The Tale of Peter Rabbit

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THE TALE OF

PETER RABBIT

BY

BEATRIX POTTER

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FREDERICK WARNE

FREDERICK WARNE

First published 1902

Frederick Warne & Co., 1902

Printed and bound in Great Britain by William Clowes Limited, Beccles
and London

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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 burrow (an underground home) dug into a sandy bank, right beneath the roots of a very large 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 caught and baked into a pie by Mrs. McGregor."

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

Old Mrs. Rabbit then picked up her basket and umbrella and walked through the woods to the bakery. There, she bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns.

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Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail were well-behaved little rabbits, so they went down the lane to pick blackberries.

But Peter, who was much naughtier, ran straight to Mr. McGregor's garden and squeezed underneath the gate!

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First, he nibbled on some lettuce and French beans. Then he ate a few radishes.

Feeling a little sick from eating so much, he went off to search for some parsley to settle his stomach.

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But as he rounded the corner of a cucumber frame (a glass box used to grow cucumbers), he ran straight into Mr. McGregor!

Mr. McGregor had been kneeling in the dirt, planting young cabbages. But he jumped to his feet at once and chased after Peter, waving a rake and shouting, "Stop, thief!"

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Peter was terribly frightened. He dashed all around the garden in a panic, for he had completely forgotten which way led back to the gate.

Along the way, he lost one shoe among the cabbages and the other among the potatoes.

Without his shoes, Peter dropped down onto all four legs and ran even faster. He might have escaped completely—if he hadn't run straight into a net used to protect gooseberry bushes. The large brass buttons on his new blue jacket got tangled in the net, trapping him.

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Peter believed all hope was lost, and he began to cry big tears. Luckily, some friendly sparrows heard his sobbing. They flew over in a flurry of excitement and begged him to keep struggling and try to break free.

Just then, Mr. McGregor arrived carrying a sieve (a tool with small holes, like a strainer), planning to trap Peter underneath it. But Peter wriggled free just in time—leaving his jacket caught in the net behind him.

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Peter dashed into the toolshed and leaped into a large metal watering can. It would have made a perfect hiding place—except that it was nearly full of water.

Mr. McGregor felt certain Peter was hiding somewhere in the shed, maybe underneath a flowerpot. So he began carefully lifting and checking each pot, one by one.

Just then, Peter sneezed—"Kertyschoo!" In an instant, Mr. McGregor was chasing him again.

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Mr. McGregor tried to stomp his foot down on Peter, but the rabbit leaped out through a window, knocking over three plants in the process. The window was too narrow for Mr. McGregor to fit through, and by now he was worn out from chasing Peter all over the garden. He gave up and returned to his work.

Peter finally stopped to catch his breath. He was shaking with fear and completely lost, with no idea which direction to go. On top of that, he was soaking wet from hiding in the watering can.

After resting a while, he began wandering around slowly—hopping in a careful, unhurried way called "lippity-lippity"—looking in every direction for a way out.

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Eventually, he came across a door built into a wall. But it was locked, and there was no gap underneath for even a small, chubby rabbit to squeeze through.

Nearby, an old mouse was scurrying in and out of a hole, carrying peas and beans back to her family in the woods. Peter asked her which way led to the garden gate, but her mouth was so full of a large pea that she couldn't answer—she only shook her head. Peter started crying again.

He decided to try cutting straight across the garden, but this only left him more confused than before. Soon he reached a pond where Mr. McGregor filled his watering cans. Sitting perfectly still beside it was a white cat, staring intently at some goldfish. Every so often, just the tip of her tail twitched, as though it had a life of its own. Peter thought it wisest to slip past without saying a word to her—he remembered warnings about cats from his cousin, Benjamin Bunny.

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Peter turned back toward the toolshed, but suddenly he heard a sound close by—scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch—the noise of someone hoeing the soil. He darted under a bush to hide. When nothing happened after a moment, he crept out and climbed onto a wheelbarrow to peek over the top. There was Mr. McGregor, busy hoeing rows of onions, his back turned toward Peter. And just beyond him stood the garden gate!

Peter climbed down from the wheelbarrow as quietly as he could and took off running as fast as his legs would carry him, dashing along a straight path behind some black-currant bushes.

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

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Mr. McGregor hung Peter's little jacket and shoes on a scarecrow, using them to help frighten away the blackbirds.

Peter ran the whole way home without stopping or looking back, until he reached the big fir tree.

He was so exhausted that he collapsed onto the soft sand at the bottom of the rabbit burrow and closed his eyes. His mother, busy cooking, noticed he'd lost his clothes again and wondered what he had done this time. It was already the second jacket and pair of shoes Peter had lost in just two weeks!

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Sadly, Peter didn't feel very well that evening.

His mother put him straight to bed and made a cup of chamomile tea—a drink often used to soothe an upset stomach. She gave Peter a dose of it to help him feel better.

"One tablespoon to be taken at bedtime."

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Meanwhile, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail enjoyed a supper of bread, milk, and blackberries.

THE END