Finn Family Moomintroll

PUFFIN BOOKS

Finn Family Moomintroll

Tove Jansson was barn in Helsingfors, Finland, in 1914. Her mother was a caricaturist (and designed 165 of finland's stamps) and her father was a sculptor. Tove (Jansson studied painting in Finland, Sweden and France. She lived alone on a Small island in the (gulf of Finland, where most of her books were written.

Tove (Jansson died in June 2001).

Other books by Tove Jansson

COMET IN MOOMINLAND

MOOMINLAND MIDWINTER

THE EXPLOITS OF MOOMINPAPPA

MOOMINSUMMER MADNESS

MOOINVALLEY IN NOVEMBER

TALES FROM MOOMIN VALLEY

PUFFIN BOOKS

PUFFIN BOOKS

Published by the Penguin Group
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First published as
Trollkariens Hati
1948
First published in English by Ernest Benn Ltd 1950
First published by Puffin Books 1961
50

Text and illustrations copyright (c) Tove Jansson, 1948
English translation copyright (c) Ernest Benn Ltd, 1950.
All rights reserved

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN-13: 978-0-140-30150-2

Contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

In which Moomintroll, Snufkin, and Sniff find the Hobgoblin's Hat; how five small clouds unexpectedly appear, and how the Hemulen finds himself a new hobby.

CHAPTER 2

In which Moomintroll suffers an uncomfortable change and takes his revenge on the Ant-lion, and how Moomintroll and Snufkin go on a secret night expedition.

CHAPTER 3

In which the Muskrat has a terrible experience; how the Moomin family discover Hattifatteners' Island where the Hemulen has a narrow escape, and how they survive the great thunderstorm.

CHAPTER 4

In which owing to the Hattifatteners' night attack the Snork Maiden loses her hair, and in which the most remarkable discovery is made on Lonely Island.

CHAPTER 5

In which we hear of the Mameluke Hunt, and of how the Moominhouse is changed into a jungle.

CHAPTER 6

In which Thingumy and Bob, bringing a mysterious suitcase and followed by the Groke, come into the story, and in which the Snork leads a Court Case.

CHAPTER 7

Which is very long and describes Snufkin's departure and how the Contents of the mysterious suitcase were revealed; also how Moominmamma found her handbag and arranged a party to celebrate it, and finally how the Hobgoblin arrived in the Valley of the Moomins.

ONE grey morning the first snow began to fall in the Valley of the Moomins. It fell softly and quietly, and in a few hours everything was white.

Moomintroll stood on his doorstep and watched the valley nestle beneath its winter blanket. 'Tonight,' he thought, 'we shall settle down for our long winter's sleep.' (All Moomintrolls go to sleep about November. This is a good idea, too, if you don't like the cold and the long winter darkness.) Shutting the door behind him, Moomintroll stole in to his mother and said:

'The snow has come!'

'I know,' said Moominmamma. 'I have already made up all your beds with the warmest blankets. You're to sleep in the little room under the eaves with Sniff.'

'But Sniff snores so horribly,' said Moomintroll. 'Couldn't I sleep with Snufkin instead?'

'As you like, dear,' said Moominmamma. 'Sniff can sleep in the room that faces east.'

So the Moomin family, their friends, and all their acquaintances began solemnly and with great ceremony to prepare for the long winter. Moominmamma laid the table for them on the veranda but they only had pine-needles for supper. (It's important to have your tummy full of pine if you intend to sleep all the winter.) When the meal was over, and I'm afraid it didn't taste very nice, they all said good-night to each other, rather more carefully than usual, and Moominmamma encouraged them to clean their teeth.

Then Moominpappa went round and shut all the doors and shutters and hung a mosquito net over the chandelier so that it wouldn't get dusty.

Then everyone crept into his bed and, making a cosy nest for himself, pulled his blanket over his ears and thought of something nice. But Moomintroll sighed a little and said:

'I'm afraid we shall waste an awful lot of time.'

'Don't worry' answered Snufkin, 'we shall have wonderful dreams, and when we wake up it'll be spring.'

'Mm-m,' mumbled Moomintroll sleepily, but he had already drifted away into a hazy dream world.

Outside the snow fell, thick and soft. It already covered the steps and hung heavily from the roofs and eaves. Soon Moominhouse would be nothing but a big, round snowball. The clocks stopped ticking one by one. Winter had come.

Chapter one

In which Moomintroll, Snufkin, and Sniff find the Hobgoblin's Hat; how five small clouds unexpectedly appear, and how the Hemulen finds himself a new hobby.

ONE spring morning at four o'clock the first cuckoo arrived in the Valley of the Moomins. He perched on the blue roof of Moominhouse and cuckooed eight times - rather hoarsely to be sure, for it was still a bit early in the spring.

Then he flew away to the east.

Moomintroll woke up and lay a long time looking at the ceiling before he realized where he was. He had slept a hundred nights and a hundred days, and his dreams still thronged about his head trying to coax him back to sleep.