Comet in Moominland

Comet in Moominland is a novel in Finnish author Tove Jansson's Moomin series, which follows the adventures of the Moomintrolls, white, round-bodied, troll-like creatures who live in a peaceful valley. The story takes place shortly after the Moomin family has settled in their blue-painted house, having survived a great flood.

Moomintroll, the good-natured protagonist, lives with his parents, Moominmamma and Moominpappa, and their adopted friend Sniff, a small, anxious creature fond of riches. One day Sniff discovers a mysterious path into the forest. The two set out to explore it, encountering a silk-monkey, a mischievous creature who leads them on a chase that brings them to the sea. Moomintroll dives in and collects beautiful pearls from oysters. The silk-monkey spots a cave entrance in the coastal rocks, and Sniff discovers the cave itself: a spacious room with rocky walls, a sandy floor, and a gap in the roof. They store the pearls inside and return home.

That night, during a rainstorm, Moominpappa finds the Muskrat on the doorstep, a bedraggled philosopher whose riverside home was destroyed by Moominpappa's bridge construction. The Muskrat moves in, declaring everything "unnecessary" while accepting hospitality. He hints that something strange is in the air.

The next day, Moomintroll and Sniff return to the cave to find their pearls rearranged into a star-with-a-tail pattern. The same shape appears everywhere: Seagulls form it on the water, and ants trace it in the wood. Moomintroll consults the Muskrat, who reveals the pattern represents a comet, a glowing celestial body rushing through space trailing fire. The Muskrat suggests the Professors at the Observatory on the Lonely Mountains might know whether the comet will strike Earth. Moomintroll decides he and Sniff must make the journey, keeping the danger secret from the easily frightened Sniff.

Moominmamma packs their rucksacks and Moominpappa readies a raft. They float eastward under grey, sunless skies. One evening they encounter what looks like grey logs on a sandbank arranged in the comet's pattern. The logs begin to move: They are crocodiles, and the river swarms with them. In desperation, Moomintroll throws the woolly trousers his mother packed; the crocodiles fight over them, and the raft escapes.

Farther downriver they meet Snufkin, a vagabond musician with a feather in his green hat and a mouth-organ, who wanders the world owning nothing. Moomintroll reveals the comet to both Snufkin and Sniff, explaining it could destroy Earth. Snufkin, moved by the thought that the beautiful earth might be lost, joins the expedition. He leads them to a cleft filled with garnets, where Sniff climbs down eagerly but flees after encountering a giant lizard with red eyes guarding the stones.

The river plunges over a waterfall into a dark underground tunnel. The water rises toward the ceiling, and the raft catches on the fallen mast just before the river disappears into a black hole. The travelers spot a crack of sky above and call for help. Their voices wake a Hemulen, a large, good-natured creature obsessed with collecting moths, who is sleeping on the surface. Thinking he has found a rare caterpillar, the Hemulen lowers his butterfly net and inadvertently hauls all three to safety in the Lonely Mountains.

Camped on the mountainside, Snufkin describes two Snorks he once met, creatures resembling Moomintrolls who change color with their emotions. He calls the Snork Maiden beautiful. Moomintroll scoffs but dreams of her that night. During the climb, an eagle attacks and they shelter in a crevice. Near the summit, Moomintroll finds a small gold ankle ring on the edge of a precipice. Snufkin identifies it as the Snork Maiden's, and they fear she has fallen.

At the Observatory, Moomintroll learns the Snork Maiden visited and is alive. Sniff looks through the telescope and sees the comet as a small red spark rushing at Earth. The professor calculates it will hit on October 7 at 8:42 p.m., possibly four seconds later. The date is October 2: They have five days.

Descending on October 3, they notice streams drying up. A cry for help leads them to the Snork, the Snork Maiden's brother, who is green with terror. His sister is being dragged by a poisonous bush classified as part of the Angostura plant family. Moomintroll attacks it with his penknife, freeing her, and returns the gold ankle ring to the grateful Snork Maiden, who turns pink with pleasure. She suggests hiding in Sniff's coastal cave when the comet arrives, and everyone agrees. That evening the comet becomes visible as a flickering red spark.

On October 4, the group stops at a Village Store. The Snork Maiden secretly buys Moomintroll a silver star medal for saving her, and Moomintroll secretly buys her a ruby-backed looking-glass. That evening they find a clearing where forest creatures dance to a grasshopper's fiddle while the comet glows overhead, now nearly as big as the sun.

On October 5, the group reaches the coast to find the sea has dried up entirely, leaving hot steam and exposed seabed. They fashion stilts and begin crossing the sea bottom. At a shipwreck, the Snork Maiden falls into the hold and Moomintroll jumps after her. A giant octopus creeps toward him in the darkness. The Snork Maiden uses her looking-glass to reflect the comet's light into the creature's eyes, and they escape. They reach the far shore the next day.

On land they meet a second Hemulen, a stamp-collecting cousin of the moth collector, oblivious to the comet. He joins the party. A swarm of grasshoppers devours every leaf and warns of a coming great wind. A tornado strikes, and the Snork devises a plan: They tie the Hemulen's inherited dress into a balloon and cling to it as the wind lifts them to safety.

On the morning of October 7, the comet looms enormous and yellowish-white. A house troll on a bicycle reports that everyone in the area is fleeing, but Moominmamma and Moominpappa refuse to leave without their son. The group reaches the peaceful blue house, where Moominmamma is baking bread and a cake. They frantically load everything into a wheelbarrow and haul it to the cave. Snufkin paints the entrance blanket with underground sun-oil, a substance from a fire-spirit that makes it fireproof. The Muskrat reluctantly arrives last.

At twenty-five past seven, Moomintroll realizes they have forgotten the silk-monkey. He races into the scorching forest and finds her with four minutes to spare. Inside the cave, Moominmamma divides a cake the Muskrat has sat on and crushed into nine pieces, and they eat while waiting.

At 8:42 p.m. and four seconds, the comet arrives with a deafening roar. The earth shakes and everyone throws themselves flat. The comet tears through the valley with its flaming tail but narrowly misses Earth, disappearing into another solar system. Moominmamma sings a lullaby, and they fall asleep.

Moomintroll wakes first the next morning. The sky is blue, the sun shines, and the sea rolls back in. The group emerges one by one. Snufkin discovers his mouth-organ works again. Moomintroll digs up his pearls and gives them to the Snork Maiden, saving the biggest for Moominmamma. He invites his mother to come see that the house, the wood, and the kitchen garden have all survived.