THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT

BY BEATRIX POTTER

Once upon a time, there were four little rabbits. Their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.

They lived with their mother in a sand-bank, under the root of a very big fir tree.

"Now, my dears," said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, "you may go into the fields or down the lane. But don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden. Your father had an accident there. He was put into a pie by Mrs. McGregor!"

"Now run along, and don't get into trouble. I am going out."

Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella and walked through the woods to the baker's shop. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five buns with currants in them.

Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail were good little bunnies. They went down the lane to pick blackberries.

But Peter was very naughty. He ran straight to Mr. McGregor's garden and squeezed under the gate!

First, he ate some lettuce and some French beans. Then he ate some radishes.

After that, feeling a little sick, he went to look for some parsley.

But around the end of a cucumber frame (a wooden box that helps cucumbers grow), he ran right into Mr. McGregor!

Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees, planting young cabbage plants. But he jumped up and chased after Peter, waving a rake and shouting, "Stop, thief!"

Peter was terribly frightened. He rushed all over the garden because he had forgotten which way led back to the gate.

He lost one shoe among the cabbages and the other shoe among the potatoes.

After losing his shoes, Peter ran on all four legs, which made him faster. He might have gotten away completely—but he ran into a net that was protecting the gooseberries, and got stuck by the big buttons on his jacket. It was a new blue jacket with brass buttons.

Peter thought he was surely caught, and he cried big tears. But some friendly sparrows heard his sobs. They flew over to him, very excited, and begged him to keep trying to get free.

Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve (a bowl with holes in it, used for sifting), planning to trap Peter underneath it. But Peter wriggled free just in time, leaving his jacket stuck in the net.

Peter dashed into the toolshed and jumped into a large watering can. It would have been a great hiding place—except it had a lot of water inside it!

Mr. McGregor felt sure that Peter was hiding somewhere in the shed, maybe under a flower pot. He began turning the pots over one by one to check underneath each.

Just then, Peter sneezed—"Kertyschoo!" Mr. McGregor rushed toward him right away.

He tried to step on Peter, but Peter jumped out through a window, knocking over three plants as he went. The window was too small for Mr. McGregor to follow, and he was tired of chasing Peter anyway. He went back to his work.

Peter stopped to rest. He was out of breath and shaking with fear, and he had no idea which way to go. He was also very wet from sitting in the watering can.

After a while, he began to wander around slowly, hopping along and looking all around him.

He found a door in a wall, but it was locked. There was no gap underneath for a chubby little rabbit to squeeze through.

An old mouse was scurrying in and out over the stone doorstep, carrying peas and beans to her family in the woods. Peter asked her which way led to the gate, but she had such a large pea in her mouth that she couldn't answer. She just shook her head at him. Peter began to cry.

Then he tried to find his way straight across the garden, but he only got more confused. Soon, he reached a pond where Mr. McGregor filled his watering cans. A white cat sat very still, staring at some goldfish—but every so often, the tip of her tail twitched, as if it had a mind of its own. Peter decided it was best to sneak past without saying anything to her. He had heard about cats from his cousin, little Benjamin Bunny.

He headed back toward the toolshed, but suddenly, very close by, he heard the sound of a hoe scraping the ground—scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch. Peter dove under some bushes to hide. When nothing happened, he crept back out and climbed onto a wheelbarrow to peek over the edge. The first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor hoeing onions, with his back turned toward Peter. And beyond him was the gate!

Peter climbed down from the wheelbarrow very quietly and took off running as fast as he could, along a straight path behind some black-currant bushes.

Mr. McGregor spotted him at the corner, but Peter didn't care. He slipped under the gate and was finally safe in the woods outside the garden.

Mr. McGregor hung up the little jacket and shoes on a scarecrow, to help scare away the blackbirds.

Peter never stopped running, and he never looked back, until he reached home at the big fir tree.

He was so tired that he flopped down on the soft sand floor of the rabbit hole and closed his eyes. His mother was busy cooking, and she wondered what he had done with his clothes. This was the second jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in just two weeks!

I'm sorry to say that Peter did not feel well that evening.

His mother put him to bed and made a cup of chamomile tea. She gave Peter a dose of it to help his upset stomach.

"One spoonful, to be taken at bedtime."

But Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread, milk, and blackberries for their supper.

THE END