function fields(begin, end, b, e, p, i) {
b = 0; e = 0; p = 0;
for (i = 1; i <= NF; ++i) {
if (begin == i) { b = p; }
p += length($i);
e = p;
if (end == i) { break; }
p += length(FS);
}
return substr($0, b + 1, e - b);
}
$ printf 'a b c d\n' | awk -v n=3 -f tst.awk
c d
$ printf ' a b c d\n' | awk -v n=3 -f tst.awk
c d
$ printf ' a b c d\n' | awk -v n=3 -F'[ ]' -f tst.awk
b c d
$ printf ' a b c d\n' | awk -v n=3 -F'[ ]+' -f tst.awk
b c d
$ printf 'a###b###c###d\n' | awk -v n=3 -F'###' -f tst.awk
c###d
$ printf '###a###b###c###d\n' | awk -v n=3 -F'###' -f tst.awk
b###c###d