 | The Tale of Peter Rabbit |  |
THE TALE OF
PETER RABBIT
BY
BEATRIX POTTER
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.
[Description: Text Page.]
'Your Father had an accident
there; he was put in
a pie by Mrs. McGregor.'
`NOW run along, and don't
get into mischief. I am
going out.'
[Description: Watercolor of Mrs. Rabbit buttoning a blue coat onto Peter.]
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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.
[Description: Watercolor of Mrs. Rabbit with basket, umbrella, and cloak going through the forest.]
FLOPSY, Mopsy, and Cotton-
tail, who were good little
bunnies, went down the lane
to gather blackberries;
[Description: Watercolor of the rabbits, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail gathering blackberries along with magpies.]
BUT Peter, who was very
naughty, ran straight
away to Mr. McGregor's garden.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit skipping away to Mr. McGregor's]
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AND squeezed under the
gate.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter the rabbit sliding under a gate to get into Mr. McGregor's garden]
FIRST he ate some lettuces
and some French beans;
and then he ate some radishes;
AND then, feeling rather
sick, he went to look for
some parsley.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit feeling full amidst potted plants holding his belly]
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BUT round the end of a
cucumber frame, whom
should he meet but Mr.
McGregor!
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit happening upon Mr. McGregor digging in his garden.]
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!'
[Description: Watercolor of Mr. McGregor chasing Peter Rabbit with a rake.]
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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.
[Description: Watercolor of a robin, Peter Rabbit's lost shoe and cabbage.]
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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.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit caught in a gooseberry net with his blue jacket.]
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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.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit caught in the gooseberry net with blue jacket, friendly sparrows speaking with him.]
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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,
[Description: Watercolor of the sparrows and Peter Rabbit, without jacket trying to escape Mr. McGregor's sieve.]
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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 had so much water in
it.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit jumping into a water bucket.]
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,
[Description: Watercolor of Mr. McGregor looking for Peter under planting pots. Peter Rabbit's ears stick out of the water bucket amidst shovels and brooms.]
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AND tried to put his 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.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit jumping out the window upsetting three geraniums and Mr. McGregor's boot coming after him.]
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
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit, soaking wet and catching his breath and a sparrow sits behind him.]
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AFTER a time he began to
wander about, going lippity—
lippity—not very fast,
and looking all around.
HE found a door in a wall;
but it was locked, and there
was no room for a fat little
rabbit to squeeze underneath.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit, naked, running and finding a door
in a wall in the garden]
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.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit crying and an old mouse talking to him.]
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.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit coming up on a white cat next to a water-can staring into a pond.]
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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 wheelbarrow,
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!
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit sitting in a wheelbarrow staring at Mr. McGregor as he hoes his onions.]
PETER got down very
quietly off the wheelbarrow,
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.
[Description: Watercolor of Mr. McGregor running after Peter Rabbit as he dives under the gate with sparrows looking down upon him.]
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MR. McGREGOR hung up
the little jacket and the
shoes for a scare-crow to
frighten the blackbirds.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit's blue jacket and shoes hung up on a stake as a scarecrow. Blackbirds and sparrows are not frightened.]
PETER never stopped running
or looked behind
him till he got home to the
big fir-tree.
[Description: Watercolor of Peter Rabbit sitting under the big fir-tree with Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail looking at him.]
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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!
[Description: Watercolor of Mother Rabbit cooking and Peter Rabbit sleeping on the floor of the rabbit-hole; Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail are in the background.]
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 table-spoonful to be
taken at bed-time.'
[Description: Watercolor of Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail watching Mother Rabbit make camomile tea for Peter who sits in bed.]
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[Description: Watercolor of Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail Rabbits sitting around a bowl of milk and basket of blackberries eating.]
BUT Flopsy, Mopsy, and
Cotton-tail had bread
and milk and blackberries,
for supper.
| The Tale of Peter Rabbit | |