TheTaleOfPeterRabbitClean.txt

once upon a time there were four little rabbits and their names

were

flopsy

mopsy

cottontail

and peter

they lived with their mother in a sandbank underneath the root of a

very big firtree

now my dears said old mrs rabbit one morning you may go into

the fields or down the lane but dont go into mr mcgregors garden

your father had an accident there he was put in a pie by mrs

mcgregor

now run along and dont get into mischief i am going out

then old mrs rabbit took a basket and her umbrella and went through

the wood to the bakers she bought a loaf of brown bread and five

currant buns

flopsy mopsy and cottontail who were good little bunnies went

down the lane to gather blackberries

but peter who was very naughty ran straight away to mr mcgregors

garden and squeezed under the gate

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

but round the end of a cucumber frame whom should he meet but mr

mcgregor

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

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

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

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

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

and rushed into the toolshed 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

mr mcgregor was quite sure that peter was somewhere in the

toolshed perhaps hidden underneath a flowerpot he began to turn

them over carefully looking under each

presently peter sneezedkertyschoo mr mcgregor was after him in

no time

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

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 lippitylippitynot

very fast and looking all round

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

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 watercans a white cat was staring at some

goldfish 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

he went back towards the toolshed but suddenly quite close to him

he heard the noise of a hoescrrritch 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

peter got down very quietly off the wheelbarrow and started running

as fast as he could go along a straight walk behind some

blackcurrant 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

mr mcgregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scarecrow

to frighten the blackbirds

peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to

the big firtree

he was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the

floor of the rabbithole 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

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 tablespoonful to be taken at bedtime

but flopsy mopsy and cottontail had bread and milk and

blackberries for supper

the end