巴绕在爪子边，努力平复狂跳的心脏，心跳快得就像她刚从四树一路跑回来似的。 “尤其是已经感染的伤口。” “没错。” 炭毛溜出巢穴，快速巡查了一遍营地空地，用一只爪子拨了拨蕨丛。 “没错，跟我想的一样。 这儿没有老鼠，”她最后得出结论。 “我知道这儿没有老鼠，”叶爪无奈地轻叫。 “我就是想确认我们还有牛蒡根，仅此而已。” 炭毛眯起了眼睛。 “你是不是做了奇怪的梦？” “不，我——”叶爪停下了话头。 “其实，我觉得我可能是做梦了，但我不知道这个梦是什么意思。 我甚至都记不清这个梦

was about." Cinderpelt's blue eyes considered her calmly for several heartbeats. "This may be a sign from StarClan," she meowed at last. "Then can you tell me what it means?" Leafpaw begged. "Please!" To her dismay Cinderpelt shook her head. "The sign—if it is a sign—is yours," she explained. "You know that StarClan never speaks to us in plain words. Their messages come in little things... the prickling of fur, a tugging in our paws—" "The feeling that something's right—or wrong," Leafpaw put in. "Exactly." Cinderpelt nodded. "Part of being a medicine cat is learning to read those messages by instinct... and we both know how hard it can be to make a leap of faith. That's what you have to do now." "I'm not sure I know how," Leafpaw confessed, scraping the ground with one forepaw. "Suppose I get the meaning wrong?" "Do you think I'm never wrong?" Cinderpelt's gaze suddenly grew intense. "You must trust your own judgment. Believe me, Leafpaw, one day

是讲什么的了。” 炭毛用蓝色的眼睛平静地打量了她好一会儿。 “这说不定是星族给的征兆，”她最终开口说道。 “那你能告诉我这是什么意思吗？” 叶爪恳求道。 “求你了！” 让叶爪沮丧的是，炭毛摇了摇头。 “这个征兆——就算真的是征兆——也是给你的，”她解释道。 “你知道星族从来不会用直白的话语和我们说话。 他们的讯息藏在细小的感应里…… 毛发发紧，爪子莫名发沉——” “就是那种感觉，这件事不对劲——或者对，”叶爪插嘴说。 “完全没错。” 炭毛点了点头。 “成为巫医的一部分，就是学会靠本能读懂这些讯息……我们都明白，要凭着信念迈出一步有多难。 这就是你现在要做的事。” “我不知道该怎么做，”叶爪坦白说，一边用一只前爪扒着地面。 “万一我理解错了征兆怎么办？” “你觉得我从来没出过错吗？” 炭毛的目光突然变得凝重坚定。 “你必须相信你自己的判断。 相信我，叶爪，总有一天

you will make a wonderful medicine cat— perhaps even as good as Spottedleaf." Leafpaw's eyes flew open. She had heard many stories of the gifted young medicine cat who had been killed not long after Firestar had joined ThunderClan. She had never in her wildest dreams thought that she might be compared with her. "Cinderpelt, you can't mean that!" "Of course I mean it," Cinderpelt mewed dryly. "I don't talk for the pleasure of hearing my own voice. As for burdock, you'll find it growing on the edge of the training hollow. Why don't you go and dig up a few roots—so we'll have plenty, just in case." As Leafpaw trotted out of the camp, she tried to remember what she had dreamed about. But nothing came into her mind except for a picture of dark Twoleg nests and harsh light shining on a Thunderpath. She wondered if the dream had really been a sign from StarClan; instead, she had a sense that Squirrelpaw was trying to tell her something, though the strength of their link had dwindled with distance. Leafpaw had not seen

你一定会成为一名出色的巫医——说不定能和斑叶一样优秀。” 叶矛一下子睁大了眼睛。 她听过很多关于这位天才年轻巫医的故事，她就是在火星加入雷族没多久之后遇害的。 她哪怕做最疯狂的梦，都没想过自己能和斑叶相提并论。 “炭毛，你不是认真的吧！” “我当然是认真的，”炭毛淡淡地说。 “我才不会为了过嘴瘾说这种话。 至于牛蒡，你去训练空地的边缘找，那儿就长着牛蒡。 你不如去挖几根回来——以防万一，多存点总没错。” 叶爪跑出营地的时候，努力回想自己到底梦到了什么。 可她脑子里什么都没有，只浮现出两脚兽黑漆漆的巢穴，还有雷路上刺眼的亮光。 她不知道这个梦到底是不是星族降下的征兆； 反而，她感觉松鼠爪在试图给自己传递什么信息，哪怕因为分隔太远，她们之间的联结已经变弱了。 叶爪已经有段时间没见到

her sister and the other journeying cats in her dream, but somehow she became convinced that Squirrelpaw had been bitten by a rat. If only I'd gone with her, she thought helplessly. They need a medicine cat. Oh, Squirrelpaw, where are you? In the sandy hollow, Mousefur and Thornclaw were training their apprentices. Leafpaw paused for a few moments to watch, but somehow she could not summon up much interest. She felt as if the sunlight were draining all her energy away, so that she could hardly manage to put one paw in front of the others. The tall stems of the burdock were easy to find. Leafpaw burrowed under the dark, sharp- scented leaves to dig up the roots. When she had scraped off most of the clinging earth, she carried them back to Cinderpelt's den and laid them in a neat pile beside the other herbs. Tonight was the Gathering, she remembered. When Cinderpelt had first told her she would be going she had been excited, especially at the thought of seeing Mothwing again. Now she did not feel she had enough strength for the journey

她梦见姐姐和其他赶路的猫儿，可不知怎的，她认定松鼠爪被老鼠咬伤了。 要是我跟她一起去就好了，她无助地想。 他们需要巫医。 哦，松鼠爪，你在哪里呀？ 沙洼里，鼠毛和荆爪正在训练他们的学徒。 叶爪停下看了一会儿，可不知怎的，她提不起半点兴趣。 她觉得阳光都要把她的力气吸干了，连抬爪迈步都十分吃力。 牛蒡高高的茎秆很好找。 叶爪钻进深色气味刺鼻的叶片下挖根。 刮掉根上大部分沾着的泥土后，她把牛蒡根搬回炭毛的巢穴，整齐堆在其他药草旁边。 她想起，今晚就是森林大会了。 当初炭毛刚说要带她去的时候，她特别兴奋，一想到能再见到蛾翅就更开心了。 可现在，她连赶路的力气都挤不出来了

to Fourtrees. She would have given up every Gathering from now until she went to join StarClan, if only she could have been sure that her sister was safe. By the time the ThunderClan cats reached the Gathering, Leafpaw felt better. She had snatched a brief nap after sunhigh, her nose filled with the scent of burdock clinging to her fur, and woken with energy in her paws again. As she emerged from the bushes in the clearing at Fourtrees, she saw Mothwing pushing her way toward her. "Hi, there," Leafpaw meowed. "How are you getting on?" Mothwing paused. "Fine, I think, but there's so much to learn! And there are times I don't feel any closer to StarClan than before I went to Mothermouth." Leafpaw let out a wry meow. "We all feel that. I think every medicine cat in the forest has felt it at some time." Mothwing's huge amber eyes were confused. "But I thought I'd be wise now that I'm a medicine cat. I thought I'd walk closely with

去四棵树。 只要能确定姐姐平安，她愿意放弃从现在直到加入星族的每一场森林大会。 雷族猫抵达森林大会的时候，叶爪已经感觉好多了。 日高过后她打了个小盹，皮毛上沾满牛蒡的香气，醒过来的时候爪子又重新充满了力气。 她刚走出四棵树空地的灌木丛，就看见蛾翅正朝她挤过来。 "嗨，你好，"叶爪喵呜道。 "你最近过得怎么样？" 蛾翅顿了顿。 "我觉得还好吧，可是要学的东西实在太多了！ 有时候我觉得，比起我去母亲洞之前，我并没有离星族更近一步。" 叶爪发出一声无奈的喵叫。 "我们都有这种感觉。 我想森林里的每一位巫医都曾有过这样的感受。" 蛾翅大大的琥珀眼睛里满是困惑。 "可我原以为当上巫医之后我就会变聪明了。 我原以为我会时刻与