CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 25
After they said good-bye to Princess, Cloudtail went off to hunt, leaving Firestar to return to the camp alone. Twilight¹ was gathering² by the time he reached the ravine, and he scented⁴ Whitestorm before he spotted⁵ the pale warrior⁶ ahead of him. Firestar caught up to him just before he reached the gorse tunnel; he had a vole clamped in his jaws⁷, and set it down when he saw Firestar.
“I was hoping for a word with you,” he began, without even waiting for a greeting. “And it’s best out here, where no cat will overhear us.”
Firestar’s heart lurched. “What’s the matter? Has something gone wrong?”
“You mean apart from Scourge⁸?” the older warrior meowed wry⁹ l y. He settled himself on a flat rock and beckoned¹⁰ with his tail for Firestar to join him. “No, nothing’s wrong. The patrols and the training are going well…but I keep asking myself, have we really thought about what we’re doing?”
Firestar stared at him. “What do you mean?”
The ThunderClan deputy took a deep, painful breath. “Scourge and his Clan¹¹ outnumber us by many, even with WindClan fighting on our side. I know our warriors¹² will fight to the last drop of blood to save the forest, but perhaps the price will be too high.”
“Are you saying we should give in?” Firestar’s voice sharpened; he had never expected to hear advice like this from his deputy. If Whitestorm’s courage hadn’t been beyond question, he would have said it was the speech of a coward. “Leave the forest?”
“I don’t know.” Whitestorm sounded tired, and Firestar was suddenly reminded of his age. “Things are changing, no cat can deny that, and perhaps it’s time to move on. There must be territory beyond Highstones. We could find another place—”
“Never!” Firestar interrupted. “The forest is ours.”
“You’re young.” Whitestorm looked solemnly at him. “You would see it that way. But cats are going to die, Firestar.”
“I know.” All day Firestar had kept busy, encouraging his warriors—and himself—with thoughts of a victory over Scourge. Now Whitestorm was forcing him to face the fact that even if they won, it would be at a terrible cost. ThunderClan might drive the invading cats from the forest and still be left with few survivors¹⁴, as weakened as if they had been defeated.
“We must go on,” he meowed. “We can’t turn tail and run like mice. You’re right, Whitestorm, I know you are, but what other choice have we? It can’t be the will of StarClan for us to leave the forest.”
Whitestorm nodded. “I thought you would say that. Well, I’ve told you what I think. That’s what a deputy’s for.”
“I’m grateful for it, Whitestorm.”
The white warrior rose to his paws, turned toward his vole, and then glanced back at Firestar. “I’ve never had the kind of ambition that drove Tigerstar—or you,” he meowed. “I’ve never wanted to be leader. But I’m particularly glad I’m not leader now. No sane¹⁵ cat would envy you the decisions you have to make.”
Firestar blinked, not knowing what to say.
“All I hope for,” Whitestorm went on, “is that I’ll fight my hardest when the time comes.”
A shadow of uncertainty¹⁶ crossed his face, and Firestar realized that many cats would have joined the elders by Whitestorm’s age. It would be natural for him to fear that his fighting strength might fail.
“I know you will,” he agreed. “There’s no nobler warrior in the whole forest.”
Whitestorm held his gaze for a long moment, saying n o thing. Then he picked up his vole and padded into the camp.
Firestar stayed on the rock. Whitestorm’s words had disturbed him, and he was suddenly reluctant to go back into camp and settle in his shadowy den¹³ under the Highrock. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
After a few moments listening to the soft sounds of the gathering night, Firestar rose and headed back up the ravine. Faint red streaks¹⁷ showed where the sun had gone down, but overhead the sky was dark, and a few early warriors of StarClan looked down at him.
Firestar slipped silently through the undergrowth, and it was some time before he realized that his paws were taking him toward Sunningrocks. By the time he reached the edge of the trees it was completely dark. The rounded shapes of the rocks were outlined against the sky like the backs of crouching¹⁸ animals, with a shimmer¹⁹ of frost on the surface. Beyond them he could hear the soft bubble of the river over stones, and much closer a faint scuffling noise alerted him to the presence of prey²⁰.
Firestar’s mouth watered as he identified the scent³ of a mouse. Barely letting his paws touch the ground, he crept up on it and sprang. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until his jaws closed on it, and he finished it in a few ravenous²¹ gulps²².
Feeling better, Firestar sprang up to the top of the rock and found a place where he could sit and look down at the river. The dark water glittered with starlight. A breeze ruffled²³ the surface, buffeting²⁴ his fur and stirring the leafless forest around him.
Firestar turned his gaze upward to Silverpelt. The warriors of StarClan were watching—but they seemed cold and far away on this frosty night. Did they really care about what happened in the forest? Or had Bluestar been right all along, when she raged against them in her private war? For a moment Firestar caught a glimpse of his former leader’s terrible sense of isolation²⁵. He could not truly share it, for unlike Bluestar he had never lost faith in the warriors of his own Clan, but he was beginning to understand how she had come to doubt StarClan.
So many cats had already died in Tigerstar’s fierce struggle for power, and StarClan had not saved them. Firestar wondered if he was being foolish to think that his warrior ancestors would help him now.
But without StarClan, how could his Clan survive? Lifting his head, he yowled to the glory of Silverpelt: “Show me what I should do! Show me that you’re with us!”
No answer came from the white fire above him.
Painfully aware of how small and weak he was compared with the sky-spread StarClan, Firestar found a hollow in the rock that was sheltered from the chill breeze. He did not expect to sleep, but he was exhausted²⁶, and after a while his eyes closed.
He dreamed that he was seated in Fourtrees, his senses lulled²⁷ by the warm air and sweet scents²⁸ of greenleaf. The warriors of StarClan surrounded him on all four slopes, as they had done on his visit to the Moonstone when he received the nine lives of a Clan leader. He saw Spottedleaf and Yellowfang there, and all the warriors who were lost to ThunderClan, as well as others, newly added to the shining ranks: Stonefur and the young apprentice²⁹ Gorsepaw.
In his dream Firestar sprang to his paws and confronted them. For the first time he did not feel in awe³⁰ of his warrior ancestors. It seemed as if they had abandoned him, and the whole forest, to their terrifying fate. “You rule the forest!” hissed³¹ Firestar, letting all his anger at their betrayal spill out. “You sent the storm on the night of the Gathering, so that I couldn’t tell the Clans³² what Tigerstar had done. You allowed him to bring Scourge into the forest! Why are you doing this to us? Do you want us to be destroyed?”
A familiar figure stepped forward; Bluestar’s gray-blue fur shimmered³³ in the starshine, and her eyes were blue fire. “Firestar, you don’t understand,” she meowed. “StarClan do not rule the forest.”
Firestar gaped³⁴ at her, with nothing to say. Was everything wrong, then, that he had learned since he came into the forest as a kittypet, so long ago?
“StarClan cares for every cat in the forest,” Bluestar continued, “from the blind, helpless kit³⁵ to the oldest elder lying in the sun. We watch over them. We send omens³⁶ and dreams to the medicine cats. But the storm was no doing of ours. Scourge and Tigerstar wade³⁷ through blood to power because that is their nature. We watch,” the former leader repeated, “but we do not interfere³⁸. If we did, would you truly be free? Firestar, you and every cat have the choice of whether or not to follow the warrior code. You are not the playthings of StarClan.”
“But—” Firestar tried to interrupt.
Bluestar ignored him. “And now we’re watching you. You are the cat we have chosen, Firestar. You are the fire who will save the Clan. No warrior of StarClan brought you here. You came of your own accord because you have a warrior’s spirit and the heart of a true Clan cat. Your faith in StarClan will give you the strength you need.”
As she spoke³⁹, a sense of peace crept over Firestar. He felt as though Bluestar’s strength and the strength of all the warriors of StarClan were flowing into him. Whatever happened w h en his Clan met BloodClan in battle, Firestar knew StarClan had not abandoned him.
Bluestar rested her muzzle⁴⁰ on his head just as she had done on the day he was made a warrior. At her touch, the pale fire of the assembled warriors began to fade, and Firestar sank into the warm darkness of deep sleep. When he opened his eyes, it was to see the first light of dawn staining the sky.
Firestar rose and stretched, the memory of his dream filling his paws with energy. It was his duty as leader to save his Clan. And with the strength of StarClan to help him, he would find a way to do it.

1 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

4 scented   

adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词)

参考例句：

• I let my lungs fill with the scented air. 我呼吸着芬芳的空气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police dog scented about till he found the trail. 警犬嗅来嗅去，终于找到了踪迹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

6 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

7 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

8 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

9 wry   

adj.讽刺的；扭曲的

参考例句：

• He made a wry face and attempted to wash the taste away with coffee.他做了个鬼脸，打算用咖啡把那怪味地冲下去。
• Bethune released Tung's horse and made a wry mouth.白求恩放开了董的马，噘了噘嘴。

10 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

12 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

13 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

14 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

15 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

16 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

17 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

19 shimmer   

v./n.发微光，发闪光；微光

参考例句：

• The room was dark,but there was a shimmer of moonlight at the window.屋子里很黑，但靠近窗户的地方有点微光。
• Nor is there anything more virginal than the shimmer of young foliage.没有什么比新叶的微光更纯洁无瑕了。

20 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

21 ravenous   

adj.极饿的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• The ravenous children ate everything on the table.饿极了的孩子把桌上所有东西吃掉了。
• Most infants have a ravenous appetite.大多数婴儿胃口极好。

22 gulps   

n.一大口（尤指液体）( gulp的名词复数 )v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的第三人称单数 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• He often gulps down a sob. 他经常忍气吞声地生活。 来自辞典例句
• JERRY: Why don't you make a point with your own doctor? (George gulps) What's wrong? 杰瑞：你为啥不对你自个儿的医生表明立场？有啥问题吗？ 来自互联网

23 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

24 buffeting   

振动

参考例句：

• The flowers took quite a buffeting in the storm. 花朵在暴风雨中备受摧残。
• He's been buffeting with misfortunes for 15 years. 15年来，他与各种不幸相博斗。

25 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

26 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

27 lulled   

vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They lulled her into a false sense of security. 他们哄骗她，使她产生一种虚假的安全感。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The movement of the train lulled me to sleep. 火车轻微的震动催我进入梦乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 scents   

n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉

参考例句：

• The air was fragrant with scents from the sea and the hills. 空气中荡漾着山和海的芬芳气息。
• The winds came down with scents of the grass and wild flowers. 微风送来阵阵青草和野花的香气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

30 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

31 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

32 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

33 shimmered   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea shimmered in the sunlight. 阳光下海水闪烁着微光。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A heat haze shimmered above the fields. 田野上方微微闪烁着一层热气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

34 gaped   

v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• A huge chasm gaped before them. 他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front door was missing. A hole gaped in the roof. 前门不翼而飞，屋顶豁开了一个洞。 来自辞典例句

35 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

36 omens   

n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The omens for the game are still not propitious. 这场比赛仍不被看好。 来自辞典例句
• Such omens betide no good. 这种征兆预示情况不妙。 来自辞典例句

37 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

38 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

39 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

40 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。