Moominpappa's Memoirs

...now and then a giggling trail of mermaids appeared in our wake. We fed them oatmeal.

I cannot stress enough the perils of your friends marrying or becoming court inventors. One day you are all a society of outlaws, adventurous comrades and companions who will be pushing off somewhere or other when things become tiresome; you have all the world to choose from, just by looking at the map… And then, suddenly, they’re not interested any more. They want to keep warm. They’re afraid of rain. They start collecting big things that can’t fit in a rucksack. They talk only of small things. They don’t like to make sudden decisions and do something contrariwise. Formerly they hoisted sail; now they carpenter little shelves for porcelain mugs.

...by and by a change came: I started to muse about the shape of my nose. I put my trivial surroundings aside and mused more and more about myself, and I found this to be a bewitching occupation. I stopped asking and longed instead to speak of my thoughts and feelings. Alas, there was no one besides myself who found me interesting.

Well,' said Hodgkins, 'perhaps he really is interested in everything, only he doesn't overdo it. For ourselves there is always one single interest. You want to become. I want to do. My nephew wants to have. But the Joxter just lives.' 'Simply lives,' I said. 'Anybody can do that.' 'Mphm,' Hodgkins said.

We sat talking on a rock. The air was filled with the tang of sea-weed and of something else that could only have been the ocean smell. I felt so happy that I wasn't even afraid it wouldn't last.

-Kylve joessa! Hiekkapohja! Ihanan pehmeä! ulvoi Fredrikson. -Valhetta ja petosta, sanoi drontti Edvard. -Pienin tuittukin tietää, että joki on raivostuttavan täynnä kiviä! -Eikä ole! Hiekkapohja! Fredrikson huusi. Drontti mutisi hetken itsekseen ja sanoi lopulta: -Hyvä on. Minä kylven siinä sinun mörönmoisessa joessasi. Siiryhän syrjään, minulla ei ole varaa kustantaa enää hautajaisia. Ja jos petät minua, senkin täinmuna, saat maksaa hautajaisesi itse!

Myötätunnostani huolimatta en kuitenkaan pystynyt syventymään hänen ongelmiinsa - niin, kaikesta huolimatta on muutamia harvoja aloja, joilla lahjakkuuteni ei ole sitä tasoa kuin voisi odottaa, ja yksi niistä on koneoppi.