Read Online Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson - Free Book Online
Authors: Tove Jansson
Tags: General, Fantasy fiction, Fantasy, Juvenile Nonfiction, Classics, Action & Adventure, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Nature & the Natural World, Friendship, trolls, Moomins (Fictitious Characters), Children's Literature; Finnish, Forests, Foods, Children's Stories; Finnish, Floods
Ads: Link
that's where people are shown what they could be if they wanted, and what they'd like to be if they dared to and what they really are.'
'A reformatory,' said Moominmamma, astonished.
Emma patiently shook her head. She took a scrap of paper, and then with a trembling paw drew a picture of a theatre for Moominmamma. She explained every detail and wrote down the explanations so that Moominmamma wouldn't forget them. (You'll find the picture here somewhere.)
While Emma sat drawing all the others flocked around her.
'I'll tell you about when we performed Cleopatra,' Emma was saying. 'The house was full (I'll explain that if you wait), and the audience dead silent, because it was the First Night. I had turned on the footlights and floats (perhaps you'll understand), at sundown as usual, and the moment before the curtain rose I thumped the floor thrice with my broom-handle. Like this!'
'Why?'asked the Mymble's daughter.
'For effect,' replied Emma, her small eyes gleaming. 'Fate knocking, don't you see. Well, then the curtain rises. There's a red spot on Cleopatra...'
'She wasn't ill, was she?' asked Moominmamma.
'That means a red light, a spot-light,' said Emma with hard-won composure. 'All the people in the house catch their breath...'
'Was Mr Propertius there?' Whomper asked.
'Properties are not a person, as you seem to believe,' explained Emma quietly. 'They are all the things you need for acting.... Well, our leading lady was really lovely, a dark-haired beauty...
'Leading lady?' Misabel interrupted her.
'Yes, the most important of all the actresses. She who has the nicest part and always gets what she wants. But goodness gracious what.'
'I want to be a leading lady,' said Misabel. 'But I'd want sad parts. With lots of shouting and crying and crying.'
'In a tragedy then, a real drama,' said Emma. 'And you'd have to die in the final act.'
'Yes,' cried Misabel, her cheeks glowing. 'Oh, to be someone really different! Nobody would say "Look, there's old Misabel" any more. They'd say "Look at that pale lady in red velvet... the great actress, you know.... She must have suffered much."'
'Are you going to play for us?' asked Whomper.
'I? Play? For you?' whispered Misabel with tears starting to her eyes.
'I want to be a leading lady, too,' said the Mymble's daughter.
'And what play would you perforai?' asked Emma sceptically.
Moominmamma looked at Moominpappa. 'I suppose you could write a play if Emma helped you,' she said. 'You've written your Memoirs, and it can't be so very hard to put in a few rhymes.'
'Dear me, I couldn't write a play,' replied Moominpappa, blushing.
'Of course you could, dear,' said Moominmamma. 'And then we all learn it by heart, and everybody comes to look at us when we perform it. Lots of people, more and more every time, and they all tell their friends about it and how good it is, and in the end Moomintroll will hear about it also and find his way back to us again. Everybody comes home again and all will be well!' Moominmamma finished and clapped her paws together.
They looked doubtfully at each other. Then they glanced at Emma.
She extended her paws and shrugged her shoulders. 'I expect it'll be gruesome,' she said. 'But if you absolutely want to get the raspberry, as we say on the stage, well, I can always give you a few hints about how to do it correctly. When I can find the time.'
And Emma sat down and began to tell them more about the theatre.
*
In the evening Moominpappa had finished his play and proceeded to read it to the others. No one interrupted him, and when he had finished there was complete silence.
Finally Emma said: 'No. Nono. No and no again.'
'Was it that bad,' asked Moominpappa, downcast.
'Worse,'said Emma. 'Listen to this:
I'm not afraid of any lion,
be it a wild 'un or a shy 'un
That's horrid.'
'I want a lion in the play, at all costs,' Moominpappa replied sourly.
'But you must write it again, in blank verse! Blank verse! Rhymes won't do!' said
'A reformatory,' said Moominmamma, astonished.
Emma patiently shook her head. She took a scrap of paper, and then with a trembling paw drew a picture of a theatre for Moominmamma. She explained every detail and wrote down the explanations so that Moominmamma wouldn't forget them. (You'll find the picture here somewhere.)
While Emma sat drawing all the others flocked around her.
'I'll tell you about when we performed Cleopatra,' Emma was saying. 'The house was full (I'll explain that if you wait), and the audience dead silent, because it was the First Night. I had turned on the footlights and floats (perhaps you'll understand), at sundown as usual, and the moment before the curtain rose I thumped the floor thrice with my broom-handle. Like this!'
'Why?'asked the Mymble's daughter.
'For effect,' replied Emma, her small eyes gleaming. 'Fate knocking, don't you see. Well, then the curtain rises. There's a red spot on Cleopatra...'
'She wasn't ill, was she?' asked Moominmamma.
'That means a red light, a spot-light,' said Emma with hard-won composure. 'All the people in the house catch their breath...'
'Was Mr Propertius there?' Whomper asked.
'Properties are not a person, as you seem to believe,' explained Emma quietly. 'They are all the things you need for acting.... Well, our leading lady was really lovely, a dark-haired beauty...
'Leading lady?' Misabel interrupted her.
'Yes, the most important of all the actresses. She who has the nicest part and always gets what she wants. But goodness gracious what.'
'I want to be a leading lady,' said Misabel. 'But I'd want sad parts. With lots of shouting and crying and crying.'
'In a tragedy then, a real drama,' said Emma. 'And you'd have to die in the final act.'
'Yes,' cried Misabel, her cheeks glowing. 'Oh, to be someone really different! Nobody would say "Look, there's old Misabel" any more. They'd say "Look at that pale lady in red velvet... the great actress, you know.... She must have suffered much."'
'Are you going to play for us?' asked Whomper.
'I? Play? For you?' whispered Misabel with tears starting to her eyes.
'I want to be a leading lady, too,' said the Mymble's daughter.
'And what play would you perforai?' asked Emma sceptically.
Moominmamma looked at Moominpappa. 'I suppose you could write a play if Emma helped you,' she said. 'You've written your Memoirs, and it can't be so very hard to put in a few rhymes.'
'Dear me, I couldn't write a play,' replied Moominpappa, blushing.
'Of course you could, dear,' said Moominmamma. 'And then we all learn it by heart, and everybody comes to look at us when we perform it. Lots of people, more and more every time, and they all tell their friends about it and how good it is, and in the end Moomintroll will hear about it also and find his way back to us again. Everybody comes home again and all will be well!' Moominmamma finished and clapped her paws together.
They looked doubtfully at each other. Then they glanced at Emma.
She extended her paws and shrugged her shoulders. 'I expect it'll be gruesome,' she said. 'But if you absolutely want to get the raspberry, as we say on the stage, well, I can always give you a few hints about how to do it correctly. When I can find the time.'
And Emma sat down and began to tell them more about the theatre.
*
In the evening Moominpappa had finished his play and proceeded to read it to the others. No one interrupted him, and when he had finished there was complete silence.
Finally Emma said: 'No. Nono. No and no again.'
'Was it that bad,' asked Moominpappa, downcast.
'Worse,'said Emma. 'Listen to this:
I'm not afraid of any lion,
be it a wild 'un or a shy 'un
That's horrid.'
'I want a lion in the play, at all costs,' Moominpappa replied sourly.
'But you must write it again, in blank verse! Blank verse! Rhymes won't do!' said
Similar Books
