Finn Family Moomintroll Read Free Page A

to put the soup there. Is everybody in? Is the Muskrat stillsleeping?'
    'Like a pig,' said Sniff.
    'Have you had a good time today?' asked Moominmamma when she had filled all the plates.
    'Wonderful,' cried the whole family.
    *
    Next morning when Moomintroll went to the woodshed to let out the clouds they had all disappeared; every one of them. And nobody imagined that it had anything to do with the eggshell which was once again lying in the Hobgoblin's Hat.



Chapter two
    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.
    ONE warm summer day it was raining softly in the Valley of the Moomins, so they all decided to play hide-and-seek indoors. Sniff stood in the corner with his nose in his paws and counted up to ten before he turned round and began hunting - first in the ordinary hiding-places and then in the extraordinary ones.
    Moomintroll lay under the veranda table feeling rather worried - it wasn't a good place. Sniff would be sure to lift the tablecloth, and there he would be stuck. He looked about, and then caught sight of the tall, black hat which stood in a corner. That would be a brilliant idea! Sniff would never think of looking under the hat. Moomintroll stole quietly to the corner and pulled the hat over his head. It didn't reach further than his middle, but if he made himself very small and tucked in his tail he would be quite invisible.
    He giggled to himself when he heard all the others being found, one after another. The Hemulen had obviously hidden himself under the sofa again - he could never find a better place. And now they were all running about searching for Moomintroll.
    He waited until he was afraid they would get bored with the search, and then he crept out of the hat, stuck his head through the door and said: 'Look at me!'
    Sniff stared at him for a long time, then he said rather unkindly: 'Look at yourself!'
    'Who's that?' whispered the Snork, but the others only shook their heads and continued to stare at Moomintroll.
    Poor little chap! He had been turned into a very strange animal indeed under the Hobgoblin's Hat. All his fat parts had become thin, and everything that was small had grown big. And the strangest thing about it was that he himself didn't realize what was the matter.
    'I thought I'd surprise you all,' he said taking an uncertain step forward on his long, spindly legs. 'You've no idea where I've been!'
    'It doesn't interest us,' said the Snork, 'but you're certainly ugly enough to surprise anybody.'
    'You are unkind,' said Moomintroll sadly. 'I suppose you got tired of hunting. What shall we do now?'
    'First of all perhaps you should introduce yourself,' said the Snork Maiden, stiffly. 'We don't know who you are, do we?'
    Moomintroll looked at her incredulously, but then it dawned on him that perhaps this was a new game. He laughed delightedly and said: 'I'm the King of California!'
    'And I'm the Snork Maiden,' said the Snork Maiden. 'This is my brother.'
    'I'm called Sniff,' said Sniff.
    'I'm Snufkin,' said Snufkin.
    'Oh, dear! How boring you all are,' said Moomintroll. 'Couldn't you have thought of something more original! Now let's go out - I think the weather's clearing.' And he went down the steps into the garden, followed by a rather surprised and suspicious little trio.
    'Who's that?' asked the Hemulen, who was sitting in front of the house counting the stamens of a sunflower.
    'It's the King of California, I think,' said the Snork Maiden.
    'Is he going to live here?' asked the Hemulen.
    'That's for Moomintroll to decide,' said Sniff. 'I wonder where he's got to.'
    Moomintroll laughed. 'You really are quite funny at times,' he said. 'Shall we go and look for Moomintroll?'
    'Do you know him?' asked Snufkin.
    'Ye-es,' said Moomintroll. 'Rather well as a matter of fact.' He was thoroughly enjoying the new game and thought he was doing rather well at it.
    'How did you come