CHNN

THN,IXVTSIBLE
Tbue
Jansson

Moomin family sataround the

verandatable picking over ^
the days mushroomharvest.
The big table was coveredwith newsPaPers'and in the
center of it stood the lighted kerosenelamp. But the
cornersof the verandawere dark
"M y h a s b e e n p i cki n g P ePPer spunk againi'
Moominp appasaid. "Last yearshe collectedflybane'"
"Let's hope she takes to chanterellesnext autumn,"
said Moominmamma. "Or at least to something not
directly poisonous."
"Hope for the best and PreParefor the worst," little
My observedwith a chuckle.

65

TOVE JANSSON

They continued their work in peacefulsilence.

Suddenly,there were a few light taps on the glasspane
in the door, and without waiting for an answerToo-ticky
carnein and shook the rain off her oilskin
j.acket.Then sheheld the door open and
,oV//," " ' ( . . / - / a
.
^-ll^l
^-_, t, -L ^ )-,-l_ ((wr^ll
called
out
in the dark, "'W'ell,come
\
along!"
"'Whom areyou bringing?"
Moomintroll asked.
"It's Ninny," Too-ticky said.
"Yes,her name'sNinny."
Shestill held the door open,
waiting. No one came.
"Oh, well," Too-ticky said
and shruggedher shoulders.
"If she'stoo shy she'dbetter stay

(llo
/

therefor a while."
"She'll be drenchedthrough," saidMoominmamma.
" P e r h a p st h a t w o n ' t m a t t e r m u c h w h e n o n e ' s
invisible," Too-ticky said and sat down by the table. The
family stoppedworking and waited for an explanation.
"You all kro*, dont you, that if peopleare frightened
very often, they sometimesbecomeinvisible," Too-ticky
said and swalloweda small egg mushroom that looked
like a little snowball. "'Well. This Ninny was frightened
the wrong way by a Iady who had taken care of her
without really liking her. I've met this lady, and she was
horrid. Not the angry sort, you know, which would have
beenunderstandable.
No, shewasthe icily ironical kind."

THE INVISIBLE CHILD

"What's ironical?"Moomintroll asked.

"-Well, imagine that you slip on a rotten mushroom
and sit down on the basketof newly picked ones,"Tooticky said. "The natural thing for your mother would be
to be angry. But no, she isn't. Instead she says,very
'I
c o l d l y , u n d e rsta n dth a t's your idea of a gr aceful
dance,but I d thank you not to do it in peoplet food.'
So m e t h i n gl i ke th a t."
"How unpleasant,"Moomintroll said.
"Yes,isnt it," repliedToo-ticky."This was the way this

,'tt
r'

lady used to talk. She was ironic all day long every day,
and finally the kid startedto turn pale and fade around
the edges,and lessand lesswas seenof her. Last Friday
one couldn't catch sight of her at all. The lady gaveher
away to me and said she really couldn't take care of
relativesshecouldn't see."
'And
what did you do to the lady?" My askedwith
bulging eyes."Did you bashher head?"
"That's of no usewith the ironic sort," Too-ticky said.
"I took Ninny home with me, of course.And now I've
brought her herefor you to make her visibleagain."
There was a slight pause.Only the rain was heard,
rusding along over the verandaroof. Everybodystaredat
Too-ticky and thought for a while.
"Does shetalk?" Moominpappa asked.
"No. But the lady has hung a small silver bell around
her neck so that one can hearwheresheis."
Too-ticky aroseand openedthe door again. "Ninny!"
shecalledout in the dark.

TOVE JANSSON

The cool smell of autumn crept in

from the garden,and a squareof light
threw itself on the wet grass.After a .
while therewas a slight tinkle outside,
rather hesitantly.The sound came
up the stepsand stopped.A bit above
the floor a small silverbell wasseen
hangingin the air on a black ribbon.
Ninny seemedto havea very thin neck.
'
"All right," Too-ticky said."Now,
here'syour new family. They're a bit silly at times,
but rather decent,largelyspeaking."
"Give the kid a chair," Moominpappa said. "Does she
know how to pick mushrooms?"
"I really know nothing at all about Ninny," Too-ticky
said. "I've only brought her here and told you what I
know. Now I have a few other things to attend to. Please
look in some day, wont you, and let me know how you
get along. Cheerio."
\7hen Too-ticlcy had gone the family sat quite silent,
looking at the empty chair and the silver bell. After a
while one of the chanterellesslowly rose from the heap
on the table. Invisible paws picked it cleanfrom needles
and earth. Then it was cut to pieces,and the pieces
drifted awayand laid themselvesin the basin. Another
mushroom sailedup from the table.
"Thrilling!" My said with awe. "Try to give her
somethingto eat. Id like to know if you can seethe food
when sheswallowsit."

THE INVISIBLE CHILD

"How on earth does one make her visible again?"

Moominpappa said worriedly. "should we take her to a
doctor?"
"I don't think so," said Moominmamma. "I believe
shewants to be invisible for a while. Too-ticky said she's
shy.Betterleavethe kid aloneuntil somethingturns up."
And so it wasdecided.
The easternatric room happenedto be unoccupied,
so Moominmamma made Ninny a bed there. The silver
b e l l t i n kl e d a l o n g a fte r h e r upstair s and r em inded
Moominmamma of the cat rhar once had lived with
them. At the bedsideshe laid out rhe apple, the glassof
juice, and the three striped piecesof candy everybody
in the housewasgiven at bedtime.
Then shelighted a candleand said:
"Now have a good sleep,Ninny. Sleepas late as you
can. There'll be tea for you in the morning any time you
want. And if you happenro ger a funny
feelingor if you want anything,just
come downstairsand tinkle."

69

TOVE JANSSeN r

Moominmamma saw the quilr

raise itself to form
a very small mound. A dent
appearedin the pillow.
She went downstair s again
to her own r oo m and
star ted looking thr ough
Gr anny,sold notes about
Infallible Household Remedies.
Evil Eye. Melancholy.
Colds. No. There didnt seem
to be anything suitable.
Yes, there was. Toward the
end of the notebook she
found a few lines wr itten
down ar r he tim e w hen
, Granny's hand was already rather
shaky. ,.If people
start gerting misty and
d i f f i c u l t t o s e e . , ,b o o d .
Moominmamma read the recipe,
which was rather
complicated,and started
or.. to mix the medicine
",
for little Ninny.
The bell came tinkling downstairs,
one srep ar a rime,
with a small pausebenveen
eachstep. Moomintro'had
waited for it all morning. But
the silver bell wasnt the
exciting thing. That was the
paws. Ninny,s paws were
coming down the steps.They
were very small, with
anxiously bunched toes.
Nothing else of Ninny was
visible. It wasvery odd.
Moomintroll drew back behind
the porcelain srove
and stared bewitchedryat the
paws that passedhim on
their way to the veranda.
Now she servedherself some
tea. The cup was raisedin
the air and sank back again.
Sheate some breadand butter
and marmarade.Then the
cup and saucerdrifted away
to the kitchen, were washed
and put awayin the closet. you
see,Ninny was a very
orderly little child.
70

THE INVISIBLE CHILD

Moomintroll rushed out in the garden and shouted,

"Mamma! Shet got paws!You can seeher paws!"
I thought as much, Moominmamma was thinking
where she sat high in the apple tree. Granny knew a
thing or rwo. Now when the medicine starts to work
we'll be on the right way.
"Sp le n d i d ,"sa i d Mo o mi n pappa. "And better still
when she showsher snout one day. It makesme feel sad
to talk with people who are invisible. And who never
answerme."
"Hush, dear," Moominmamma said warningly.
Ninny's pawswere standingin the grassamong the falien
apples.
"Hello Ninny," shoutedMy. "You'veslept like a hog.
\7hen are you going to show your snout?you must look
a fright if youve wanted to be invisible."
"Shut up," Moomintroll whispered,"she'll be hurt.,'
He went running up ro Ninny and said:
"Never mind My. Shet hard-boiled.you're really safe
here among us. Dont even think about that horrid lady.
Shecant come hereand takeyou away.. . ."
In a moment Ninny's paws had faded away and
becomenearlyindistinguishablefrom the grass.
"Darling, you're an ass,"said Moominmamma. "you
can't go about reminding the kid about those things.
Now pick applesand dont talk rubbish."
They all picked apples.
After a while Ninny's paws becameclearer again and
climbed one of the trees.

7r

TOVE JANSSON .

It was a beautiful autumn morning.

The shadows
made one's snour a rittre chilly
but the sunshine fert
nearly like summer. Everything
was wet from the nightt
rain, and all color

appres
were
p,JJ::,il?:*"
Tjj:?H;iJl;
canried

the biggest apple mincer out in the

gard.n,
they startedmaking apple_cheese.
"rrd

*6
Moomintroll turned the handle, Moominmamma
fed
the mincer with apples,and Moominpappa
carried the
filled jars to the veranda. Little My
sat in a tree singing
the BigApple Song.
Suddenlythere was a crash.
On the garden.path appeareda large
heap of apple_
cheese,all prickly with glasssplinters.
Beside,h. h."p
one could seeNnnyt paws,rapidly
fading away.
"Oh," said Moomin-"mm". .,That
was the jar we use
to give to the bumblebees.Now
we neednt carryit down
to the field. And Granny always
said that if you want the
earth to grow something for you, then
you have to give it
a presentin the autumn.,,
72

THE INVISIBLE CHILD

Ninny's paws appearedback again, and above them a

pair of spindly legs came to view. Above the legs one
could seethe faint outline of a brown dresshem.
"I can seeher legs!"cried Moomintroll.
"Congrats,"said little My, looking down out of her
tree. "Not bad. But the Groke knows whv vou must wear
snuff-brown."
Moominmamma nodded to herselfand sent a thought
to her Granny and the medicine.
Ninny padded along after them all day. They became
used to the tinkle and no longer thought Ninny very
remarkable.
By evening they had nearly forgotten about her. But
when everybodywas in bed Moominmamma took out a
rose-pinkshawl of hers and made it into a little dress.
\7hen it was ready she carried it upstairs to the easrern
attic room and cautiouslylaid it out on a chair.Then she
made a broad hair ribbon out of the materialleft over.
Moominmamma was enjoyingherselftremendously.It
was exactlylike sewing doll's clothes again. And the
funny thing was thar one didn't know if the doll had
yellow or black hair.
The following day Ninny had her dresson. She was
visible up to her neck, and when she came down to
morning teashebobbedand piped:
"Thank you all everso much."
The family felt very embarrassed,and no one found
anything to say.Also it was hard to know where to look
73

TOVE JANSSON O

when one talked to Ninny. Of course,one tried to look a

bit abovethe bell where Ninny was supPosedto haveher
eyes.But then very easily one found oneself staring at
it
some of the visible things further down instead, and
gaveone an imPolite feeling.
Moominpappa clearedhis throat' "We're happy to
see,"he started,"that we seemore of Ninny today' The
more we seethe haPPierwe are' ' '
"'
My gavea laugh and bangedthe table with her spoon'
"Fine that you've started talking," she said' "Hope you
haveanything to say.Do you know any good games?"
"No," Ninny piped. "But I've heardabout games"'
Moomintroll was delighted' He decided to teach
Ninny all the gameshe knew.
After coffee all three of them went down to the river
to play. Only Ninny turned out to be quite impossible'
Shebobbedand nodded and very seriouslyreplied' quite'
and how funny, and of course,but it was clear to all
that sheplayedonly from politeness
and not to havefun.
"Run, run, cant You!" MY cried'
"Or can'tyou evenjumP?"
Ninny's thin legsdutifullY
ran and iumped. Then she
stood still againwith arms
dangling.The emPry
dressneck over the bell
was looking strangelY
helpless.
/4

--

THE INVISiBLE CHILD

"D'you think anybody likes that?" My cried. "Haven't

you any life in you?D'you wanr a biff on the nose?"
"Rather nor," Ninny piped humbly.
"Shecan't playl' mumbled Moomintroll.
"She can't get angry," little My said. "Thatt whatt
wrong with her. Listen, you," My continued and wenr
closeto Ninny with a menacinglook. "you'll neverhave
a faceof your own until you've learned to fight. Believe
me.t'

"Yes,of course,"Ninny replied, cautiously backing

away.
There wasno further turn for the better.
At last they stopped trying to teach Ninny to play.
She didnt like funny storieseither. She never laughedat
the right places.She never laughed at all, in fact. This
had a depressingeffect on the personwho told the story.
And shewasleft aloneto herself,
Days wenr by, and Ninny was srill without a face.
T h e y b eca mea ccu sro me dto seeingher pink dr ess
marching along behind Moominmamma. As soon as
Moominmamma stopped,the silver bell also stopped,
and when she continued her way rhe bell begantinkling
again. A bit above the dressa big rose-pink bow was
bobbing in thin air.
M o o m i n ma mma co n ri n u e d to tr eat Ninny with
Granny'smedicine, but nothing further happened.So
after some time she stoppedthe treatment,thinking that
many people had managedall right before without a
75

TOVE JANSSO\

head, and besidesperhaps Ninny

wasn,rvery good_
looking.
Now everyonecould imagine for himself
what she
looked like, and this can often brighten
up a rerationship.
One day the family went off through the
wood down
to the beach. They were going to pull
the boat up for
winter. Ninny came tinkling behind as
usual, b,r, *h..,
they camein view of the seashesuddenly
stopped.Then
she lay down on her stomach in the
sand and started
to whine.
"\'hat's come over Ninny?
Is she frightened?,,asked
Moominp appa.
"Perhaps she hasn't seen
the sea before,,,
Moominmamma said. She stoopedand
exchangeda few
whisperingwords with Ninny. Then she
straightened.
up
againand said:
"No, it's the first time. Ninny thinks
the sea,s
too big.,,
"Of all the silly kids,,, little
My started, but
Moominmamma gaveher a severelook
and said, ,.Dont
be a silly kid yourself.Now lett pull the
boat ashore.,,
They went out on the landing sragero
the bathing hut
whereToo-ticky lived, and knockedat
the door.
"Hullo," Too-ticky said,,,how,s
the invisiblechild?,,
"Theret only her snour left,',
Moominpappa replied.
'At
the momenr she'sa bit startledbut it,ll
p"r, orr.r. C"r,
you lend us a hand with the boat?',
"Certainly," Too-ticky said.
\Zhile the boat was pulled ashore
and turned keel
upward Ninny had padded down to
the water,sedge
76

THE INVISIBLE CHILD

on the wet sand' They left

and was standing immobile
her alone.
on the landing stageand
Moominmamma sat down
"Dear me' how cold it
looked down into the water'
yawned a bit and added
looks,,,she said. And then she
for weeks'
that nothing excitinghad happened
a wink' pulled a
Moominp appai""t Moomintroll
uP to Moominmamma
horrible f".., "nd 'i""td to steal
from behind.
of pushing her in the
of course,he didnt really think
times when she was
water as he had done so many
want to startleher' but just
young. Perhapshe didnt even
to amusethe kids a little'
a sharp cry was heard'
But before he reachedher
over the landing stage'and
a pink streakof lightning shot
and dropped his hat into
Moo*inpappa let out a scream
her small invisible teeth in
the water. Ninny had sunk
were sharp'
Moominpappdstail' and they
havedone it better
"Good work!" cried My' "I couldn't
myself!"
landing stage'She had a
Ninny was standing on the
below a red tangle of hair'
small, snub-nosed'""i'y face
Shewashissingat MoominPaPPa
like a cat.
"Don't Youdare Push
her into the big horrible
sea!"shecried'
"I seeher, I seeher!" shouted
Moomintroll. "She'ssweet!"

d
-.-

TOVE JANSSON r

"Sweet my eye,',
said Moomi:

ish'''
the
s'ries;';ffiHf;:::?l:
jili;
ffin
.r.r seen,with or without
a head.,,
,.

He knelt Oor.

tofish
rorhish",*r;T,ilJ ilT,Ti*"'**.andtried

maniged
totiphimserrove,rul'u,HlffT,J;1"::
"r,a
He carneup ar once,
standing

safelyon the bottom,

with his snour above
warerand his earsfilled
with mud.
, "Oh dear!,'Ni nny was shouting'
"oh' how great!
oh,
how funny!,,
The landing stageshook
with her laughter.
"I believeshe,s
never laughed before,,,
Too_tickysaid
wonderingly. "you seem
ro have changedher;
she,seven
worse than little My.
But the main thing is
that one can
seeher, of course.,'
"It's all thanks
ro Granny,,,
Moorninmamma said.

78