The indigo2 sky stretched over themoorland, holding in the night’s chill.
Wind stirred the heather and set the hillside rippling4. Between the low bushes, feline5 shapes, their fur slicked flat by the breeze, streamed down the slope.
Among them, a tabby queen kept pace with a young tom. “Are you sure you are ready for this?”
“I’m ready,” the tom answered, his green eyes flashing in the moonlight.
“You’re my eldest6, Fallen Leaves,” the queen whispered. “The first of mine to face the ordeal7.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“He was trained well!” a low voice called from behind.
“Even trainin’ can’t prepare a softpaw for rain!” growled8 another.
Fallen Leaves glanced up. “But the sky’s clear.”
“I smell rain on the wind, I tell you.”
Murmurs9 of alarm spread among the other cats.
“The sky’s clear!” Fallen Leaves insisted as he stepped out from the swath of heather and halted. The moon lit his ginger-and-white pelt10. His Clanmates crowded at his heels, their tails flicking11. Beneath his forepaws, the slope fell away steeply. Here, moons of wind and rain had flayed12 the moorland, peeling away the earth until the stone beneath lay bare, a wall of jagged rock amid the rolling heather.
“Good luck, softpaw!”
Fallen Leaves bounded down the cliff and landed lightly on the sandy earth at its base. His mother scrambled13 after him. “Take care!”
Fallen Leaves brushed muzzles15 with the queen. “I will see you at dawn,” he promised.
Ahead of him, a black gash16 opened like a wound in the cliff face. The fur along his spine17 lifted. He had never been inside. Only chosen cats entered the Cave.
He padded forward, feeling the darkness swallow him. There must be some light to show the way! He struggled to crush the fear thrashing in his chest like a landed fish.
The tunnel will take you to the cave, his tutor’s voice echoed in his mind. Let your whiskers guide you.
His whiskers shivered, alert to the slightest touch, steering18 him along the narrow passage.
Suddenly, pale light glowed ahead. The tunnel opened into a cave. Its arching walls glowed in the weak moonlight that filtered through a gap in the roof. The sound of rushing water echoed around the rocks.
A river? Underground?
Fallen Leaves stared at the wide stream that split the sandy floor in two. Its black water glimmered19 dimly in the half-light.
“Fallen Leaves?”
A croaking20 mew made the young tom jump. He jerked his white muzzle14 up to see who had spoken and his eyes narrowed as he saw a creature crouched22 on a high ledge23, lit by moonlight pooled on the cave wall.
Was this Rock?
The creature’s pelt was like moleskin, the fur gone except for a few tufts along his spine, and his sightless eyes bulged24 like eggs. His long, twisted claws flexed25 on the smooth branch that lay at his paws. The branch was stripped of its bark and, even in this light, Fallen Leaves could see claw marks etched along it, a crowded series of straight lines scarring the pale wood.
This mustbe Rock.
“I can feel your surprise,” the blind creature croaked26. “It pricks27 my pelt like gorse.”
“I—I’m sorry,” Fallen Leaves apologized. “It’s just I did not expect—”
“You did not expect a cat could grow so ugly.”
Fallen Leaves froze with embarrassment28. Had Rock read his mind?
“A cat needs wind and sun to shine his fur and good hunting to trim his claws,” Rock went on, his mew rasping like stones on stone. “But I must stay close to our warrior29 ancestors; those who have taken their place beneath the earth.”
“And for that we thank you,” Fallen Leaves murmured respectfully.
“Don’t thank me,” Rock growled. “It was a destiny I was bound to follow. Besides, you may not feel so grateful to me once your initiation30 has begun.” As he spoke21 he ran a long claw over the lines scratched into the smooth branch. A second scratch crossed some lines, but not all. “The uncrossed lines mark the cats who went into the tunnels but did not come out.”
Fallen Leaves stared at the dark holes lurking31 like mouths at the edge of the cave. If they did not lead to air and safety, where did they end up? “Which tunnels did they go into?”
Rock shook his head. “I cannot help you. To become a sharpclaw, you must find your own way out. I can only send you on your way with the blessing32 of our ancestors.”
“Can’t you give me anyadvice?”
“Without light, you will have only your instincts. Follow them and if they are true, you will be safe.”
“What if they are not true?”
“Then you will die in darkness.”
Fallen Leaves squared his shoulders. “I’m not going to die.”
“I hope not,” Rock mewed. “You know you are not allowed to return to this cave? You must find a tunnel that leads straight back to the moor3. Is it raining?” he asked suddenly.
Fallen Leaves stiffened33. Should he mention the tingling34 in the air that hinted rain mightcome? No. Rock might tell him to go back the way he had come and wait until another day. He couldn’t put off becoming a sharpclaw any longer. He wanted to do this now. “The sky is clear,” he promised.
Rock ran his paw once more over the lines etched in the branch. “Then begin.”
Fallen Leaves eyed the tunnel beneath Rock’s ledge. It seemed larger than the rest, and appeared to slope upward. Up to the moorland, high above? This was the way he would choose.
Heart pounding, he leaped across the river and headed into the bone-chilling darkness.
By dawn I will be a sharpclaw. His pelt bristled35.
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收听单词发音
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1
prologue
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| n.开场白，序言；开端，序幕 | |
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indigo
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| n.靛青，靛蓝 | |
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moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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feline
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| adj.猫科的 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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flicking
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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12
flayed
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| v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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13
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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muzzles
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| 枪口( muzzle的名词复数 )； （防止动物咬人的）口套； （四足动物的）鼻口部； （狗）等凸出的鼻子和口 | |
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gash
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| v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝 | |
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spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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croaking
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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bulged
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| 凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物） | |
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25
flexed
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| adj.[医]曲折的，屈曲v.屈曲( flex的过去式和过去分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌 | |
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croaked
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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27
pricks
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| 刺痛( prick的名词复数 )； 刺孔； 刺痕； 植物的刺 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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initiation
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| n.开始 | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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