“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—”