Moominpappa at Sea Read Online Free Page B

nervously. ‘I’ll look after all this. Everything must be properly organized from the beginning. The boat is always the most important thing… You sit still and take it easy.’
    Moominmamma sat down obediently, trying not to get in the way of the sail as it came down, and the boom as it swung backwards and forwards, while Moominpappa scrambled about in the boat organizing things. The hurricane lamp lit up a circle of white sand and black water, and outside it there was nothing
but darkness. Moominpappa and Moomintroll dragged the mattress ashore but not without getting one corner of it wet. The boat heeled over and the blue trunk pressed the rose-bushes against the side of the boat.

    Moominmamma sat waiting with her nose in her paws. Everything was as it should be. In time she would probably get used to being looked after, perhaps she would come to like it. Even now she slept for a moment or two.
    There was Moominpappa standing in the water and saying to her: ‘You can get out now. Everything’s ready.’ He was happy and wide-awake, and his hat was pushed right back. Higher up on the beach he had built a tent of the sails and the oars, looking like a big, squatting animal. Moominmamma tried to see whether there were any shells on this new beach of theirs, but it was much too dark. They had promised her that there would be shells, big and rare ones such as are to be found far out to sea.
    ‘Here you are,’ said Moominpappa. ‘Now all you have to do is to sleep. I shall stand guard outside all night, so there’s no need for you to be afraid. Tomorrow night you will be able to sleep in my lighthouse. If only I understood why it isn’t working… Is it nice and cosy inside there?’
    ‘It’s just fine!’ said Moominmamma, creeping in under the sail.
    Little My was off somewhere on her own as usual. It didn’t matter, really, as she was the one member of the
family who seemed to manage all right by herself. Everything seemed to be going well.
    Moomintroll watched Moominmamma turn round once or twice on the damp mattress until she found her favourite spot, give a little sigh and fall asleep. Of all strange things, that was the strangest, the way Moominmamma could sleep in this new place without unpacking, without making their beds and without giving them a sweet before they went to sleep. She had even left her handbag behind her on the sand. It was a little bit frightening in a way, but at the same time cheering; it meant that all this was a real change, and not just an adventure.
    Moomintroll lifted his nose and peeped out from under the sail. There sat Moominpappa on guard, with the hurricane lamp in front of him. He cast a very large, long shadow; the whole of him looked much larger than usual. Moomintroll rolled himself into a ball again and put his paws under his warm tummy. He gave himself up to his dreams. They were blue and rocking, like the sea had been that night.
    Gradually the morning came. Moominpappa was quite alone with his island, and with each hour that passed it became more and more his very own. The sky began to grow pale and the rocks rose up in front of him in great undulating masses, and above them he could see the lighthouse. There it was at last, huge and black against the grey of the sky. It was much bigger than he had imagined it would be, for it was just the time when the first light makes one feel helpless and
everything seems dangerous if one is alone and awake all by oneself.
    Moominpappa turned out the hurricane lamp and made the beach disappear. He didn’t want the lighthouse to see him yet. A cold early morning wind blew in from the sea, and he could hear the cries of sea-gulls from somewhere on the other side of the island.
    As Moominpappa sat on the beach, the lighthouse seemed to rise higher and higher above him. It was just like his model that he hadn’t had time to finish. Now he could see that the roof wasn’t as pointed as he had thought and that there was no rail. He