chater eight hw they left the ind (第4/9页)
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“But，lad，”said Trumpkin，“these swords are sharp．”
“I know，”said Edmund．“But I’ll never get anywhere near you and you’ll be quite clever enough to disarm me without doing me any damage．”
“It’s a dangerous game，”said Trumpkin．“But since you make such a point of it，I’ll try a pass or two．”
Both swords were out in a moment and the three others jumped off the dais and stood watching．It was well worth it．It was not like the silly fighting you see with broad swords on the stage．It was not even like the rapier fighting which you sometimes see rather better done．This was real broad-sword fighting．The great thing is to slash at your enemy’slegs and feet because they are the part that have no armour．And when he slashes at yours you jump with both feet off the ground so that his blow goes under them．This gave the Dwarf an advantage because Edmund，being much taller，had to be always stooping．I don’t think Edmund would have had a chance if he had fought Trumpkin twenty-four hours earlier．But the air of Narnia had been working upon him ever since they arrived on the island，and all his old battles came back to him，and his arms and fingers remembered their old skill．He was King Edmund once more．Round and round the two combatants circled，stroke after stroke they gave，and Susan who never could learn to like this sort of thing shouted out，“Oh，do be careful．”And then，so quickly that no one unless they knew，as Peter did could quite see how it happened，Edmund flashed his sword round with a peculiar twist，the Dwarf’s sword flew out of his grip，and Trumpkin was wringing his empty hand as you do after a“sting”from a cricket-bat．
“Not hurt，I hope，my dear little friend？”said Edmund，panting a little and returning his own sword to its sheath．
“I see the point，”said Trumpkin drily．“You know a trick I never learned．”
“That’s quite true，”put in Peter．“The best swordsman in the world may be disarmed by a trick that’s new to him．I think it’s only fair to give Trumpkin a chance at something else．Will you have a shooting match with my sister？ There are no tricks in archery，you know．”
“Ah，you’re jokers，you are，”said the Dwarf．“I begin to see．As if I didn’t know how she can shoot，after what happened this morning．All the same，I’ll have a try．”He spoke gruffly，but his eyes brightened，for he was a famous bowman among his own people．
All five of them came out into the courtyard．
