THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT radishes; And then, feeling rather sick, he Once upon a time there were went to look for some parsley. four little Rabbits, and their names were-- But round the end of a cucumber Flopsy, frame, whom should he meet but Mr. Mopsy, McGregor! Cotton-tail, and Peter. Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees planting out young They lived with their Mother in a cabbages, but he jumped up and ran sand-bank, underneath the root of a after Peter, waving a rake and calling very big fir-tree. out, "Stop thief." "Now, my dears," said old Mrs. Peter was most dreadfully Rabbit one morning, "you may go into frightened; he rushed all over the the fields or down the lane, but don't garden, for he had forgotten the way go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your back to the gate. Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor." He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages, and the other shoe amongst the potatoes. "Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going out." After losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster, so that I think he Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket might have got away altogether if he and her umbrella, and went through had not unfortunately run into a the wood to the baker's. She bought a gooseberry net, and got caught by the loaf of brown bread and five large buttons on his jacket. It was a buns. blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new. Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries; Peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears; but his sobs were But Peter, who was very naughty, overheard by some friendly sparrows, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor's who flew to him in great excitement, garden, and squeezed under the gate! and implored him to exert himself. First he ate some lettuces and some Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve, French beans; and then he ate some which he intended to pop upon the top of Peter; but Peter wriggled out out over the stone doorstep, carrying just in time, leaving his jacket behind peas and beans to her family in the him. wood. Peter asked her the way to the gate, but she had such a large pea in And rushed into the toolshed, and her mouth that she could not answer. jumped into a can. It would have been She only shook her head at him. Peter a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had began to cry. not had so much water in it. Then he tried to find his way Mr. McGregor was quite sure that straight across the garden, but he Peter was somewhere in the toolshed, became more and more puzzled. perhaps hidden underneath a flower- Presently, he came to a pond where pot. He began to turn them over Mr. McGregor filled his water-cans. A carefully, looking under each. white cat was staring at some goldfish; she sat very, very still, but Presently Peter sneezed-- now and then the tip of her tail "Kertyschoo!" Mr. McGregor was after twitched as if it were alive. Peter him in no time, thought it best to go away without speaking to her; he has heard about And tried to put his foot upon cats from his cousin, little Benjamin Peter, who jumped out of a window, Bunny. upsetting three plants. The window was too small for Mr. McGregor, and He went back towards the he was tired of running after Peter. He toolshed, but suddenly, quite close to went back to his work. him, he heard the noise of a hoe--scr- r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch. Peter Peter sat down to rest; he was out scuttered underneath the bushes. But of breath and trembling with fright, presently, as nothing happened, he and he had not the least idea which came out, and climbed upon a way to go. Also he was very damp wheelbarrow, and peeped over. The with sitting in that can. first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor hoeing onions. His back was turned After a time he began to wander about, going lippity--lippity--not towards Peter, and beyond him was very fast, and looking all around. the gate! He found a door in a wall; but it Peter got down very quietly off the was locked, and there was no room wheelbarrow, and started running as for a fat little rabbit to squeeze fast as he could go, along a straight underneath. walk behind some black-currant bushes. An old mouse was running in and 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 scare-crow to frighten the blackbirds. 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! 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;i and she gave a dose of it to Peter! "One table-spoonful to be taken at bed-time." But Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper. THE TALE OF JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK When she reached the top of the [A Farmyard Tale for hill, she saw a wood in the distance. Ralph and Betsy] She thought that it looked a safe quiet spot. What a funny sight it is to see a Jemima Puddle-duck was not much brood of ducklings with a hen! in the habit of flying. She ran downhill a few yards flapping her shawl, and Listen to the story of Jemima then she jumped off into the air. Puddle-duck, who was annoyed because the farmer's wife would not let her hatch her own eggs. She flew beautifully when she had got a good start. Her sister-in-law, Mrs. Rebeccah Puddle-duck, was perfectly willing to She skimmed along over the leave the hatching to someone else-- treetops until she saw an open place "I have not the patience to sit on a in the middle of the wood, where the nest for twenty-eight days; and no trees and brushwood had been more have you, Jemima. You would cleared. let them go cold; you know you would! " Jemima alighted rather heavily and began to waddle about in search of a "I wish to hatch my own eggs; I will convenient dry nesting place. She hatch them all by myself," quacked rather fancied a tree stump amongst Jemima Puddle-duck. some tall foxgloves. She tried to hide her eggs; but they But--seated upon the stump, she were always found and carried off. was startled to find an elegantly dressed gentleman reading a Jemima Puddle-duck became quite newspaper. He had black prick ears desperate. She determined to make a and sandy colored whiskers. nest right away from the farm. "Quack?" said Jemima Puddle- duck, with her head and her bonnet She set off on a fine spring on the one side--"Quack?" afternoon along the cart road that leads over the hill. The gentleman raised his eyes above his newspaper and looked She was wearing a shawl and a curiously at Jemima-- poke bonnet. "Madam, have you lost your way?" house--so convenient," said the said he. He had a long bushy tail hospitable gentleman. which he was sitting upon, as the stump was somewhat damp. There was a tumbledown shed at the back of the house, made of old Jemima thought him mighty civil soap boxes. The gentleman opened and handsome. She explained that she the door and showed Jemima in. had not lost her way, but that she was trying to find a convenient dry nesting place. The shed was almost quite full of feathers--it was almost suffocating; but it was comfortable and very soft. "Ah! is that so? Indeed!" said the gentleman with sandy whiskers, Jemima Puddle-duck was rather looking curiously at Jemima. He surprised to find such a vast quantity folded up the newspaper and put it in of feathers. But it was very his coattail pocket. comfortable; and she made a nest without any trouble at all. Jemima complained of the superfluous hen. When she came out, the sandy- whiskered gentleman was sitting on a "Indeed! How interesting! I wish I log reading the newspaper--at least could meet with that fowl. I would he had it spread out, but he was teach it to mind its own business! looking over the top of it. "But as to a nest--there is no He was so polite that he seemed difficulty: I have a sackful of feathers almost sorry to let Jemima go home in my woodshed. No, my dear for the night. He promised to take madam, you will be in nobody's way. great care of her nest until she came You may sit there as long as you like," back again the next day.