Comet in Moominland Read Online Free PDF

bit red. 'I mean - stars in general,' he said, 'big and small, friendly and unfriendly and so on.'
    'Can they be unfriendly?' asked Snufkin.
    'Yes - ones with tails,' answered Moomintroll. 'Comets.'
    At last it dawned on Sniff. 'You're hiding something from me!' he said accusingly. 'That pattern we saw everywhere, and you said it didn't mean anything!'
    'You're too small to be told everything,' answered Moomintroll.
    'Too small! ' screamed Sniff.' I must say it's a fine thing to take me on an expedition of discovery and not tell me what I'm supposed to be discovering!'
    'Don't take it too hard,' said Snufkin. 'Sit down Moomintroll, and tell us what it's all about.'
    Moomintroll took the cup of coffee that Snufkin had given him, sat down, and proceeded to tell them everything that the Muskrat had said.
    'And then I asked pappa if comets were dangerous,' he went on, 'and pappa said that they were. That they rushed

    about like mad things in the black empty space beyond the sky trailing a flaming tail behind them. All the other stars keep to their courses, and go along just like trains on their rails, but comets can go absolutely anywhere; they pop up here and there wherever you least expect them.'
    'Like me,' said Snufkin, laughing. 'They must be sky-tramps!'
    Moomintroll looked disapprovingly at him. 'It's nothing to laugh at,' he said. 'It would be a terrible thing if a comet hit the earth.'
    'What would happen then?' whispered Sniff.
    'Everything would explode,' said Moomintroll, gloomily.
    There was a long silence.
    Then Snufkin said slowly: 'It would be awful if the earth exploded. It's so beautiful.'
    'And what about us?' said Sniff.
    But Moomintroll felt much braver now he had shared the secret with the others. He drew himself up and said:' That's why we are going to look for the Observatory on the Lonely Mountains. They've got the biggest telescope in the world there, and we shall be able to find out if the comet is going to hit the earth or not.'
    'What about taking my flag with us?' suggested Snufkin. 'We could put it at the masthead of your raft.'
    They looked at his flag. 'The blue on top is the sky,' he went on, 'and the blue underneath is the sea. The line in between them is a road, the dot on the left is me at the moment, and the dot on the right is me in the future. Do you approve?'
    'You could hardly get any more on a flag,' said Moomintroll. 'We approve!'
    'But I'm not on it,' said Sniff.
    'The dot on the left can be all of us, seen from a great height,' Snufkin said consolingly. 'And now I think we'll explore a bit before supper.'
    So they set off, climbing cautiously between the rocks and prickly undergrowth.
    'I just want to show you a cleft with garnets in it,' said Snufkin. 'It's not as beautiful as it can be of course in this dull light, but when the sun shines you ought to see it glittering.'
    'Are they real garnets?' asked Sniff.
    'That I don't know,' Snufkin answered, 'but anyway they're beautiful.'
    He led them up through a wild ravine, silent and deserted

    in the dim evening light, and they talked in whispers. Suddenly Snufkin paused. 'Here,' he said softly.
    They bent down and looked. At the bottom of deep narrow cleft myriads of garnets glowed dimly in the darkness and Moomintroll thought of the black space beyond the sky with thousands of comets glittering in it.
    'Oh!' whispered Sniff. 'Wonderful! Are they yours?'
    'As long as I live here,' said Snufkin carelessly. 'I'm monarch of all I survey. I own the whole earth.'
    'Do you think I could have some?' asked Sniff wistfully, 'I might be able to buy a yacht with them, or a pair of roller-skates,' and when Snufkin laughed and told him to take what he liked, he immediately jumped into the cleft and began to climb down. He scraped his nose, and almost lost his footing, but the thought of the garnets gave him courage, and at last, with a deep sigh and paws that trembled a little, he began to collect the shining stones. The pile grew larger and larger