Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson Page A

the bathing-house. The chimney was smoking, but not a soul was to be seen on the landing-stage, wringing its hands from worry. He hesitated, and his legs suddenly felt heavy from disappointment.
    Off we go!' shouted Little My.
    And Moomintroll set out. He jumped and he jumped, with set teeth and on shaky legs. Every time he landed on a new floe a cold shower washed his tummy.
    The whole stretch of ice was broken now, and the waves were waltzing all the way to the shore.
    'Keep in step!' shouted Litde My. 'Here's one again... you'll feel it under you... jump!'
    And Moomintroll jumped, at the exact moment when the wave gently pushed an ice-floe under his paws. 'One, two, three; one, two three,' Little My was counting in waltz time. 'One, two, three, wait - one, two, three - jump!'
    Moomintroll's legs were shaky and his stomach cold as ice. A red sunset was breaking through the cloudy sky, and the gleam of the waves hurt his eyes. He felt hot all down his back, but his stomach was cold and the whole cruel world was swirling dizzily before his eyes.
    Too-ticky had kept an earnest look-out in the window of the bathing-house, and she saw now that things were going badly.
    'Stupid of me,' she thought. 'Of course he can't know that I've been looking on all the time...'
    She rushed out on the landing-stage and cried: 'Oh, well done sir!'
    But it was already too late.
    The last, lonely jump had been too much for Moomintroll,

    and he suddenly found himself floating in the sea with water up to his ears, while a spirited little ice-floe kept knocking him in the back of his neck.
    Little My had let go of his ears and taken a last long jump ashore. It is strange how deftly people like the Mys get on in life.
    'Catch hold,' said Too-ticky, reaching out a steady paw. She lay on her stomach on Moominmamma's wash-board and looked straight in Moomintroll's troubled eyes.
    'There, there,' she said. Slowly Moomintroll was dragged up over the ice-edge, and slowly he crawled inwards over the boulders by the water. He said: 'You didn't even care to look on.'
    'I watched you through the window all the time,' Too-ticky replied worriedly. 'Now you'd better come inside and warm yourself.'
    'No, I'm going home,' said Moomintroll. He rose to his feet and staggered off.
    'Warm syrup!' Too-ticky shouted after him. 'Don't forget to drink something warm!'
    The path was wet from melting snow, and Moomintroll could feel roots and pine needles under his paws. But he was shaking from cold, and his legs felt slithery, like rubber.
    He hardly turned his head as a small squirrel jumped across his path.
    'Happy spring,' said the squirrel, absentmindedly.
    'Well, thanks,' replied Moomintroll and continued on his way. But all at once he stopped short and stared at the squirrel. It had a big and bushy tail that shone red in the sunset.
    'Do people call you the squirrel with the marvellous tail?' Moomintroll asked slowly. 'Of course,' said the squirrel.

    'Is it you?' cried Moomintroll. 'Is it really you? Who met the Lady of the Cold?'
    'I don't remember,' said the squirrel. 'You know, I'm not very bright at remembering things.'
    'But try to,' begged Moomintroll. 'Don't you even remember the nice mattress that was stuffed with wool?'
    The squirrel scratched his left ear. 'I remember a lot of mattresses,' he replied. 'With wool, and other stuffings. Wool ones are nicest.'
    And the squirrel skipped off between the trees.
    'I'll have to look into this later,' thought Moomintroll. 'For the moment I'm too cold. I have to go home...'

    And he sneezed, because he had got a bad cold for the first time in his life.
    The central-heating fire had gone out, and the drawing-room was very chilly.
    With shaking paws Moomintroll heaped several carpets over his stomach, but they didn't make him feel any warmer. He had a pain in his legs and felt a pricking in his throat. All of a sudden life was sad, and his snout felt strange and enormous. He tried to curl his ice-cold tail, and he