CHAPTER EIGHT HOW THEY LEFT THE ISLAND（第2/4頁）

The Dwarf’s eyes glistened as he saw the wealth that lay on the shelves (though he had to stand on tiptoes to do so) and he muttered to himself，“It would never do to let Nikabrik see this; never．”They found easily enough a mail shirt for him，a sword，a helmet，a shield，a bow and quiverful of arrows，all of dwarfish size．The helmet was of copper，set with rubies，and there was gold on the hilt of the sword: Trumpkin had never seen，much less carried，so much wealth in all his life．The children also put on mail shirts and helmets; a sword and shield were found for Edmund and a bow for Lucy—Peter and Susan were of course already carrying their gifts．As they came back up the stairway，jingling in their mail，and already looking and feeling more like Narnians and less like schoolchildren，the two boys were behind，apparently making some plan．Lucy heard Edmund say，“No，let me do it．It will be more of a sucks for him if I win，and less of a let-down for us all if I fail．”

“All right，Ed，”said Peter．

When they came out into the daylight Edmund turned to the Dwarf very politely and said，“I’ve got something to ask you．Kids like us don’t often have the chance of meeting a great warrior like you．Would you have a little fencing match with me？ It would be frightfully decent．”

“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．

“What’s to be the target？”asked Peter．

“I think that apple hanging over the wall on the branch there would do，”said Susan．

“That’ll do nicely，lass，”said Trumpkin．“You mean the yellow one near the middle of the arch？”

“No，not that，”said Susan．“The red one up above—over the battlement．”

The Dwarf’s face fell．“Looks more like a cherry than an apple，”he muttered，but he said nothing out loud．

They tossed up for first shot (greatly to the interest of Trumpkin，who had never seen a coin tossed before) and Susan lost．They were to shoot from the top of the steps that led from the hall into the courtyard．Everyone could see from the way the Dwarf took his position and handled his bow that he knew what he was about．

Twang went the string．It was an excellent shot．The tiny apple shook as the arrow passed，and a leaf came fluttering down．Then Susan went to the top of the steps and strung her bow．She was not enjoying her match half so much as Edmund had enjoyed his; not because she had any doubt about hitting the apple but because Susan was so tender-hearted that she almost hated to beat someone who had been beaten already．The Dwarf watched her keenly as she drew the shaft to her ear．A moment later，with a little soft thump which they could all hear in that quiet place，the apple fell to the grass with Susan’s arrow in it．