The Exploits of Moominpappa (Moominpappa's Memoirs) Read Online Free PDF

quickly.
    Thousands of Niblings came swarming aboard. We saw the Hemulen Aunt lose her balance, and in a few seconds, wildly waving her umbrella, she was carried away on a living carpet of hairy Nibling backs. With a loud scream she tipped over the railing and disappeared. A moment later there wasn't a single Nibling to be seen.
    All was silent, and The Oshun Oxtra continued on its course.

    'Well,' said the Joxter. 'Why didn't you rescue her?'
    My chivalry prompted me to rush to her aid, but my bad and natural instincts told me it wouldn't be of any use.
    'It's too late now,' I mumbled. And so it was.
    'Mphm,' said Hodgkins a little uncertainly.
    'And that's that,' said the Joxter.
    'A sorry end,' I said.
    'Excuse me, was that my fault?' asked the Muddler. 'I said, didn't I, that I hoped somebody would be so kind as to eat her?'
    Well - what would you have done?
    I had saved her life once, and a Groke really is something very much worse than a Nibling. Niblings aren't so bad, in fact.... Perhaps she would enjoy the change? Perhaps she would even look nicer with a small nose?
    The sun shone peacefully, and we started to scrub the deck. It was quite sticky from the Niblings' suckered feet. Then we brewed enormous quantities of good, black, strong coffee.
    The Oshun Oxtra seemed to be surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of small, flat islands.
    'There's no end of them,' I said. 'Where are we going?'
    'Anywhere... Nowhere... said the Joxter, and filled his pipe. 'What about it? We're all right, aren't we?'
    Yes, of course. But still...
    Great talent and an unquiet heart are often combined. My heart has always longed for new places and new acquaintances.
    I sat in the prow looking ahead, while I pondered over my experiences so far. They were as follows:
    1. Try to have your Moomin babies born at an astro-logically suitable moment, and give them a romantic entry into the world.
    2. People do not like to hear about Hemulens when they have other things to do.
    3. You never can tell what aneroid barometers may be caught in any net.
    4. Never paint a coffee tin simply because there's some paint left over.
    5. All big animals are not dangerous.
    6. All small animals are not afraid.
    7. Try to avoid saving people in the dark.
    While I sat sorting out these remarkable truths of life the houseboat rounded the last of the small islands - and suddenly my heart took a jump straight into my throat and stuck there.
    Before us lay the Ocean, blue, wide and glittering!
    'Hodgkins!' I shouted. 'Ocean ahead!'
    'It's too big!' said the Muddler and vanished into his tin. 'Excuse me! It tickles my eyes ana I don't know what to think!'
    The Joxter came on deck and wondered. He had nevar seen the Ocean before.
    'How blue it is,' he said. 'Let's steer straight ahead and just roll and sleep and never arrive anywhere!'
    'You're talking like a Hattifattener,' Hodgkins said.
    'A what?' I asked.
    'A Hattifattener,' answered Hodgkins. 'Never seen one? No peace, no rest. Always travelling. Travel and travel without a word. Dumb.'
    'How strange,' I said. 'What a curious world it is.'
    'Indeed,' said Hodgkins.
    We found a harbour in a little round cove like a polished tub between the towering rocks and cliffs.
    And then we went ashore to gather sea-shells. The beach was full of red and yellow sea-weed, of transparent jelly-fish and crabs and sea-urchins.
    We admired the sand that was elegantly raked in little wavy stripes by the sea spooks. We climbed up and down among the cliffs that were smooth as silk and quite warm in the basking evening sun. The Muddler went wading along the beach to look for curious pebbles.
    I'm sure my son Moomintroll has inherited my taste for beaches. I feel proud of him when he goes pearl-diving or cave-discovering or salvaging wreckage! But to be out at sea and to have only the horizon before one's eyes is often a little tedious to Moomins. We like changing things, all that is unexpected and strange and mixed-up, like beaches, and