The Tale of Peter Rabbit (2 page)

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
.
Mc
Gregor
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 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
.
Mc
Gregor
was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in the
tool-shed, perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot. He began to turn them over carefully, looking under
each.

Presently 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.