The cat sat on the basket. "When will she leave?" whispered Benjamin. "Father will be looking for me." "These onions smell awful!" whispered Peter. Tears filled his eyes. The cat did not leave. She sat on the basket for five hours! At last they heard something. "Benjamin?" someone called. "That's Father!" whispered Benjamin. The cat looked up at the wall. Suddenly a large rabbit jumped down. Wham! He kicked the cat. Slam! He pushed her inside the greenhouse. Then— bang! He locked the door. Benjamin's father lifted the basket. "You are in big trouble, Benjamin," he said. Later that day the farmer returned from town. "What happened?" he cried. Small footprints were everywhere. The scarecrow's clothes were gone. And the cat was locked in the greenhouse! Mrs. Rabbit was upset with Peter. But she was glad to see him. "You're safe, Peter," she said. "And you got your clothes back!"

Benjamin held up Peter's handkerchief. "We can carry onions in this," said Benjamin. He put it on the ground. Benjamin went into an onion patch. He pulled up an onion. Shloomp! "This is a nice one!" said Benjamin. He pulled up another onion. Peter looked around. His nose wiggled. Benjamin pulled up more onions. He rolled them onto the handkerchief. "Let's go," said Peter. "This garden isn't safe." "It's fine," said Benjamin. "I come here all the time with Father." He ate a lettuce leaf. "Mmm," said Benjamin. "Yummy!" Benjamin walked deeper into the garden. Peter grabbed the handkerchief. He ran after his cousin. "What was that noise?" asked Peter. "Is the farmer coming?" "It's nothing," said Benjamin. Benjamin kept walking. Peter followed. They walked past flowerpots and garden tools. Suddenly Benjamin gasped. "I see a cat!" He and Peter slipped under a basket. They waited. Sniff, sniff. Sniff, sniff. The cat jumped onto the basket. Then she sat down.

Benjamin and Peter walked through the woods. At last they saw a stone wall. "The farmer's garden!" said Peter. The two rabbits climbed onto the wall. Peter gasped. "Look at that scarecrow! It's wearing my jacket and shoes!" "Let's get them back!" said Benjamin. "I don't know," said Peter. "We'll be fine," said Benjamin. He grabbed a pear tree. Then he slid down into the garden. Peter followed. Benjamin and Peter ran to the scarecrow. Peter took his shoes off the scarecrow. Water poured out of them. "I guess it rained last night," he said. Peter took off the handkerchief. He put on his jacket. "My jacket shrank in the rain," he said. The scarecrow was also wearing a hat. Benjamin tried on the hat. "It's much too big," he said. "That's the farmer's hat," said Peter. He looked around nervously. "We should leave now," said Peter. "No," said Benjamin. "I want to get some onions!"

Benjamin Bunny sat by the road. Clop, clop! Clop, clop! A horse walked along the road. The horse was pulling a wagon. "It's the farmer and his wife," thought Benjamin. "They are going to town." Benjamin smiled. "I'll find my cousin Peter!" Benjamin ran to Peter's tree. He peeked inside. Mrs. Rabbit was knitting. "I don't want to see her," thought Benjamin. He saw Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail. "Where's Peter?" thought Benjamin. He went to the other side of the tree. He crawled down a hole. And there was Peter. He was wearing a red handkerchief. He looked sad. "Peter!" said Benjamin. "What happened to you? Where are your clothes?" Peter sniffed. "I lost them in the farmer's garden. I went there yesterday. The farmer chased me." "I have good news," said Benjamin. "The farmer and his wife went to town. We can look for your clothes!"

Peter jumped out of the watering can. "Hey!" cried the farmer. Peter ran and ran. Finally the farmer stopped chasing him. Now Peter was lost. "Where's the gate?" he asked a mouse. But the mouse ran away. Suddenly Peter gasped. "A cat!" The cat was watching fish in the pond. She didn't see Peter. "Whew!" whispered Peter. He quietly slipped away. "I must find the gate!" said Peter. Scritch, scratch! Peter heard a noise. He climbed onto a wheelbarrow to see. The farmer was working in the onion patch. Scritch, scratch! Then Peter saw something else. "The gate!" he cried. Peter shot across the garden. The farmer chased him. "Stop, rabbit!" But Peter was too fast. He squeezed under the gate and ran home. Mrs. Rabbit scolded Peter. "Naughty rabbit! You lost your jacket and shoes!" The other bunnies ate bread and blackberries. But Peter didn't get any. Peter sneezed. Mrs. Rabbit gave him medicine. Then she sent him to bed.

"Help!" cried Peter. "I’m stuck in this net!" Some birds flew over to Peter. They tried to help him. "Don't give up!" called one bird. "Keep trying to get free!" "Take off your jacket!" shouted another. Peter stopped crying. Quickly Peter slipped out of his jacket. Now he was free! But the farmer was still chasing him. Peter ran away fast. "Get back here!" cried the farmer. Peter dashed into a shed. It was filled with garden tools. Peter leaped into a watering can. Splash! The can was filled with icy water. "Brr!" said Peter. The farmer rushed into the shed. "Where is that rabbit?" said the farmer. Peter shivered. He heard the farmer moving things around. The man was looking for Peter. "Where are you, rabbit?" muttered the farmer. The farmer's footsteps were close now. "Uh-oh," whispered Peter. He felt a tickle in his nose. The tickle grew worse. "Ah-choo!" Peter sneezed. "Aha!" cried the farmer.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit 2: Into the Garden Peter hopped through the woods. A path led to the farmer's gate. Peter squeezed under the gate and looked around. "I see green leaves everywhere!" said Peter. Peter wandered through the garden. He ate some lettuce. He ate some green beans. He ate some radishes. "These vegetables are delicious!" said Peter. "I'll eat some more." Then he hopped around a corner. Peter gasped. "The farmer!" The farmer gasped. "A rabbit!" Peter ran. The farmer grabbed his rake. He chased Peter. "Stop, thief!" cried the farmer. He swung his rake at Peter. Peter ran as fast as he could. His heart beat fast. He lost one shoe near the cabbages. He lost his other shoe near the potatoes. "Where's the gate?" cried Peter. He looked around. Suddenly he ran into a net. The big buttons on his jacket got caught. "Ahh!" cried Peter. He kicked and twisted. But it was no help. "I'm stuck in the farmer’s net!" cried Peter.

underneath 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 mischief. 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 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 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. 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 around. 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 water-cans. 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 has 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 hoe— 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 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 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 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; 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.