Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 Stormfur's paws scrabbled on smooth gray rock. Heaving himself upward, he reached the top of the boulder and turned to look down at his friends, his fur buffeted by the icy breeze. "Come on," he meowed. "It's not so bad if you take a leap at it." Following the rising sun, he and the other cats had left the moorland behind and begun to climb. Now, as sunhigh approached on the second day of their homeward journey, the mountains they had seen from a distance stretched up in front of them even bigger than they had imagined, their sheer slopes black and forbidding, with wisps of cloud floating around their peaks. The soil beneath the cats" paws was rough with pebbles, and little grew there except sparse grass and twisted thorn trees. There was no clear path; instead they followed winding narrow clefts and often had to turn back when they came up against rock walls with no way through. Thinking wistfully of the river sliding through deep, cool grasses at home, Stormfur

第五章 暴风毛的爪子在光滑的灰岩石上打滑抓挠。 他用力撑起身子爬到岩顶，转身低头看向伙伴们，冰冷的狂风把他的毛发吹得乱晃。 “快来啊，”他喵道。 “助跑跳一下其实没那么难呀。” 追着初升的太阳，他和其他猫儿离开了荒原，开始向上爬山。 踏上回家旅途的第二天，眼看太阳升到头顶，他们远远望见的大山横亘在面前，比想象中还要高大，陡峭的山坡黝黑吓人，缕缕云絮绕着山尖漂浮。 猫儿爪下的土地布满粗糙卵石，除了稀疏的草和歪扭的荆棘树，几乎没有别的植物生长。 这里没有清晰的路径； 他们只能顺着蜿蜒狭窄的石缝走，还常常撞到不通路的岩壁，不得不掉头返回。 暴风毛满心怀念地想着家乡那条淌过凉爽深草的河流，

half wished they had decided to return through Twolegplace instead. Squirrelpaw bunched her hind legs and launched herself in a massive leap, following Stormfur up the boulder that blocked their path. "Mouse dung!" she gasped as she missed the top and began to slide back. Stormfur leaned over and sank his teeth into her neck fur, steadying her until her scraping claws propelled her up the last tail-length to sit beside him. "Thanks!" Her green eyes glowed at him. "I know my name's Squirrelpaw, but I never thought I'd wish that I was a squirrel!" Stormfur let out a mrrow of laughter. "We'll all wish we were squirrels if we get much more of this." "Hey!" Crowpaw's voice rose aggressively from below. "Stand back, will you? How can I get up there with you two furballs standing in the way?" Stormfur and Squirrelpaw stepped back from the top of the boulder, and a moment later Crowpaw joined them, his long limbs managing the jump easily. Ignoring the others, he turned

心里巴不得当初选走两脚兽地盘回家了。 松鼠爪绷紧后腿，猛地奋力一跃，跟着暴风毛爬上这块挡路的大石头。 “老鼠屎！” 她没够到岩顶，开始往下滑，吓得喘着气惊呼。 暴风毛探过身，一口叼住她后颈的皮毛稳住她，直到她扒着爪子蹭完最后一段尾巴长的距离，爬到他身边坐下。 “谢谢！” 她碧绿的眼睛亮闪闪地看向他。 “我知道我叫松鼠爪，可我从来没想过，我居然会盼着自己真的是只松鼠！” 暴风毛忍不住喵哈哈笑出了声。 “再这么爬下去，我们全都会盼着自己是松鼠的。” “喂！” 鸦爪的声音从下面传来，满是火气。 “给我让开好吗？ 你们两个毛球挡在那儿，我怎么上去啊？” 暴风毛和松鼠爪从岩顶退开，没过一会儿鸦爪就上来了，他长长的腿轻轻松松就跳了上来。 他不理睬其他猫，转过身

back to help Feathertail, who scrambled up with a muttered curse as one of her claws snagged on the rock. Stormfur was worried that the rat bite in Tawnypelt's shoulder would stop her from climbing the boulder, and wondered if they would have to try finding a way around it, but to his relief her leap brought her almost to the top, where Crowpaw grabbed her by the scruff and hauled her up. Brambleclaw joined them last of all, shaking his ruffled tabby fur as he stood on top of the boulder and looked around. This close to sunhigh, there were few shadows to point them in the right direction and nothing but a sheer precipice in front of them, hiding what lay ahead. "I suppose we go that way," he meowed, flicking his tail toward a narrow ledge leading across the face of the rock. "What do you think?" he asked Stormfur. Stormfur felt his pelt prickle as he looked at the ledge. A few straggling bushes had rooted themselves in cracks, but apart from that the rock was bare and if they slipped there would be

往后退去接羽尾，羽尾爬上来的时候一只爪子勾在了石头上，小声骂了一句。 暴风毛本来担心褐皮肩膀的鼠咬伤会让她爬不上这块大石头，还想着要不要找路绕过去，可让他松口气的是，她一跃就几乎到了顶，鸦爪叼住她后颈把她拉了上来。 最后一个上来的是棘爪，他站在岩顶抖了抖乱糟糟的虎斑毛，环顾四周。 快到正午了，几乎没什么阴影能指引方向，面前只有陡峭的悬崖，根本看不清前方藏着什么。 “我们应该走那边吧，”他喵道，尾巴扫向岩石侧面的狭窄岩架。 “你觉得怎么样？” 他问暴风毛。 暴风毛看着那个岩架，浑身汗毛都竖起来了。 只有几丛稀稀拉拉的灌木扎根在石缝里，除此之外岩石光秃秃的，要是滑倒了根本就

nothing to hold on to. "We can try," he mewed doubtfully, rather surprised that Brambleclaw had asked his opinion. "There's nowhere else, unless we go back." Brambleclaw nodded. "Bring up the rear, will you?" he asked. "We don't know what might be lurking around here, and we need a strong cat to watch our back." Stormfur murmured agreement, feeling a warm glow that spread from his ears to his tail- tip at the ThunderClan cat's praise. Brambleclaw was neither his leader nor his mentor, but Stormfur couldn't help feeling strong admiration for the young warrior's courage and the way he had taken the lead on this difficult journey. "I've changed my mind," Squirrelpaw announced as Brambleclaw squeezed his way along the ledge. "I don't want to be a squirrel anymore. I'd rather be a bird!" Stormfur brought up the rear as Brambleclaw had asked, his ears pricked for danger while he tried to hide his nervousness about the sheer drop, which tugged at him like an invisible

没有地方可以抓握。 “我们可以试试，”他犹豫地喵道，没想到棘爪会问他的意见，有点惊讶。 “没别的路可走了，除非我们掉头回去。” 棘爪点了点头。 “你走最后压阵行吗？”他问。 “我们不知道这附近藏着什么东西，需要一只强壮的猫帮我们断后。” 暴风毛小声答应了，这只雷族猫的称赞让他从耳朵到尾尖都暖乎乎的。 棘爪既不是他的族长也不是他的导师，可暴风毛忍不住深深敬佩这位年轻武士，敬佩他的勇气，还有在这段艰难旅程中主动带队的担当。 “我改主意了，”棘爪挤着身子往岩架走的时候，松鼠爪开口说道。 “我不想当松鼠了。 我宁愿当一只鸟！” 暴风毛按照棘爪的要求走在最后压阵，他竖着耳朵留意危险，同时尽力掩饰自己对这处绝壁的紧张，它就像一只看不见的

weight. He hugged the rock face, placing each paw carefully and using his tail for balance. After a little while the breeze grew stronger, and Stormfur's mind filled with terrifying images of himself or one of his friends blown right off the ledge and down to the ground below. After a short while the ledge curved around the rock face, out of sight. Before Stormfur reached the turn, Tawnypelt, who was just in front of him, stopped abruptly, and from farther ahead he heard Feathertail exclaim, "Oh, no!" "What's the matter?" Stormfur asked. Tawnypelt edged forward more slowly, and Stormfur followed until he could see what was ahead. His belly lurched. A gap had opened up between their ledge and the rock face; the ledge became a spur of rock, jutting out from the side of the mountain and narrowing to a point. On both sides was a dizzying drop to a valley below where a mountain stream flowed, looking thin as a mousetail. "Do you want to go back?" he called to Brambleclaw. "Hang on a minute," the ThunderClan warrior

稳住重心。 他紧贴着岩壁，每只爪子都落得小心翼翼，用尾巴保持平衡。 没过多久风越刮越大，暴风毛脑子里全是可怕的想象：他或是哪个伙伴被吹下岩架，直直摔下山崖。 又走了一会儿，岩架绕着岩壁转弯，前方的路看不见了。 暴风毛还没走到转弯处，走在他前面的褐皮突然停住，他听见更前方的羽尾惊呼：“哦，不！” “出什么事了？” 暴风毛问道。 褐皮慢慢往前挪了几步，暴风毛跟过去，终于看清了前方的情况。 他的心猛地一沉。 他们脚下的岩架和前方岩壁之间裂开了一道缺口； 岩架变成一块从山壁伸出来的石突，越往前越窄，最后缩成了一个尖。 两侧都是让人头晕目眩的陡坡，底下山谷里的溪流细得像老鼠尾巴。 “你要不要往回走？”他朝棘爪喊道。 “等一下，”这位雷族武士

replied. "There might be a way. Look over there." Stormfur looked where his tail was pointing: On the mountainside beyond the gap the rock face had broken away, and a narrow rift had opened up between two steep slopes. Bushes were growing there and one or two small trees. A stream trickled down one side, overhung by grasses. "The going looks easier there," Feathertail meowed. "But can we get across?" Squirrelpaw lifted her head and tasted the air. "I can smell rabbits," she mewed longingly. Stormfur measured the gap. It was wider than he liked, especially from a standing start. He thought he could manage it, but what about Tawnypelt? The ShadowClan warrior had started to limp again since they had started their climb, and even though she hadn't said anything, it was obvious the wound hadn't healed properly yet. Before he could voice his doubts he heard Crowpaw mew, "What are we waiting for? Are we going to stand around here until we grow wings?" Without any more hesitation the WindClan

回答道。 “说不定有办法过去。 看那边。” 暴风毛顺着他尾巴指的方向看去：缺口对面的山坡上岩壁崩落了一块，两道陡坡之间裂开一道窄缝。 那里长着灌木丛，还有一两棵小树。 一道细溪顺着一侧往下流，岸边长满了青草。 “那儿看起来好走多了，”羽尾说。 “可我们能跳过去吗？” 松鼠爪抬起头嗅了嗅空气中的味道。 “我闻到兔子的味道了，”她渴望地说。 暴风毛估了估缺口的宽度。 这宽度比他预想的宽多了，还是原地起跳，难度不小。 他觉得自己能跳过去，可褐皮怎么办呢？ 自从开始爬山，这位影族武士又开始一瘸一拐，她虽然什么都没说，但伤口显然还没彻底养好。 他还没说出自己的疑虑，就听见鸦爪开口：“我们还在等什么？ 难道要在这儿等到长出翅膀吗？” 没再多犹豫，这位风族的