Free Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson Page A

each other in horror. Not one of them had a single penny!
    'That'll be 13/4d. for the exercise book, and 3d. for the lemonade,' said the old lady. 'The star is 5d. and the looking-glass IId. because it has real rubies on the back. That will be I/83/4d. altogether.'
    Nobody said anything. The Snork maiden picked up the looking-glass and laid it on the counter with a sigh. Moomintroll started unpinning his medal, the Snork wondered if exercise books cost more or less after you had written in them, and Sniff just thought about his lemonade, which was mostly on the floor anyway.
    The old lady gave a little cough.
    'Well now, my children,' she said. 'There are the old trousers that Snufkin didn't want; they are worth exactly 1/8d., so you see one cancels out the other, and you don't really owe me anything at all.'
    'Is that really so?' asked Moomintroll doubtfully.
    'It's as clear as day, little Moomintroll,' said the old lady. 'I'll keep the trousers.'
    The Snork tried to count it up in his head, but he couldn't, so he wrote it in the exercise book like this:
    s. d.
    Exercise book
    13/4
    Lemonade
    3
    Medal
    5
    Looking-glass (with rubies)
    11
    Total
    1 83/4
    Trousers
    1 8
    1/8d. = 1/8d.
    3/4d. left over.
    'It's quite right,' he said in surprise.
    'But there's 3/4d. over,' said Sniff. 'Don't we get that?'
    'Don't be mean,' said Snufkin. 'We'll call it even.'
    So they thanked the old lady and were just leaving when the Snork maiden remembered something. 'Can you tell us where the dancing is tonight please?' she asked.

    'Well,' said the old lady, 'you just follow the path until you come to it - and nothing begins until the moon gets up.'
    They had left the Village Stores some way behind when Moomintroll stopped and put his hand to his head. 'The comet!' he exclaimed. 'We must warn the old lady about it, mustn't we? Perhaps she would like to come with us and hide in the cave. Sniff, will you run back and ask her?'
    Sniff trotted off, and they sat down by the side of the path to wait.
    'Can you dance the samba?' the Snork maiden asked Moomintroll.
    'Well, a bit,' he answered, 'but I like the waltz best.'
    'We've hardly got time for this dance tonight,' said the Snork. 'Look at the sky.'
    They looked.
    'It's got bigger,' said Snufkin. 'Yesterday it was a mere pin-head. Now it's the size of an egg.'
    'But I'm sure you can do the tango,' went on the Snork maiden. 'One short step to the side and two long steps backwards.'
    'It sounds easy,' said Moomintroll.
    'Sister,' said the Snork, 'you haven't a serious thought in your head. Can't you ever keep to the point?'
    'We began talking about dancing,' said the Snork maiden, 'and then suddenly you started talking about the comet. I'm still talking about dancing.'
    Then they both slowly began to change colour. But luckily Sniff ran up just then. 'She doesn't want to come with us,' he said. 'She is going to creep into the cellar when it comes. But she is very grateful and sent us a lollipop each.'
    'You didn't ask for them by any chance?' asked Moomintroll suspiciously.
    'Wretched wretch!' exclaimed Sniff indignantly. 'What an idea! She thought we ought to have them as she owed us 3/4d. And after all that's quite true.'
    So they went on, sucking their lollipops, while the sun sank behind the trees, shrouded in a grey mist.
    The moon came up, looking rather green and pale, and the comet shone stronger than ever. It was now nearly as big as the sun and lit up the whole wood with its strange red light.
    They found the dance floor in a little clearing, round which thousands of glow-worms had kindly festooned themselves. Nearby sat a giant grass-hopper with a large mug of beer in his hand, and a fiddle on the grass beside him.
    'Phew!' he said. 'It's pretty warm to be playing all the time.'
    'Who are you playing for?' asked the Snork maiden looking at the empty dance floor.
    'Oh, the forest creatures from hereabouts,' said the grass-hopper with a sweep of his arm, and took another drink. 'But the