Beatrix Potter
The Taleof PeterRabbitThe Taleof PeterRabbit
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Once upon a time therewere four little Rabbits,and their names wereFlopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.
They lived with theirMother in a sand-bank,underneath the root ofa very big fir-tree.
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‘Now my dears,’ said oldMrs. Rabbit one morning,‘you may go into thefields or down the lane,but don’t go into Mr.McGregor’s garden:
your Father had anaccident there; he wasput in a pie by Mrs.McGregor.’‘ Now runalong, and don’t get intomischief. I am going out.’
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Then old Mrs. Rabbit tooka basket and her umbrella,and went through thewood to the baker’s. Shebought a loaf of brownbread and five currantbuns.
Flopsy, Mopsy, andCotton-tail, who weregood little bunnies, wentdown the lane to gatherblackberries.
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But Peter, who was verynaughty, ran straightaway to Mr. McGregor’sgarden, and squeezedunder the gate!
First he ate some lettucesand some French beans;and then he ate someradishes;
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And then, feeling rathersick, he went to look forsome parsley.
But round the end of acucumber frame, whomshould he meet but Mr.McGregor!
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Mr. McGregor was on hishands and knees plantingout young cabbages, but hejumped up and ran afterPeter, waving a rake andcalling out, ‘Stop thief!’
Peter was most dreadfullyfrightened; he rushed allover the garden, for he hadforgotten the way back tothe gate.
He lost one of his shoesamong the cabbages, and
the other shoe amongstthe potatoes.
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After losing them, he ranon four legs and wentfaster, so that I think hemight have gotaway altogetherif he had notunfortunately runinto a gooseberrynet, and got caught by thelarge buttons on his jacket.It was a blue jacket withbrass buttons, quite new.
Peter gave himself up forlost, and shed big tears; buthis sobs were overheard bysome friendly sparrows,who flew to him in greatexcitement, and imploredhim to exert himself.
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Mr. McGregor came up witha sieve, which he intendedto pop upon the top ofPeter; but Peter wriggledout just in time, leaving hisjacket behind him.
And he rushed into thetool-shed, and jumpedinto a can. It would havebeen a beautiful thingto hide in, if it had nothad so much water in it.
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Mr. McGregor was quite surethat Peter was somewhere inthe tool-shed, perhapshidden underneath a flower-pot. He began to turn themover carefully, looking undereach.
Presently Peter sneezed-’Kertyschoo!’ Mr. McGregorwas after him in no time.
The window was too smallfor Mr. McGregor, and hewas tired of running afterPeter. He went back to work.
And he tried to put his footupon Peter, who jumpedout of a window, upsettingthree plants.
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Peter sat down to rest; hewas out of breath andtrembling with fright, andhe had not the least ideawhich way to go. Also hewas very damp withsitting in that can.
After a time he beganto wander about, goinglippity-lippity-not veryfast, and looking allround.
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He found a door in a wall;but it was locked, andthere was no room for afat little rabbit to squeezeunderneath.
Peter asked her the way tothe gate, but she had sucha large pea in her mouththat she could not answer.She only shook her head athim. Peter began to cry.
An old mouse wasrunning in and out overthe stone doorstep,carrying peas and beansto her family in thewood.
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Then he tried to find his waystraight across the garden,but he became more andmore puzzled. Presently, hecame to a pond where Mr.McGregor filled his water-cans. A white cat sat staringat some gold-fish, she satvery, very still, but now andthen the tip of her tailtwitched as if it werealive.
Peter thought it best to goaway without speaking toher; he had heard aboutcats from his cousin, littleBenjamin Bunny.
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He went back towards thetool-shed, but suddenly,quite close to him, heheard the noise of a hoe-scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch,scritch. Peter scutteredunderneath the bushes.But presently, as nothinghappened, he came out,and climbed upon awheelbarrow and peepedover.
The first thing he sawwas Mr. McGregorhoeing onions . His backwas turned towardsPeter, and beyond himwas the gate!
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Peter got down very quietlyoff the wheelbarrow; andstarted running as fast ashe could go, along a straightwalk behind some black-currant bushes.
Mr. McGregor caught sightof him at the corner, butPeter did not care.
He slipped underneaththe gate, and was safeat last in the woodoutside the garden.
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Mr. McGregor hung up thelittle jacket and the shoesfor a scare-crow to frightenthe blackbirds. Peter neverstopped running or lookedbehind him till he got hometo the big fir-tree.
He was so tired that heflopped down upon thenice soft sand on the floorof the rabbit-hole andshut his eyes.
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His mother was busycooking; she wonderedwhat he had done with hisclothes. It was the secondlittle jacket and pair ofshoes that Peter had lostin a fortnight! I am sorryto say that Peter was notvery well duringthe evening.
His mother put him tobed, and made somecamomile tea; and shegave a dose of it to Peter!
‘One table-spoonful to betaken at bed-time.’
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But Flopsy, Mopsy, andCotton-tail had bread andmilk and blackberries forsupper.
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