Comet in Moominland
First edition
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| Author | Tove Jansson |
|---|---|
| Original title | Kometjakten |
| Translator | Thomas Warburton |
| Illustrator | Tove Jansson |
| Cover artist | Tove Jansson |
| Country | Finland |
| Language | Swedish |
| Series | Moomins |
| Genre | Children's novel |
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Publication date
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2 May 1946 |
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Published in English
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1951 |
| ISBN | (English) |
| OCLC | 16589991 |
| Preceded by | The Moomins and the Great Flood |
| Followed by | Finn Family Moomintroll |
Comet in Moominland (Swedish: Kometjakten / Mumintrollet på kometjakt / Kometen kommer) is the second in Tove Jansson's series of Moomin books. Published in 1946, it marks the first appearance of several main characters, like Snufkin and the Snork Maiden.
The English translation, published in 1951, is a translation of the first version of Jansson's book, which she was later to revise. The revised version was published in 1968. It contains a number of minor differences; for instance, the Silk Monkey character is changed to a kitten.
The story begins a few weeks after the events of The Moomins and the Great Flood, as the Moomin family are settling into their new life in Moominvalley. Sniff, who is now living with the Moomins, discovers a mysterious path in a nearby forest. As he and Moomintroll explore it, they meet the mischievous Silk Monkey and arrive at a beach, where Moomintroll goes pearl-fishing. Meanwhile, Sniff and the Silk Monkey find a cave, and the three decide to hide Moomintroll's pearls there.
The next day, as they go back to the cave, they find the pearls arranged in the shape of a star with a tail. Back at Moominhouse, the Muskrat, a philosopher whose home was ruined by Moominpappa's bridge-building and who is now staying with them, explains that the pearls depict a comet. He directs Moomintroll to the Observatory on the Lonely Mountains, where the Professors would be able to tell him whether the comet will hit the Earth.
Moomintroll and Sniff set sail towards the Lonely Mountains, and on the way they meet Snufkin, who joins them. The river takes them into a cave under the mountains where they almost fall into a hole, but at the last moment a Hemulen inadvertently rescues them when he mistakes Snufkin's harmonica-playing for a rare caterpillar and reaches his butterfly net into the cave to catch it. They find themselves in the Lonely Mountains and set off towards the Observatory. On the way they are attacked by an eagle and Moomintroll finds a gold ring, which Snufkin tells him belongs to the Snork Maiden he had met a few months earlier.
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Wikipedia