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Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and
their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter. They lived
with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big
fir-tree.
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'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 in a
pie by Mrs. McGregor.' |
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'Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going
out.' |
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Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, and
went through the wood to the baker's. She bought a loaf of brown bread
and five currant buns. |
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Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, who were good little
bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries. |
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But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight to Mr.
McGregor's garden, and squeezed under the gate! |
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First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and
then he ate some radishes; |
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And then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some
parsley. |
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But round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he
meet but Mr. McGregor! |
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Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees planting out
young cabbages, but he jumped up and ran after Peter, waving a rake and
calling out, 'Stop thief.' |
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Peter was most dreadfully frightened; he rushed all over
the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate. He lost one
of his shoes among the cabbages, and the other shoe amongst the
potatoes. |
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After losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster,
so that I think he might have got away altogether if he had not
unfortunately run into a gooseberry net, and got caught by the large
buttons on his jacket. It was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite
new. |
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Peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears; but
his sobs were overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew to him in
great excitement, and implored him to exert himself. |
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Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve, which he intended to
pop upon the top of Peter; but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving
his jacket behind him. |
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And rushed into the tool-shed, and jumped into a can. It
would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not so much
water in it. |
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Mr. McGregor was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in
the tool-shed, perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot. He began to turn
them over carefully, looking under each. Presently Peter sneezed - 'Kertyschoo!'
Mr. McGregor was after him in no time. |
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And tried to put a foot upon Peter, who jumped out of a
window, upsetting three plants. The window was too small for Mr.
McGregor, and he was tired of running after Peter. He went back to his
work. |
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Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and
trembling with fright, and he had not the least idea which way to go.
Also he was very damp with sitting in that can. After a time he began
to wander about, going lippity - lippity - not very fast, and looking
all around. |
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He found a door in a wall; but it was locked, and there
was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath. An old
mouse was running in and out over the stone doorstep, carrying peas and
beans to her family in the wood. Peter asked her the way to the gate,
but she had such a large pea in her mouth that she could not answer. She
only shook her head at him. Peter began to cry. |
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Then he tried to find his way straight across the
garden, but he became more and more puzzled. Presently, he came to a
pond where Mr. McGregor filled his water-cans. A white cat was staring
at some gold-fish, she sat very, very still, but now and then the tip of
her tail twitched as if it were alive. Peter thought it best to go away
without speaking to her; he had heard about cats from his cousin, little
Benjamin Bunny. |
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He went back towards the tool-shed, but suddenly, quite
close to him, he heard the noise of a hoe - scr-r-ritch, scratch,
scratch, scritch. Peter scuttered underneath the bushes. But presently,
as nothing happened, he came out, and climbed upon a wheel-barrow and
peeped over. The first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor hoeing onions. His
back was turned towards Peter, and beyond him was the gate! |
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Peter got down very quietly off the wheel-barrow, and
started running as fast as he could go, along a straight walk behind
some black-currant bushes. Mr. McGregor caught sight of him at the
corner but Peter did not care. He slipped underneath the gate, and was
safe at last in the wood outside the garden. |
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Mr. McGregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for
a scare-crow to frighten the blackbirds. |
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Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he
got home to the big fir-tree. He was so tired that he flopped down
upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit-hole, and shut his
eyes. His mother was busy cooking; she wondered what he had done with
his clothes. It was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that
Peter had lost in a fortnight. |
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I am sorry to say that Peter was not very well during
the evening. His mother put him to bed, and made some camomile tea;
and she gave a dose of it to Peter.
'One tablespoon to be taken at bed-time.' |
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But Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread and milk
and blackberries, for supper. |
| THE END |
