Penguin Readers Level 3, page 20
LEVEL
3
Tove Jansson
* * *
MOOMIN AND THE HAT
Adapted from
Finn Family Moomintroll
RETOLD BY DULCIE FRY
ILLUSTRATED BY TOVE JANSSON
SERIES EDITOR: SORREL PITTS
Contents
People in the story
New words
Note about the story
Before-reading questions
Chapter One – The hat
Chapter Two – The clouds
Chapter Three – Moomintroll changes
Chapter Four – Berry juice
Chapter Five – The cave
Chapter Six – The jungle
Chapter Seven – Thingumy and Bob
Chapter Eight – The meeting
Chapter Nine – Moominmamma’s handbag
Chapter Ten – The party
During-reading questions
After-reading questions
Exercises
Project work
Glossary
Note about the story
Tove Jansson was born in Finland in 1914. She was an artist and she also wrote many books for adults and children. She drew her first Moomin in the 1930s for fun, and in 1945 she wrote her first Moomin book. Tove became famous all over the world for her Moomin stories. She wrote nine books about the Moomin family and their friends, and drew all the pictures for them.
Tove lived and worked in the city of Helsinki in the winter, and every summer she stayed near the sea for a few months. The seasons – winter, spring, summer and autumn – are an important part of Moomin and the Hat. The winter is long and dark in Finland while the summer nights are very light.
Tove Jansson died in 2001 at the age of 86.
Before-reading questions
1 Look at the cover of the book. What do you think will happen in the story?
2 Look at the “People in the story”. What are they like, do you think?
3 Read the “Note about the story” and look quickly at the pictures in the book. What is it like in the Moomins’ world, do you think?
4 Look again at the pictures in the book. Find: a a river
b a mountain
c the moon.
CHAPTER ONE
The hat
One grey morning, the first snow began to fall in the Valleyfn1 of the Moomins. It fell softly and quietly, and in a few hours everything was white.
Moomintroll stood outside his house and watched the snow. “Tonight,” he thought, “we’ll go to bed and sleep all through the winter.”
All moomintrolls go to sleep about November. This is a good idea if you do not like the cold and the long, dark winter.
“The snow has come!” Moomintroll said to his mother.
“I know,” said Moominmamma. “I’ve made all our beds.”
The Moomin family and all their friends had a small meal. Then, they said goodnight and went to bed. The snow fell more heavily and nearly covered Moominhouse. The clocks stopped. Winter was here.
————
The first bird of spring arrived in Moominvalley at four o’clock in the morning. He sang his little song and then he flew away to the east.
Moomintroll woke up and lay in his bed for a long time.
“Where am I?” he thought. “Oh, I remember!” Moomintroll still felt tired and he tried to go back to sleep. But then he saw that Snufkin’s bed was empty and that his hat was not there.
“Where is Snufkin?” he thought. He went to the window and looked down. He could see the rope ladder. “Oh! Snuf kin has gone out of the window.”
He climbed out of the window and went down the rope ladder. He stood at the bottom and listened. He could hear music. Snuf kin was playing his happiest song on his mouth-organ. Moomintroll began running towards the music.
Snufkin was sitting on the bridge over the river.
“Hello,” said Moomintroll, sitting down next to him.
“Hello to you,” said Snufkin and he started playing his mouth-organ again.
They sat there for a while, feeling happy. They could remember many strange adventures on this river and meeting lots of new friends there. Moomintroll’s mother and father were always happy for these friends to come and stay. Because of this, Moominhouse was quite full. But it was a very happy house. Strange and surprising things often happened there, and nobody was ever bored.
Snufkin finished his song and put his mouth-organ in his pocket.
“Is Sniff still sleeping?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Moomintroll. “He always sleeps a week longer than the others.”
“Then we must wake him up,” said Snufkin and he jumped down. “We must do something special today because the weather is going to be nice.”
They stood under Sniff ’s window and Moomintroll whistled. Three short whistles first and then a long one through his paws. This meant, “Something is happening.”
Nothing moved above, so Moomintroll whistled again. This time, he did it more loudly.
“I’m sleeping!” shouted Sniff, angrily.
“Come down and don’t be angry,” said Snufkin. “We’re going to do something special today.”
Sniff got out of bed and climbed down his rope ladder. Moomintroll, Snufkin and Sniff began to walk up the hill. Everywhere, lots of small creatures were waking up after the long winter. Many of them were getting their houses ready for spring.
“Happy spring!” said a little mouse. “And how was the winter with you?”
“Very nice, thank you,” said Moomintroll. “Did you sleep well?”
“Fine,” said the mouse. “Please say hello to your father and mother for me.”
Moomintroll, Snufkin and Sniff kept walking up the hill. They met more people and stopped to talk to a lot of them. But higher up the hill, they saw fewer people. And near the top of the hill, there were only one or two mice.
It was wet everywhere.
“Ugh, horrible!” said Moomintroll. “Snow is never good for a Moomin.”
“Listen, Moomintroll,” said Snufkin. “I have an idea. Let’s go to the top of the mountain and make a pile of stones. We can show that we are the first ones there.”
“Yes, let’s go,” said Sniff and he started to walk quickly because he wanted to get there before Moomintroll and Snufkin.
When they got to the top of the mountain, they could feel the March wind around them. In the west, they could see the sea. In the east, they could see the river and more mountains. In the north, they could see the great forest. In the south, they could see the Moominhouse roof and smoke, and they knew that Moominmamma was cooking breakfast. But Sniff did not see any of these things because a hat lay on the top of the mountain. A tall, black hat.
“Someone got here first!” Sniff said.
Moomintroll looked at the hat. “It’s a very special hat,” he said. “You should wear it, Snufkin!”
“No, no,” said Snufkin because he loved his old green hat. “It’s much too new.”
“Father might like it,” said Moomintroll.
“Well, let’s take it home with us,” said Sniff. “I’m very hungry and it’s time for breakfast.”
And the three friends went home with the Hobgoblin’s Hat. It was a magic hat, but the three friends did not know that yet.
CHAPTER TWO
The clouds
Moomintroll, Snufkin and Sniff arrived back at Moominhouse. Moominmamma was in the kitchen making breakfast, and Moominpappa was in the sitting room.
“We’ve found a hat,” said Moomintroll. “Look! It’s a beautiful new hat for you!”
Moominpappa looked at the hat closely. Then he put it on his head and looked in the mirror. The hat was too big for him and it nearly covered his eyes. He looked quite strange.
“Mother!” shouted Moomintroll. “Come and look at Father!”
Moominmamma opened the kitchen door and looked at Moominpappa.
“How do I look?” asked Moominpappa.
“You look very handsome in it, but it’s a bit too big,” said Moominmamma. “And I think that you look better without a hat.”
Moominpappa looked in the mirror again and then he put the hat on the table.
“You’re right,” he said. “Some people look better without hats.”
“Of course, dear,” said Moominmamma, kindly. “Now eat your eggs, children. You must be hungry after the winter.”
“But what shall we do with the hat?” asked Sniff.
“It can be a bin,” said Moominpappa and he went upstairs.
Snufkin smiled. “Why do people need so many things?” he thought. Snufkin only had his clothes and his mouth-organ, but that was enough.
Snufkin put the hat down on the floor between the table and the kitchen door. The three friends ate their breakfast, then Moomintroll said, “Let’s go and see Snorkmaiden.” He threw his eggshell into the bin and they went out into the garden.
The dining room was now empty. The Hobgoblin’s Hat stood in the corner between the table and the kitchen door. Moomintroll’s eggshell lay in the bottom of the hat. And then something really strange happened. The eggshell began to change.
Why was this happening? Well, if something lies in the Hobgoblin’s Hat, it begins to change into something quite different. It was lucky for Moominpappa that the hat was too big and that he did not wear it for long!
The eggshell became soft and it started to get bigger and bigger. After some
“Oh!” said Moomintroll.
“Is there a fire in the house?” asked Snorkmaiden. She looked worried.
The clouds floated in front of them and waited. Snorkmaiden touched one with her paw.
“It’s very soft,” she said.
The others came nearer and felt it, too. Snufkin slowly pushed one of the clouds. It floated away for a bit and then stopped again.
“Where did they come from?” asked Sniff.
“I don’t know. It’s very strange,” said Moomintroll. “Shall we get Mother?”
“No, no,” said Snorkmaiden. “Let’s play with them first.”
And she pulled a cloud to her and jumped on to it. She floated up and down on the cloud, laughing loudly.
“Can I have one, too?” asked Sniff, jumping on to another cloud. The cloud did a little jump over the ground.
“Wow!” Sniff cried. “It moved!”
They all jumped on to the clouds and shouted happily. Sniff discovered that he could move his cloud in different directions with his feet. He could turn left and right, and he could also go up and down.
They had a fun time playing with the clouds. They floated up to the tops of the trees and to the top of Moominhouse. Moomintroll floated outside Moominpappa’s window and shouted, “Hello!”
Moominpappa ran to his window. “Oh!” he shouted. “What is happening?”
Next, Moomintroll floated to the kitchen window and shouted to his mother.
“What have you found now, dear?” she said. “Don’t fall down!”
“Let’s fly somewhere on our clouds,” Moomintroll said to Snorkmaiden.
“Yes!” she said. “Where shall we go?”
“Let’s go and see the Hemulen and give him a surprise,” said Moomintroll.
The Hemulen was not in the garden, so Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden floated into the forest to look for him. After a while, they saw him. He was walking along with his hands behind his back and his eyes on the ground. Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden flew down and stopped next to him.
“Good morning!” they called.
“Oh!” shouted the Hemulen. “Don’t jump at me suddenly like that!”
“Oh, sorry,” said Snorkmaiden. “But look at us! We’re riding on little clouds!”
“That is very strange,” said the Hemulen. “But then you often do strange things so I’m not very surprised. Anyway, I’m feeling quite sad right now.”
“Why?” asked Snorkmaiden.
“Have you lost a special stamp again?” asked Moomintroll.
“No,” said the Hemulen. “I have all my stamps. That is the problem. There are no more stamps to add to my collection. I’ve finished it.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” said Snorkmaiden.
“No!” said the Hemulen. “Because what do I do now?”
“Oh, I think that I’m beginning to understand,” said Moomintroll, slowly. “Collecting things is more fun than just owning them.”
“Dear Hemulen,” said Snorkmaiden. “I have an idea. Can you start collecting something different? Something new?”
“That’s a good idea,” said the Hemulen, but he still looked worried. He did not want to look too happy so soon after being so sad.
“Butterflies?” asked Moomintroll.
“No,” said the Hemulen and he looked sad again. “My second cousin collects butterflies, and I hate him.”
“Shells?” said Snorkmaiden.
“No,” said the Hemulen, sadly.
“Well, then I really don’t know,” said Snorkmaiden.
“We’ll think of something,” said Moomintroll. “I’m sure that Mother will have some ideas.”
The Hemulen walked away and Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden rode their clouds to the top of the trees. It was sunny up there. They thought more about the problem of the Hemulen’s new collection. But they did not have many more ideas. It was warm now, and they lay on their backs, feeling tired.
Suddenly, they saw a butterfly. In spring in Moominvalley, if the first butterfly you see is yellow, you will have a happy summer. If it is white, you will have a quiet summer. Nobody talks about black and brown butterflies because they are much too sad.
“Look! A butterfly!” said Snorkmaiden. “What colour is it?”
“It’s gold!” said Moomintroll. “I’ve never seen a gold butterfly before. What does that mean?”
“Gold is even better than yellow,” said Snorkmaiden.
Later, when they got home for dinner, they met the Hemulen at the house. He looked very happy.
“What is it?” asked Moomintroll.
“I’ve decided to become a botanist! I’m going to collect and study plants,” shouted the Hemulen. “Look!”
He showed them a small plant with yellow flowers.
“It’s a Gagea lutea,” he said. “This will be number one in my collection. It’s beautiful.”
The Hemulen put the plant on the table.
“Put it in the corner, Hemulen dear,” said Moominmamma, “I want to put the soup there.” Then, she filled everyone’s plate with soup. “Now, has everyone had a good time today?” she asked.
“We’ve had a wonderful time!” they all cried.
Next morning, Moomintroll looked for the clouds, but he could not find them anywhere. The eggshell was back in the bottom of the Hobgoblin’s Hat. And still nobody knew that the hat was a magic hat.
CHAPTER THREE
Moomintroll changes
It was a warm summer day, and it was raining in Moominvalley. Moomintroll and his friends decided to play a game inside.
Sniff stood in the corner with his nose in his paws and counted to ten. Everybody hid. Then Sniff turned round and started to look for the others. Moomintroll hid under a table, but he knew that it was not a good place to hide.
“I’m sure that Sniff will look here,” he thought.
Then, Moomintroll saw the tall, black hat in the corner and he had an idea! He quickly got out from under the table and pulled the hat over his head. It only covered the top half of his body so he pulled his tail inside the hat and tried to be small.
“Sniff will never find me now!” he thought, and laughed. He heard Sniff find the others. Now, they were all looking for Moomintroll. Moomintroll waited for a short time and then he took the hat off.
“I’m here! Look at me!” he said.
Sniff was quiet for a long time. Then he said, “I don’t want to look at you.”
The others said nothing.
Oh dear! Moomintroll did not look like Moomintroll any more. The fat parts of his body were now thin, and the small parts were big. He had very long, thin legs and he looked very different. But Moomintroll did not know this.
“Are you all very surprised?” he said. “I found a very good place to hide.”
“We are surprised,” said Sniff. “But only because you’re very ugly.”
“You’re very unkind,” said Moomintroll, sadly. “Did you get tired looking for me? What do you want to do now?”
“First, maybe, you should tell us your name,” said Snorkmaiden.
Moomintroll thought that this was a new game. So, he laughed and said, “I’m the King of California!”
“And I’m Snorkmaiden,” said Snorkmaiden.
“I’m called Sniff,” said Sniff.
“I’m Snufkin,” said Snufkin.
“Oh dear! You’re all very boring,” said Moomintroll. “Those are not new names. Now let’s go out. I think that it’s stopped raining.” And he went down the steps into the garden. The others followed him.
“Who’s that?” asked the Hemulen. He was in the garden, looking at flowers.
“It’s the King of California, I think,” said Snorkmaiden.
“Is he going to live here?” asked the Hemulen.
“Moomintroll will decide that,” said Sniff. “But we’re still looking for him. We can’t find him.”
Moomintroll laughed.
“You can be very funny sometimes,” he said. “Well, let’s go and look for Moomintroll.”
