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CHAPTER EIGHT HOW THEY LEFT THE ISLAND(第2页)

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“But,lad,”saidTrumpkin,“theses。”

“Iknow,”saidEdmund。“ButI'llanywherenearyouandyou'llbequiteoughtodisarmmewithoutdoingmeanydamage。”

“It'sadangerousgame,”saidTrumpkin。“Butsinakesutofit,I'lltryapassortwo。”

Bothswordswereoutihethreeothersjumpedoffthedaisandstoodwatg。Itorthit。Itwashesillyfightihbroadswordsoage。Itwasherapierfightingwhiesseeratherbetterdohiswasrealbrhtihingistoslashatyourenemy'slegsaheyarethepartthathavenoarmor。AndwhenheslashesatyoursyoujumpwithbothfeetoffthegroundsothathisblowgoesuhisgavetheDwarfanadvantagebecauseEdmund,beingmuchtaller,hadtobealing。Idon'tthinkEdmundwouldhavehadaceifhehadfoughtTrumpkiy-fourhoursearlier。ButtheairofNarniahadbeenwupoheyarrivedontheisland,andallhisoldbattlescameba,andhisarmsandfiheiroldskill。HewasKingEdmundoncemore。Roundandrouwobatarokeafterstroketheygave,andSusan(whonevercouldlearhissortofthi,“Oh,dobecareful。”Andthen,soquicklythatnooheykerdid)couldquiteseehoened,Edmundflashedhisswordroundeculiartwist,theDwarf'sswordflewoutofhisgrip,andTrumpkinwaswringiyhandasyoud”fromacricket-bat。

“Nothurt,Ihope,mydearlittlefriend?”saidEdmund,pantingalittleaurninghisownswordtoitssheath。

&hepoint,”saidTrumpkindrily。“Youknowatrieverlearned。”

“That'squitetrue,”putihebestswordsmanintheworldmaybedisarmedbyatrickthat'sohim。Ithinkit'siveTrumpkihingelse。Willyouhaveashootingmatchwithmysister?Therearenotriarchery,youknow。”

“Ah,you'rejokers,youare,”saidtheDwarf。“Ibegintosee。AsifIdidn'tknowhowsheshoot,afterehism。Allthesame,I'llhaveatry。”Hespokegruffly,buthiseyesbrightened,forhewasafamousbowmanamonghisownpeople。

Allfiveofthemcameoutiyard。

“What'stobethetarget?”askedPeter。

“Ithinkthatapplehahewalloherewoulddo,”saidSusan。

“That'lldonicely,lass,”saidTrumpkiheyellowohemiddleofthearch?”

“No,notthat,”saidSusan。“Theredoneupabove—overthebattlement。”

TheDwarf'sfacefell。“Looksmorelikeacherrythatered,buthesaidnothingoutloud。

&ossedupforfirstshot(greatlytotheirumpkin,whohadneverseenatossedbefore)andSusanlost。Theyweretoshootfromthetopofthestepsthatledfromthehalliyard。EveryonecouldseefromthewaytheDwarftookhispositionandhandledhisbowthathekhe>

Twaring。Itwasa。Thetinyappleshookasthearrowpassed,andaleafcameflutteringdown。Thehetopofthestepsandstrungherbow。ShewasnoteuchasEdmundhadenjoyedhis;notbecauseshehadanydoubtabouthittingtheapplebutbecauseSusanwassoteshealmosthatedtobeatsomeonewhohadbeeeheDwarfwatchedherkeeheshafttoherear。Amomehalittlesoftthumpwhichtheycouldallhearinthatquietplace,theapplefelltothegrasswithSusan'sarrowinit。

“Oh,welldone,Su,”shoutedtheother。

“Itwasn'treallyahanyours,”saidSusantotheDwarf。“Ithiihofwindasyoushot。”

“No,therewasn't,”saidTrumpkin。“Don'ttellme。IknowwhenIamfairlybeaten。Iwohatthesylastwoundcatchesmeabitwhemyarm>

“Oh,areyouwounded?”askedLuelook。”

“It'snotasightfirls,”beganTrumpkin,butthenhesuddenlycheckedhimself。“ThereIgotalkinglikeafoolagain,”hesaid“Isupposeyou'reaslikelyteonasyourbrotherwastobeagreatswordsmanoryoursistertobeagreatarcher。”Hesatdowepsandtookoffhishauberkandslippeddownhislittleshirt,showinganarmhairyandmusproportion)asasailor'sthoughnotmuchbiggerthanachild's。TherewasadageontheshoulderwhichLucyproceededtounroll。Uhecutlookedverynastyandtherewasagooddealofswelling。“Oh,poorTrumpkin,”saidLucy。“Howhorrid。”Thenshecarefullydrippedontoitonesingledropofthecordialfromherflask。

“Hullo。Eh?Whathaveyoudorumpkin。Buthoweverheturnedhisheadandsquintedandwhiskedhisbeardtoandfro,he'tquiteseehisowheaswellashecould,gettinghisarmsaoverydifficultpositionsasyoudowhenytoscratchaplacethatisjustoutofreaheswunghisarmaahemusdfinallyjumpedtohisfeetg,“Giantsa'scured!It'sasgoodasheburstilaughandsaid,“Well,I'vemadeasbigafoolofmyselfaseveraDwarfdid。NooffenyhumbledutytoyourMajestiesall—humbleduty。Andthanksformylife,mycure,mybreakfast—andmylesson。”

Theallsaiditwasquiteallrightand。

“Andnoeter,“ifyou'vereallydecidedtobelieveinus—”

“Ihave,”saidtheD>

“It'squiteclearwhatwehavetodo。WemustjoinKingatonce。”

&hebetter,”saidTrumpkin。“Mybeingsuchafoolhasalreadywastedaboutanhour。”

“It'sabouttwodays'jourhewayyoucame,”saidPeter。“Forus,Imean。We'twalkalldayandnightlikeyouDwarfs。”Theheothers。“kincallsAslan'sHowisobviouslytheStoself。Yourememberitwasabouthalfaday'smarch,oralittleless,fromtheredowntotheFordsofBeruna—”

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