Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson

was that?' asked Sniff.
    'He had no interest in anything but his old butterflies,' said the Hemulen. 'The earth could crack under his feet and it wouldn't bother him.'
    'That's exactly what's going to happen now,' said the Snork. 'To be precise, at 8.42 tomorrow evening.'
    'What?' said the Hemulen. 'Well, as I said, there has

    been a tremendous fuss going on here. I had been sorting my stamps for a whole week and all my perforations, watermarks and so on were in different piles, when what happens? Somebody goes off with the table I am working on. Somebody else snatches the chair from under me. Then the very house disappears. And here I sit with my stamps in a complete muddle, and nobody has bothered to tell me what it's all about.'
    'Listen now, Hemul,' said Snufkin slowly and clearly. 'It's about a comet that is going to collide with the earth tomorrow.'
    'Collide?' said the Hemulen. 'Has that anything to do with stamp-collecting?'
    'No, it hasn't,' said Snufkin. 'It has to do with a comet - a wild star with a tail. And if it comes here there won't be much of your stamp-collection left.'
    'Heaven protect me!' gasped the Hemulen, and with this somewhat illogical request he gathered up his dress (a hemulen always wears a dress - nobody knows why - perhaps they have never thought of trousers), and asked what he should do next.
    'Come with us,' said the Snork maiden. 'We've found a cave where both you and your stamp-collection can hide.'
    And that was how the Hemulen joined the party returning to Moomin Valley. Once they had to go back several miles to look for a rare stamp that had fluttered out of his album, and once he had a quarrel with the Snork (who insisted that it was a 'dispute' though anybody could see that it was a quarrel) about something that somebody had forgotten to do. But on the whole they got on quite well with the Hemulen.
    They had left the country road long ago and reached a

    great wood of silver poplars and oaks with a few plum trees dotted about, when Sniff stopped and listened.
    'Can you hear anything?' he asked.
    Very, very faintly they heard a whirring, buzzing sound. It came nearer and nearer until they were deafened by the roar. The Snork maiden held Moomintroll's paw very tight.
    'Look!' screamed Sniff.
    Suddenly the red sky was darkened by a cloud of flying creatures that first sank, and then dived straight into the wood.
    'It's a swarm of grass-hoppers!' cried the Snork. They all hid behind a stone and looked cautiously out at the wild green bandits that swarmed in their millions amongst the branches.
    'Have the grass-hoppers gone mad?' whispered the Snork maiden.
    'We - will - eat!' chanted the nearest grass-hopper.

    'We - are - eating!' sang another. 'We - are - eating!' chorused all the other grass-hoppers who were gnawing, tearing and biting at everything in sight.
    'It makes me hungry to look at them,' said the Hemulen. 'This is even worse than the last fuss. I do hope they don't eat stamp-albums.'
    'Can any of you see that grass-hopper musician who was drinking beer at the dance?' asked Snufkin.
    'He was the tame, meadow sort,' answered the Snork. 'These are wild Egyptian grass-hoppers.'
    It was quite fascinating to see how fast they ate. In a short while the poor trees were naked. Not a leaf was left - not even a blade of grass.
    Moomintroll sighed. 'I have heard that grass-hoppers always ravage the country before any great catastrophe,' he said.
    'What's a catastrophe?' asked Sniff.
    'It's something as bad as it can possibly be,' said Moomintroll. 'Like earthquakes, and tidal waves, and volcanoes. And tornadoes. And plagues.'
    'In other words - "fuss",' said the Hemulen. 'One never has any peace.'
    'What was it like in Egypt?' squeaked Sniff to the nearest grass-hopper.
    'Oh, short rations you know,' he sang. 'But look out, little friends, beware of the great wind!'
    'We - have - eaten!' sang all the grass-hoppers, and with a burst of chirping and croaking the whole swarm rose from the