Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits

Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter
They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank
underneath the root of a very big fir-tree

“my little dears,” said old Mrs. Rabbit
“you little rabbits may go into the fields”
“or you little rabbits can go down the lane”
“but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden”
“your Father had an accident there”
“he was put in a pasty by Mrs. McGregor”

“Now run along my little rabbits”
“and don’t get yourself into any mischief”
“in the meantime I am going out”

Then old Mrs. Rabbit took her basket
and she took her umbrella with her
and she went through the woods
and then she went to the baker’s
She bought a loaf of brown bread
and she bought five currant buns

Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail
they were good little bunnies
they went down the lane as they were told
because they wanted to gather blackberries

But Peter was a very naughty bunny
and he ran straight to Mr. McGregor’s garden
and he squeezed under the gate!

First he ate some lettuces
then he ate some French beans
and then he ate some radishes

And then he went to look for some parsley
because he was feeling rather sick

He went around to the cucumber patch
lo and behold, there was Mr. McGregor!

Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees
he was planting young cabbages
but he jumped up and ran after Peter
waving a rake, he called out, “Stop thief!”

Peter Rabbit was dreadfully frightened
he rushed all over the garden
he had forgotten the way back to the gate
He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages
and he lost the other shoe amongst the potatoes

After losing his shoes he ran on four legs
he could run faster on all four legs
and he would have gotten away
if he had not ran into a gooseberry net
one of his jacket buttons had gotten caught

Peter Rabbit thought he would be caught
and he shed big tears for himself
but his sobs were overheard
some friendly sparrows were nearby
the sparrows flew to him in great excitement
and they implored him to exert himself
“you can do it little rabbit!”

Mr. McGregor came along with a sieve
he intended to put the sieve on Peter Rabbit
but Peter Rabbit wriggled out just in time
he had to leave his jacket behind

and he rushed into the tool-shed
and he jumped into a watering-can
It would have been a beautiful thing to hide in
but the watering-can was full of water!

Mr. McGregor was sure he would find him
perhaps he had hidden underneath a flowerpot?
He began to carefully look under each flowerpot
Peter couldn’t help but sneeze: “atishoo!”
Mr. McGregor was chasing him in no time

And he tried to put his foot upon Peter Rabbit
but Peter Rabbit jumped out of a window
The window was too small for Mr. McGregor
and he was tired of running after Peter Rabbit
so he went back to his work

Peter Rabbit sat down to rest
he was very out of breath
and he was trembling with fright
and he didn’t know which way to go
Also, he was soaked through
because he had been sitting in the water
After a time he began to wander about
he wasn’t hopping very fast
and he always looked all round

He found a door in a wall
but the door was locked
and the door wasn’t very wide
the door wasn’t wide enough for Peter Rabbit
because he was a fat little rabbit
An old mouse was running in and out
she was carrying peas and beans
her family lived in the woods
and she brought them the peas and beans
he asked the mouse the way to the gate
but she had a very large pea in her mouth
of course she could not answer Peter Rabbit
She only shook her head at him
Peter Rabbit began to cry at his situation

Then he tried to find his way out the garden
but he became more and more puzzled
He came to a pond in the garden
Mr. McGregor filled his watering cans by the pond
A white cat was staring at some gold-fish
she sat very, very still, at the pond
but now and then the tip of her tail twitched
it was almost as if her tail were alive
Peter Rabbit thought it best not to speak with her
he had heard about cats from his cousin
little Bunny Benjamin had told him all about cats

He went back towards the tool-shed
but suddenly, he heard a noise!
“scratch scratch scratch”
it was the sound of a garden hoe!
Peter scuttered underneath the bushes
But despite the noise, nothing happened
he came out, and climbed upon a wheelbarrow
and he peeped over the edge of the wheelbarrow
The first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor
Mr. McGregor was hoeing his onions
His back was turned towards Peter
and in front of him was the gate!

Peter got down very quietly off the wheelbarrow
and he started running as fast as he could
Mr. McGregor caught sight of him
but Peter Rabbit did not get distracted
He slipped underneath the gate
he had made it out the garden
and he was finally safe
and he was in the woods again

Mr. McGregor hung the jacket on a scare-crow
it worked to frighten the blackbirds
Peter never stopped running
nor did he look back to the garden
he run until he got home to the big fir-tree

He was so tired that he flopped down
and finally he shut his eyes
His mother was busy cooking
she wondered what he had done
“what has he done with his clothes?”
It was the second jacket he had lost this week
nor was it the first pair of shoes he had lost!

Unfortunately, Peter was unwell that evening
so his mother put him to bed
and she made him some chamomile tea
“One spoonful to be taken at bed-time”

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

THE END