Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson

clouds had gone, and far down in the valley below they could just make out the narrow ribbon of the river and patches of forest.
    'I'm longing to get away from this stony country,' said Snufkin. 'Even a poet can have enough sometimes.'
    'I wonder where the Snorks spent the night,' said Moomintroll. 'I must give that wretched girl her anklering back.' And he hurried on at such a speed that the others could hardly keep up with him.



CHAPTER 7
    Which is about how Moomintroll rescues the Snork Maiden from a poisonous bush and in which the comet appears in the sky.
    T HE fourth of October dawned clear, but there was a strange haze over the sun as it rose slowly over the mountain-tops and sailed across the red sky. They hadn't set up the tent for the night, but had kept going all the time.
    Sniff had got a blister on one foot and was grumbling,
    'Well, walk on the other foot,' said Snufkin, but this wasn't very helpful advice, and at last Sniff couldn't stand it any longer.
    'Oh!' he moaned. 'Now I feel giddy.' And he lay down and refused to go any farther.
    'We're in a hurry,' said Moomintroll. 'I must find that little Snork as quickly as poss...'
    'I know, I know,' interrupted Sniff. 'Your wretched Snork maiden. But that's nothing to do with me. I feel terrible, and I think I'm going to be sick.'
    'We could wait a bit, couldn't we?' said Snufkin. 'And I know something we can do meanwhile. Have you ever rolled stones?'
    'No,' said Moomintroll.
    First Snufkin found a heap of great boulders. 'You take a boulder,' he said, 'like this. Roll it as hard as you can over the edge of the precipice - like this. And it rushes down,' he puffed. 'Like that!'
    Together they looked over the edge and watched the stone. It crashed its way down, carrying a shower of small stones with it, and for a long time the echo rumbled back and forth between the mountains.
    'That was great fun!' burst out Moomintroll. 'Let's do another!' And they rolled another huge boulder on to the edge, where it balanced precariously.
    'Heave ho!' shouted Snufkin. 'Heave and - push!'
    Away thundered the boulder, but, oh horror, Moomintroll didn't have time to draw back and before anyone realized what was happening he was over the edge, and falling swiftly in the wake of the boulder.
    Now there would very likely be one Moomintroll less in the world if he had not had a rope tied round his middle. Snufkin threw himself on the ground and braced himself for the shock. And it was a big one; Snufkin felt as if he would be cut in half.
    Moomintroll swung to and fro on the end of the rope - and he was heavy.
    Snufkin was dragged slowly nearer and nearer to the edge. Behind him too the rope was pulled tight, and Sniff, who was tied to the other end, began to get pulled along. 'Stop it!' he shouted. 'Leave me alone - I'm ill!'
    'You'll be still worse in a minute if you don't hold on to that rope,' said Snufkin.
    And then Moomintroll's voice bellowed up from below: 'Help! Pull me up!'
    At last Sniff realized what was happening, and he was so frightened that he forgot to be ill. He began struggling frantically against the pulling rope, which got thoroughly

    tangled round him and everything else in sight, until in the end it caught fast, and Snufkin was able to crawl back.
    'When I say " Now " pull,' he told Sniff. 'Not now. Not now. But NOW !' And they pulled with all their might, until at last Moomintroll appeared over the edge. First his ears, then his eyes, then his nose (then still more nose) and eventually the whole of him.
    'Well, strike me pink!' he exclaimed. 'I never thought I should see you two again.'
    'And you never would have done, but for me,' remarked Sniff complacently. Snufkin gave him a queer look, but didn't say anything, and they all sat down to recover themselves.
    'We've been stupid,' said Moomintroll suddenly.
    'You've been stupid,' said Sniff.
    'Absolutely criminal,' went on Moomintroll, taking no notice. 'We might easily have rolled one of those stones on to