Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 "Snakerocks is the best place in the forest to find chervil," Cinderpelt explained over her shoulder as she limped along the fern-shaded path. "But we can't go there just now, thanks to that wretched badger." "It's still there, then?" Leafpaw asked. She and the medicine cat were on an herb-gathering expedition. The sun shone brilliantly from a sky that was clear again, but the rain had revived the forest plants, and Leafpaw was enjoying the delicious coolness on her paws as she followed her mentor along the narrow track. "So the dawn patrol said," Cinderpelt replied. "Keep your eyes open for—Ah!" She swerved into the ferns and up a sandy slope, where several clumps of a strongly scented herb were growing; the flowers were gone but Leafpaw recognized the large, spreading leaves, and as she drew closer she smelled the sweetish scent of chervil. "Tell me what we use it for," Cinderpelt prompted, beginning to gnaw one of the stems at

第八章 “蛇岩是森林里找欧芹最好的地方，” 炭毛一瘸一拐走在蕨类荫蔽的小路上，侧过头解释道 “不过多亏了那只讨厌的獾，我们现在不能去那儿。” “那它还在那儿吗？” 叶爪问道 她和这位巫医正在外出采集药草 雨过天晴，阳光明亮地洒下，雨水唤醒了林中的植物，叶爪跟着导师走在窄径上，享受着爪子边沁人的凉爽 “黎明巡逻队是这么说的，” 炭毛回答 “睁大眼找——啊！” 她转弯钻进蕨丛，爬上一道沙坡，坡上长着好几丛气味浓烈的药草； 花已经谢了，但叶爪认出了那宽大舒展的叶子，走近后，她闻到了欧芹甜甜的气味 “说说它有什么用处，” 炭毛催促道，一边开始啃一根茎的

its base. Leafpaw narrowed her eyes and tried to remember. "The juice of the leaves for infected wounds," she mewed. "And if you chew the root it's good for bellyache." "Well done," Cinderpelt purred. "Now you can dig up a few roots—not too many, though, or there'll be no more in seasons to come." She went on biting the stems while Leafpaw obediently began to scrape at the ground to uncover the roots. The chervil scent was all around them, making her feel light-headed, but after a few moments she began to scent something else—something that reminded her of the acrid tang of the Thunderpath, though it was not quite the same. She glanced up and spotted a thin thread of smoke rising from a clump of dead bracken a little way down the slope. "Cinderpelt, look," she mewed uneasily, pointing with her tail. The medicine cat looked around and froze, her neck fur bristling and her blue eyes blazing. "Great StarClan, no!" She gasped. Awkwardly, because of her injured leg, she began scrambling

基部 叶爪眯起眼睛，努力回忆 “叶子的汁可以处理感染的伤口，” 她喵声道 “嚼根的话可以治肚子疼。” “做得好，” 炭毛满足地呼噜着 “现在你挖几根根出来——别挖太多，不然过几个季节就长不出来了。” 她继续咬着茎秆，叶爪乖乖地扒开泥土，把根露出来 欧芹的气味笼罩着她们，让她有些晕乎乎的，没过多久，她闻到了另一种味道——这味道让她想起雷路刺鼻的气味，可又不完全一样 她抬眼望去，看见坡下不远处的枯蕨丛中飘出一缕细烟 “炭毛，你看，” 她不安地开口，用尾巴指了指那边 这位巫医转过头，一下子僵住，颈毛倒竖，蓝色的眼睛里火光熊熊 “伟大的星族啊，怎么会这样！” 她倒吸一口凉气 因为腿上有伤，她动作笨拙地开始向下爬

down toward the burning bracken. Leafpaw leaped after her and passed the medicine cat in a couple of bounds. As she drew closer to the clump of bracken, a searing light flashed, dazzling her eyes. Blinking, she made out something shiny and clear sticking out of the ground, some spiky scrap of Twoleg rubbish. The sun was falling straight onto it and the bracken behind was slowly blackening and sending the wisp of smoke into the sky. "Fire!" Cinderpelt yowled, coming up behind her. "Quick!" Suddenly the bracken burst into flame. Leafpaw sprang back from the wave of heat. Turning to flee, she saw that Cinderpelt stood still, gazing into the scarlet and orange blaze that leaped hungrily at the brittle stalks. Is she frozen in panic? Leafpaw wondered. Sandstorm had told her about the terrible fire that once swept through the ThunderClan camp. Cinderpelt had survived, but several cats had not, and fire must be especially frightening to the medicine cat when her injured leg made it hard for her to run away.

朝燃烧的蕨丛赶去 叶爪紧跟着跳出去，没几步就超过了炭毛 她靠近那丛蕨的时候，一道刺眼的强光闪过，晃得她睁不开眼 她眨了眨眼，看清土里插着一块透亮发亮的东西，是两脚兽丢下的带尖的碎垃圾 阳光直直照在它上面，它身后的蕨丛慢慢变黑，飘出一缕轻烟升上天空 “着火了！” 炭毛吼道，赶到了她身后 “快！” 转眼间蕨丛就烧了起来 叶爪被热浪逼得往后跳开 她转身想逃，却看见炭毛一动不动站着，盯着猩红橙黄的火苗，火苗正贪婪地扑向干枯的蕨梗 她是吓呆了吗 叶爪暗自想道 沙风告诉过她，曾经有一场大火席卷过雷族营地 炭毛活了下来，可好几只猫没能幸存，而且她腿伤不便奔跑，火肯定让这位巫医格外恐惧

Then Leafpaw saw that Cinderpelt's eyes were not wide with fear, but something else. Her gaze was fixed and remote, and Leafpaw realized with a shiver from her ears to her tail-tip that her mentor was receiving a message from StarClan. As quickly as it had blazed up, the fire began to die, and Leafpaw let out a sigh of relief. The flames sank into bright embers and began to wink out, the fronds of bracken disintegrating into flecks of ash. Cinderpelt took a step backward. She was even more unsteady than usual; Leafpaw darted forward to press up against her side, supporting her and helping her to sit down. "Did you see it?" Cinderpelt whispered. "See what, Cinderpelt?" "In the flames... a leaping tiger. I saw it clearly, its huge head, the leaping paws, stripes as black as night along its body..." The medicine cat's voice was hoarse. "An omen from StarClan, fire and tiger together. It must mean something, but what?" Leafpaw shook her head. "I don't know," she confessed, feeling scared and helpless. Cinderpelt got shakily to her paws, shrugging

接着叶爪发现，炭毛睁大眼睛不是因为恐惧，而是别的原因 她的目光凝滞悠远，叶爪从耳朵到尾尖都打了个寒颤，她意识到导师正在接收星族传来的讯息 火就像烧起来时那样，很快开始熄灭，叶爪长出了一口气放下心来 火焰缩成明亮的余烬，慢慢熄灭，蕨叶碎成了片片灰烬 炭毛往后退了一步 她比平时站得更不稳； 叶爪连忙冲上前，靠在她身侧，撑着她坐下 “你看见了吗？” 炭毛轻声问 “看见什么，炭毛？” “在火焰里……一头扑跃的猛虎。” “我看得清清楚楚，大大的脑袋，跃动的爪子，身上的条纹黑得像暗夜……” 这位巫医的声音沙哑干涩 “这是星族的预兆，火与虎同在。” “它一定预示着什么，可到底是什么呢？” 叶爪摇了摇头 “我不知道，” 她坦白说，心里又害怕又无助 炭毛颤巍巍站起身，耸着肩

off Leafpaw's attempt to help her up. "We must go straight back to camp," she mewed. "Firestar should hear about this at once." The ThunderClan leader was alone in his den under the Highrock when Cinderpelt and Leafpaw returned. Cinderpelt paused outside the curtain of lichen that covered the entrance and called out, "Firestar? I need to talk to you." "Come in," Firestar's voice replied. Leafpaw followed her mentor into the den to see her father curled up on the bed of moss by the far wall. His head was raised as if Cinderpelt had roused him from sleep, and when the medicine cat and her apprentice entered he rose and stretched, arching his back so that the muscles rippled under his flame-colored pelt. "What can I do for you?" Cinderpelt padded across the den toward him, while Leafpaw sat quietly beside the entrance, wrapping her tail around her paws as she tried to push down her sense of approaching danger. She had never seen Cinderpelt receive a message from their warrior ancestors before, and she was unsettled by the fear she had seen in her

打断了叶爪扶她起身的尝试 “我们必须立刻返回营地。”她轻唤道 “这件事得马上让火星知道。” 炭皮和叶爪回来时，雷族族长正独自待在高岩下的巢穴里 炭皮在遮住入口的地衣帘外停下脚步，喊道：“火星？ 我有话跟你说。” “进来吧。”火星应声答道 叶爪跟着导师走进巢穴，看见父亲正蜷缩在远墙边的苔藓卧垫上 他抬着头，仿佛刚被炭皮从睡梦中叫醒，医猫和学徒进来后，他起身伸了个懒腰，拱起脊背，肌肉在他火焰般的皮毛下起伏波动 “我能为你做些什么？” 炭皮缓步穿过巢穴走向火星，叶爪安静坐在入口旁，尾巴绕住爪子，努力压下危险将至的预感 叶爪从前从没见过炭皮收到武士祖先的讯息，她因看到她眼中的

mentor's eyes on the journey back through the damp green forest. "StarClan has sent me an omen," the medicine cat began. She described how the Twoleg rubbish had caught the sun's rays and set fire to the bracken. "In the flames I saw a leaping tiger. Fire and tiger together, devouring the bracken. Such power, unleashed, could destroy the forest." Firestar was crouched in front of her, with his paws tucked in and his green gaze fixed on her face so intently that Leafpaw almost expected her mentor's gray fur to start smoking like the bracken burning under the hot sunlight. "What do you think it means?" "I've been trying to work it out," Cinderpelt meowed. "I'm not sure I'm right, but... in the old prophecy, "fire will save the clan," "fire" meant you, Firestar." The ThunderClan leader gave a start of surprise. "You think it refers to me now? Well... perhaps, but what about "tiger'? Tigerstar is dead." Leafpaw felt uneasiness stir inside her as her father calmly named the fearsome cat who had

导师眼里的恐惧，在返程穿过潮湿翠绿森林的路上，满心不安 “星族给我送来了一个预兆。”医猫开口说道 她告诉火星，两脚兽的垃圾反射阳光，点着了蕨丛 “我在火焰里看到一只扑跃的老虎 火焰和老虎在一起，吞噬了蕨丛 释放出这么强的力量，足以毁掉整座森林。” 火星蹲在她面前，爪子收在身下，绿色的目光紧紧盯着她的脸，叶爪都差点以为导师灰色的皮毛会像烈日下燃烧的蕨丛一样冒出烟来 “你觉得这是什么意思？” “我一直在试着弄明白。”炭皮说道 “我不确定我猜得对，不过……在旧预言里，‘火能拯救族群’， “火”指的就是你，火星。” 这位雷族族长吃了一惊 “你觉得这个预兆现在指的是我？ 唔……也许吧，那“老虎”指什么？ 虎星已经死了。”