THE TALE OF BENJAMIN BUNNY

 One morning a little rabbit sat on a bank.

 

He pricked¹ his ears and listened to the trit-trot, trit-trot of a pony².

 

A gig was coming along the road; it was driven by Mr. McGregor, and beside him sat Mrs. McGregor in her best bonnet³.

 

As soon as they had passed, little Benjamin Bunny slid down into the road, and set off—with a hop⁴, skip, and a jump—to call upon his relations, who lived in the wood at the back of Mr. McGregor's garden.

 

That wood was full of rabbit holes; and in the neatest, sandiest hole of all lived Benjamin's aunt and his cousins—Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.

 

Old Mrs. Rabbit was a widow; she earned her living by knitting rabbit-wool mittens⁵ and muffatees (I once bought a pair at a bazaar). She also sold herbs, and rosemary tea, and rabbit-tobacco (which is what we call lavender).

 

Little Benjamin did not very much want to see his Aunt.

 

He came round the back of the fir- tree, and nearly tumbled upon the top of his Cousin Peter.

 

Peter was sitting by himself. He looked poorly, and was dressed in a red cotton pocket-handkerchief.

 

"Peter," said little Benjamin, in a whisper, "who has got your clothes?"

 

Peter replied, "The scarecrow in Mr. McGregor's garden," and described how he had been chased about the garden, and had dropped his shoes and coat.

 

Little Benjamin sat down beside his cousin and assured him that Mr. McGregor had gone out in a gig, and Mrs. McGregor also; and certainly for the day, because she was wearing her best bonnet.

 

Peter said he hoped that it would rain.

 

At this point old Mrs. Rabbit's voice was heard inside the rabbit hole, calling: "Cotton-tail! Cotton-tail! fetch some more camomile!"

 

Peter said he thought he might feel better if he went for a walk.

 

They went away hand in hand, and got upon the flat top of the wall at the bottom of the wood. From here they looked down into Mr. McGregor's garden. Peter's coat and shoes were plainly to be seen upon the scarecrow, topped with an old tam-o'-shanter of Mr. McGregor's.

 

Little Benjamin said: "It spoils people's clothes to squeeze under a gate; the proper way to get in is to climb down a pear-tree."

 

Peter fell down head first; but it was of no consequence, as the bed below was newly raked and quite soft.

 

It had been sown with lettuces⁷.

 

They left a great many odd little footmarks all over the bed, especially little Benjamin, who was wearing clogs⁸.

 

Little Benjamin said that the first thing to be done was to get back Peter's clothes, in order that they might be able to use the pocket- handkerchief.

 

They took them off the scarecrow. There had been rain during the night; there was water in the shoes, and the coat was somewhat shrunk.

 

Benjamin tried on the tam-o'- shanter, but it was too big for him.

 

Then he suggested that they should fill the pocket-handkerchief with onions, as a little present for his Aunt.

 

Peter did not seem to be enjoying himself; he kept hearing noises.

 

Benjamin, on the contrary, was perfectly⁹ at home, and ate a lettuce⁶ leaf. He said that he was in the habit of coming to the garden with his father to get lettuces for their Sunday dinner.

 

(The name of little Benjamin's papa was old Mr. Benjamin Bunny.)

 

The lettuces certainly were very fine.

 

Peter did not eat anything; he said he should like to go home. Presently he dropped half the onions.

 

Little Benjamin said that it was not possible to get back up the pear-tree with a load of vegetables. He led the way boldly towards the other end of the garden. They went along a little walk on planks¹⁰, under a sunny, red brick wall.

 

The mice sat on their doorsteps cracking cherry-stones; they winked¹¹ at Peter Rabbit and little Benjamin Bunny.

 

Presently Peter let the pocket- handkerchief go again.

 

They got amongst flower-pots, and frames, and tubs. Peter heard noises worse than ever; his eyes were as big as lolly-pops!

 

He was a step or two in front of his cousin when he suddenly stopped.

 

This is what those little rabbits saw round that corner!

 

Little Benjamin took one look, and then, in half a minute less than no time, he hid himself and Peter and the onions underneath¹² a large basket. . . .

 

The cat got up and stretched herself, and came and sniffed¹³ at the basket.

 

Perhaps she liked the smell of onions!

 

Anyway, she sat down upon the top of the basket.

 

She sat there for FIVE HOURS.

 

I cannot draw you a picture of Peter and Benjamin underneath the basket, because it was quite dark, and because the smell of onions was fearful; it made Peter Rabbit and little Benjamin cry.

 

The sun got round behind the wood, and it was quite late in the afternoon; but still the cat sat upon the basket.

 

At length there was a pitter-patter, pitter-patter, and some bits of mortar¹⁴ fell from the wall above.

 

The cat looked up and saw old Mr. Benjamin Bunny prancing¹⁵ along the top of the wall of the upper terrace.

 

He was smoking a pipe of rabbit- tobacco, and had a little switch in his hand.

 

He was looking for his son.

 

Old Mr. Bunny had no opinion whatever of cats. He took a tremendous jump off the top of the wall on to the top of the cat, and cuffed¹⁶ it off the basket, and kicked it into the greenhouse, scratching off a handful of fur.

 

The cat was too much surprised to scratch back.

 

When old Mr. Bunny had driven the cat into the greenhouse, he locked the door.

 

Then he came back to the basket and took out his son Benjamin by the ears, and whipped him with the little switch.

 

Then he took out his nephew Peter.

 

Then he took out the handkerchief of onions, and marched out of the garden.

 

When Mr. McGregor returned about half an hour later he observed several things which perplexed¹⁷ him.

 

It looked as though some person had been walking all over the garden in a pair of clogs—only the footmarks were too ridiculously little!

 

Also he could not understand how the cat could have managed to shut herself up INSIDE the greenhouse, locking the door upon the OUTSIDE.

 

When Peter got home his mother forgave him, because she was so glad to see that he had found his shoes and coat. Cotton-tail and Peter folded up the pocket-handkerchief, and old Mrs. Rabbit strung up the onions and hung them from the kitchen ceiling, with the bunches of herbs and the rabbit- tobacco.

1 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

2 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

3 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

4 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

5 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

6 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

7 lettuces   

n.莴苣，生菜（ lettuce的名词复数 ）；生菜叶

参考例句：

• My lettuces have gone to seed. 我种的莴苣已结子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Are these lettuces home-grown or did you buy them in the market? 这些生菜是自家种的呢，还是你在市场上买的？ 来自辞典例句

8 clogs   

木屐； 木底鞋，木屐( clog的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Clogs are part of the Netherlands national costume. 木屐是荷兰民族服装的一部分。
• Clogs are part of the Dutch traditional costume. 木屐是荷兰传统装束的一部分。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 planks   

（厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点

参考例句：

• The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
• We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。

11 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

13 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

15 prancing   

v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lead singer was prancing around with the microphone. 首席歌手手执麦克风，神气地走来走去。
• The King lifted Gretel on to his prancing horse and they rode to his palace. 国王把格雷特尔扶上腾跃着的马，他们骑马向天宫走去。 来自辞典例句

16 cuffed   

v.掌打，拳打( cuff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She cuffed the boy on the side of the head. 她向这男孩的头上轻轻打了一巴掌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mother cuffed the dog when she found it asleep on a chair. 妈妈发现狗睡在椅子上就用手把狗打跑了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。