Xml reading problem

programming flash
1

i have run into a weird problem with xml;
the line i am trying to read flom xml is:

...........
<author>Writer</author>
...
..........

in flash when i try to display this as

item.auth.text=ii[0].firstChild;

it shows on screen :

<author>Writer</author>

Now how do i get rid of the tags? i tried nodeValue, but then it showed “null”.