defeat

Up until now, every creak and snap had been from the bamboo, as the spades gradually levered away clumps of the rootbundle from the main mass, but it was not without cost. The less flexible of the two spades was also the bluntest, and a small dint in the edge became a tear as the afternoon went on. The more flexible spade's sharper blade remained undamaged but the handle finally cracked when lifting up the final excised clump of the afternoon, though hopefully in a was which can be cured.