彼得兔的故事
畢翠克絲·波特
Once upon a time there were four little rabbits， and their names were— Flopsy， Mopsy， Cotton-tail and Peter。
從前有四隻小兔子， 他們的名字分別是—— 弗洛普希， 莫普希， 棉花尾和彼得。
They lived with their mother in a sand-bank， underneath the root of a very big fir-tree。
他們同媽媽一起住在一棵大杉樹樹根下的沙堆中。
“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。”
“好啦， 孩子們，” 兔媽媽有一天早上這樣說道， “你們可以去田野間或小路邊玩耍了， 但是絕對不要去麥格雷戈先生的菜園啊！ 你們的爸爸就是在那兒出事的， 他已經被麥格雷戈夫人做成餡餅了。”
“Now run along and don‘t get into mischief。 I am going out。”
“現在， 去玩吧， 孩子們。 好好聽話， 不要調皮搗蛋。 我要出門去買東西了。”
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。
之後， 兔媽媽便拿著她的籃子和雨傘， 去樹林對面的麵包店了。 她在那裡買了一條棕麵包和五個醋栗麵包。
Flopsy， Mopsy and Cotton-tail who were good little bunnies went down the lane together to gather blackberries。
弗洛普希， 莫普希和棉花尾都是聽媽媽話的乖兔子， 他們一起去小路邊摘黑莓了。
But Peter who was very naughty， ran straight away to Mr。 McGregor‘s garden and squeezed under the gate！
但是彼得卻非常的頑皮， 他直接跑向了麥格雷戈先生的菜園， 並從菜園的門口下擠了進去！
First he ate some lettuces and some French beans。 And then he ate some radishes。
首先他吃了一些生菜和法國豆， 然後又他吃了一些小蘿蔔。
And then， feeling rather sick， he went to look for some parsley。
然後， 他覺得自己非常的反胃， 因此想要去找些香芹吃。
But round the end of a cucumber frame， whom should he meet but Mr。 McGregor！
但是香芹在黃瓜架的盡頭附近， 要想去那兒肯定會碰到麥格雷戈先生的！
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！”
麥格雷戈先生此時正跪在地裡給甘藍苗移秧呢， 突然， 他看到了彼得， 然後就立馬站了起來， 開始追向彼得， 並在手裡揮舞著耙子， 而且還在嘴裡不停地喊著： “快停下， 你這個小偷！”。
Peter was most dreadfully frightened， he rushed all over the garden， for he had forgotten the way back to the gate。
彼得害怕極了， 在菜園裡到處亂跑著， 因為他不知道回大門的路去哪了。
He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages， and the other shoe amongst the potatoes。
他在甘藍地裡丟了第一隻鞋， 然後又在土豆地裡丟了另一隻鞋。
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。
丟了鞋之後， 他用四條腿跑， 跑的更快了。 因此， 我認為， 如果不是他不小心闖進了醋栗網， 他很可能就已經成功的逃跑了。 但是， 他外套上的大紐扣被醋栗網勾住了， 因此他沒能逃脫。
It was a blue jacket with brass buttons， quite new。
這是一件嶄新的藍色外套， 上面有很多黃銅紐扣。
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。
彼得因為迷路而放棄了自己， 哭了起來。 但是一些友好的麻雀聽見了他的啜泣聲。 他們興奮的飛向他， 並鼓勵他要儘自己最大的努力。
Mr。 McGregor came up with a sieve which he intended to pop on the top of Peter， but Peter wriggled out just in time。 Leaving his jacket behind him。
這時麥格雷戈先生拿著一個篩子走了過來， 打算扣住彼得， 但是， 彼得及時的扭動了一下身體， 成功的逃脫了。 麥格雷戈先生只扣住了彼得的夾克。
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。
他衝進了工具棚， 跳進了一個噴水壺。 如果噴水壺裡面沒有太多的水的話， 那一定是個絕佳的藏身之處。
Mr。 McGregor was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in the tool-shed， perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot。
麥格雷戈先生非常確定， 彼得就躲在工具棚裡的某個地方， 也許就藏在某個花盆的下面。
He began to turn them over carefully， looking under each。 Presently Peter sneezed “Kertyschoo！”
他開始小心翼翼地翻花盆， 一個一個的檢視。 突然， 彼得打了一個噴嚏： “咳。。 球~！”
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。
麥格雷戈先生立刻就發現了他， 並試圖用腳睬他， 但是彼得從窗戶中跳了出去， 並打翻了三個花盆。
The window was too small for Mr。 McGregor， and he was tired of running after Peter。 He went back to his work。
麥格雷戈先生無法從窗戶中透過， 並且他也厭煩了到處追著彼得跑。 於是他接著幹他的活去了。
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。
彼得坐了下來休息， 氣喘吁吁地， 害怕的直髮抖， 他確實不知道該怎麼走了。 而且他身上溼乎乎的， 因為之前藏在那個水壺中的緣故。
After a time he began to wander about， going lippity— lippity— not very fast， and looking all around。
過了一會兒， 他又開始四處蹦躂， 蹦的不是很快， 並且還在不停的四處張望著。
He found a door in a wall， but it was locked and there was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath。
他在牆上找到了一扇上了鎖的門， 門下的空間很小， 彼得根本無法擠過去。
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 she could not answer。 She only shook her head at him。 Peter began to cry。
一隻老鼠在石階上進進出出， 正在給她樹林裡的家人送豆子。 彼得問她去大門的路怎麼走， 但她的嘴裡咬著豌豆， 無法回答。 她只是對他搖了搖頭。 然後， 彼得哭了。
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。
之後， 他試圖找到穿過菜園的路， 但是他越來越是困惑。 現在， 他來到了一處池塘， 麥格雷戈先生正在那給水壺裝水。 一隻白色的貓正在非常安靜地坐著， 盯著一些金魚， 但是她的尾巴時不時的扭動著， 看起來好像只有她的尾巴是活的一樣。 彼得認為自己最好還是不要跟她說話， 於是就走開了。
He had heard about cats from his cousin， little Benjamin Bunny。
他從表哥本傑明兔子那裡聽說過貓這種動物。
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。
他又回到了工具棚， 但是突然， 在他附近， 他聽到了些刮擦， 刮擦， 亂撓的聲音。
Peter scuttered underneath the bushes， but presently as nothing happened， he came out and climbed upon a wheelbarrow and peeped over。
彼得嚇得跑進了灌木叢， 但是什麼事也沒有發生。 他從灌木叢中出來後， 爬進了一個手推車， 偷偷的往外看去。
The first thing he saw was Mr。 McGregor hoeing onions。 His back was turned towards Peter and beyond him was the gate！
他看到麥格雷戈先生正在背對著他刨洋蔥， 然後在麥格雷戈先生的遠處， 他看到了他進來時的大門！
Peter got down very quietly off the wheel-barrow and started running as fast as he could go， along a straight walk behind some black currant bushes。
彼得非常小心的下了手推車， 沿著黑醋栗灌木叢後面的一條小路， 開始拼命的跑。
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。
麥格雷戈先生在拐角處看見了他， 但彼得並不關心。 他隨後就從大門下鑽了出去， 最終安全地跑進了菜園之外的樹林中。
Mr。 McGregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scare-crow to frighten the blackbirds。
麥格雷戈先生用彼得的小外套和小鞋子做了一個“稻草人”， 以此用來嚇唬那些黑鸝。
Peter never stopped running or looked behind him， till he got home to the big fir-tree。
彼得不停地奔跑， 全然不顧他的身後， 直到他回到了那棵大樅樹下， 他才停了下來休息。
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。
他太累了， 一屁股坐在了柔軟的土堆上， 然後閉上了他的眼睛。 他的母親正在忙著做飯， 她很好奇他對他的衣服做了什麼。
It was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight！
這已經是彼得在兩週內丟掉的第二件小外套和第二雙小鞋子了！
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 teaspoonful to be taken at bedtime。”
我很抱歉這麼說， 晚上的時候彼得並不怎麼舒服。 他的媽媽把他放到床上， 並煮了些甘菊茶， 然後給他餵了一劑， 並說： “吃了藥就要乖乖睡覺覺。”
But Flopsy， Mopsy and Cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper。
但是弗洛普希， 莫普希， 棉花尾則在晚餐的時候吃了麵包， 牛奶， 還有黑莓。
