xpath question

what is the difference between these xpaths:
//table/tgroup/tbody/row[1]/entry[1]/child::node()[1]
and
//table/tgroup/tbody/row[1]/entry[1]/ce[1]
//table/tgroup/tbody/row[1]/entry[1]/para[1]


for me the second works,not the first(using xalan process)
and the two path work in xmlspy

but what i need is the first because the child of entry can be ce or
para

my xml file is like:
.......
<table>
<tgroup>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry colname="col1">
<ce>aaaaa</ce>
<ce>(1)</ce>
</entry>
<entry colname="col2">
<ce>bbbbb</ce>
<ce>(3)</ce>
</entry>
.........

and can be also

.......
<table>
<tgroup>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry colname="col1"><para>abcd</para>
</entry>
<entry colname="col2"><para>efgh</para>
</entry>
<entry colname="col3"><para>ijkl</para>
</entry>
...........


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