THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT（3）

Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve¹, which he intended to pop upon the top of Peter; but Peter wriggled² out just in time, leaving his jacket behind him.
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.
Mr. McGregor was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in the tool-shed, perhaps hidden underneath³ a flower-pot. He began to turn them over carefully, looking under each.
Presently⁴ Peter sneezed— ‘Kertyschoo!’ 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 lippity — lippity — not 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 squeeze⁵ 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 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 twitched⁶ 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 tool-shed, but suddenly, quite close to him, he heard the noise of a hoe⁷ — 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 peeped⁸ over. The first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor hoeing⁹ 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 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.
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 flopped¹⁰ 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; and she gave a dose¹¹ 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 END

麦格雷戈先生追了过来。他手里拿着一个筛子，想用它罩住彼得。彼得及时地跳出了
筛子，可是他的衣服却遭了殃。
彼得冲进工具房，一头跳进一只喷壶里。可是，喷壶里要是没有水该多好呀！
麦格雷戈先生觉得，彼得一定藏在工具房的某个角落，也许就藏在某个花盆下面。他
开始仔细地找，把每个花盆都翻起来查看。
就在这时，“阿嚏——”彼得打了个喷嚏。麦格雷戈先生一下子找到了他。
麦格雷戈先生想要用脚踩住彼得。彼得飞快地跳出窗子，往外跳时打翻了三盆花。窗
子太小，麦格雷戈先生根本出不去。他觉得烦了，不想再追彼得了，于是回去继续忙他的
活儿去了。
彼得终于能够坐下来休息一会儿了。他累得上气不接下气，吓得浑身发抖，不知道该
往哪儿走。尤其是刚才藏在喷壶里，让他觉得有点儿闷。
过了一会儿，他开始四处溜达，一边溜达，一边左瞧瞧右看看。
他发现墙上有一扇门，可门是锁着的，下面也没有缝儿，胖胖的小兔子根本钻不进
去。
一只年老的老鼠穿过石头门阶进进出出，把豌豆等各种各样的豆子运到树林里的家
中。彼得向她询问出去的路，但是她嘴里正含着一颗巨大的豌豆，没办法开口回答，只是
冲彼得摇了摇头。彼得很绝望，哭了起来。
后来，他开始试着自己找路。他直着穿过花园，却越走越疑惑。这时，他来到一个池
塘边。麦格雷戈先生常在这个池塘打水。一只白色的猫在盯着几条金鱼。她看上去非常安
静，只有尾巴不时地摆动一下。彼得心想，最好别跟她说话，还是赶紧离开为妙——他从
表弟小本杰明·邦尼那儿听说过这只猫。
他朝着工具房的方向往回走。突然，他听到有锄草的声音：“咔嚓——咔嚓——”这声
音离他很近，彼得赶紧躲到了灌木丛下面。
然而，什么都没发生。于是，彼得从灌木丛中钻出来，爬上一辆手推车，悄悄地四处
张望。彼得一下子就看到了麦格雷戈先生的身影——他背对着彼得，正在锄洋葱。彼得要
想逃出花园的门，就得越过麦格雷戈先生，然后再跑上一段距离。
彼得悄悄地从手推车上跳下来，沿着黑加仑丛后面的直路，使劲儿往前跑。
彼得快跑到门口的时候，麦格雷戈先生看到了他。但是，彼得并不害怕，他飞快地从
门缝里钻出去，跑到花园外面的树林里，终于安全了！
麦格雷戈先生用彼得的蓝色上衣和鞋子做了一个稻草人，来吓唬乌鸦。
彼得不停地跑啊跑，一路上头也不回，直到跑到大杉树下的家中。
他累极了，一屁股坐在洞里铺满松软沙子的地板上，闭上了眼睛。妈妈正在忙着做
饭，心里很纳闷：彼得又把他的衣服丢了？这可是他两周里丢的第二件衣服和第二双鞋子
了。
很抱歉，我要告诉你的是，那晚彼得的身体不太舒服。妈妈把他抱到床上，给他泡了
一杯甘菊茶。
“来，睡前喝一杯。”
可是，弗洛浦西、莫浦西和棉尾巴的晚餐是什么呢？是面包、牛奶和黑莓。
—完—