THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT（2）

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, underneath¹ the root of a very big fir-tree.
‘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.’
‘Now run along, and don’t get into mischief². I am going out.’
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.
Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries:
But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor’s garden, and squeezed under the gate!
First he ate some lettuces³ 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 brass⁴ buttons, quite new.
Peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears; but his sobs⁵ were overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew to him in great excitement, and implored⁶ him to exert himself.

从前，有四只小兔子，他们的名字分别是——弗洛浦西、莫浦西、棉尾巴以及彼得。
他们和妈妈一起住在河边沙地上的一棵大杉树下。
一天早晨，兔子妈妈说：“亲爱的孩子们，你们可以到地里去玩，或者沿着巷子散步，
但是千万不要到麦格雷戈先生的花园里去。”
“你们的爸爸在那儿出过事儿。可怜的他被麦格雷戈太太做成了馅饼。”
“去吧，别调皮。我也要出去了。”
然后，兔子妈妈挎上篮子，带着雨伞，穿过小树林，去了面包店。她买了一个黑面包
和五个葡萄干面包。
弗洛浦西、莫浦西和棉尾巴都是乖宝宝，她们沿着巷子散了会儿步，然后就去摘黑莓
了。
但是，淘气的彼得却偏偏去了麦格雷戈先生的花园。
彼得从门缝里挤了进去。
他先吃了一些莴苣和四季豆，然后吃了一些萝卜。
过了一会儿，他觉得有点儿不太舒服，打算去找些芹菜吃。
但是，走着走着，在黄瓜地的尽头，他竟然遇见了麦格雷戈先生！
麦格雷戈先生正蹲在地上侍弄卷心菜。他看到彼得，猛地跳起来，手里挥着耙子冲了
过来，嘴里大喊着：“小偷，别跑！”
彼得吓了一大跳。他在园子里四处乱窜，竟然忘记了门在哪里。慌乱之中，他把一只
鞋子丢在了菜地里。
另一只鞋子丢在了土豆堆里。
鞋子丢了，他只好光着脚跑，却跑得更快了！按说他应该早就逃走了，可是很不幸，
他不小心撞在结满醋栗的网上，衣服上的大纽扣缠在了网上。那是一件崭新的蓝色上衣，
上面缝着漂亮的铜纽扣。
彼得绝望了，大哭起来。几只小麻雀听到他的哭声，急忙飞过来帮他，想办法让他从
网上解脱出来。