Hello. Welcome to Storyline Online, brought to you
by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. I'm Rose Byrne, and today I'm going to be
reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit,
written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. 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,
underneath the root of a very big fir tree. "Now my dears," said the 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 then 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 amongst the cabbages, and the other shoe amongst the potatoes. After losing them, he ran on four legs and
went faster, so 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;
it was 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 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 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 gold-fish. 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 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 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 in 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. The End Thank you so much for joining me in reading
Peter Rabbit. It's one of my favorite books growing up as
a child. Did you know that this book is
over 100 years old? And I chose it because my mother used to read
it to me. And if you can't find a book that you really
love, keep looking because there are so many out
there. And I promise you that
you will find one that you love. Thank you for watching Storyline Online. Make sure to check out all of our stories. And keep watching and keep reading.
