The Tale of Peter Rabbit
彼得兔的故事
Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were—
Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.
从前有四只小兔子，他们叫弗洛普西、莫普西、绵尾和彼得。
They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir tree.
他们和妈妈就住在一棵大杉树根下的沙洞里。
“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.”
一天早上兔妈妈说：“宝贝们，你们可以去田野里或是沿着小路玩，但千万不要去麦克雷格先生家的菜园，你们的父亲就是在那儿出事的，他被麦克格雷夫人做成了馅饼。现在出去玩吧，别淘气。我要出门了。”
Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, to the baker's. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns.
兔妈妈拿上篮子和伞，穿过树林，去了面包店。她买了一条黑面包和五个葡萄干小面包。
Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries;
弗洛普西、莫普西、绵尾都是听话的小兔子，他们沿着小路去摘黑莓。但是淘气的彼得却径直跑到了麦克雷格先生家的菜园，从门下钻了进去。
But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor's garden and squeezed under the gate!
他先吃了些生菜和四季豆，接着又吃了些小萝卜。
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.
然后他不太舒服，又去找欧芹吃。
But round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he meet but Mr. McGregor!
但是在黄瓜架尽头的拐角处，他撞见了一个人，正是麦克雷格先生！
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! ”
麦克雷格先生正跪在地上移植卷心菜，看见彼得后立刻跳起来追彼得，手里挥舞着耙子，大喊“别跑，小偷！”
Peter was most dreadfully frightened; he rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate.
彼得吓坏了，由于忘记了回大门的路，他在菜园里发足狂奔。
He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages, and the other shoe amongst the potatoes.
他在卷心菜地里丢了一只鞋，在土豆地里丢了另外一只鞋。
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. It was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new.
丢了鞋的彼得用四条腿反倒跑得更快。要不是运气不好撞进刺梅丛，我看他可能就跑掉了。他穿着一件崭新的蓝色夹克，夹克上的大铜扣还被树丛钩住了。
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.
彼得因为迷路难过极了，大滴的眼泪流了出来。几只友好的麻雀听到了他的哭泣声，叽叽喳喳飞到他身边要他振作起来。
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.
这时麦克雷格拿着一个筛子冲了过来，他想把筛子扣到彼得头上。彼得及时逃掉了，但是丢下了他的夹克。
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.
彼得冲进了工具房，跳进了一个罐子里。要是罐子里没那么多水，藏在里面倒也挺好。
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.
麦克雷格确信彼得就藏在工具房里，也许就藏在花盆下面。他开始把花盆一个一个翻起来，仔细查看彼得是否在下面。
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.
这时彼得正好打了个喷嚏——“啊啾”——麦克雷格听到了，马上就来追他。麦克雷格伸脚去踩彼得，彼得从窗户跳了出去，他还打翻了三盆花。窗户太小了，麦克雷格一时追不出来，他也不愿再费劲追彼得，就回去干自己的活了。
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.
彼得坐下休息，他跑得上气不接下气，怕得浑身发抖，也完全不知道该往哪走。刚才藏在罐子里时，他全身都湿透了。
After a time he began to wander about, going lippity — lippity — not very fast, and looking all around.
歇了一会儿，彼得开始四处张望，蹑手蹑脚地找出去的路。
He found a door in a wall; but it was locked, and there was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath.
他发现一面墙上有一扇门，但门上了锁。门下缝很小，胖彼得钻不过去。
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 that she could not answer. She only shook her head at him. Peter began to cry.
一只老鼠在石头台阶上进进出出，忙着往树林里的家搬豆子。彼得问她出门的路，她嘴里叼着一大颗豆子没法回答彼得。她只是冲彼得摇摇头。彼得又哭了。
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; he had heard about cats from his cousin, little Benjamin Bunny.
彼得想找到穿过菜园的路，但他越转越迷。此时，他来到了池塘边，麦克雷格先生在给水罐灌水。一只白色的小猫盯着金鱼看，她坐在那一动不动，可她的尾巴不时地抖动，就像活的一样。彼得想，最好不要和她说话。他听他堂兄小兔本杰明说过猫不好打交道。
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!
他又朝工具房跑回去。突然，在离他很近的地方，他听到锄地的声音，咔哧，咔嚓。但片刻后又没声了，他又跑出来，爬上了一辆手推车，向周围望去。他先看到麦克雷格在锄洋葱。他的后背对着彼得，大门就在他前面！
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.
彼得悄悄从手推车上下来，能跑多快就跑多快，径直从刺梅丛后跑了过去。
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.
在拐角处，麦克雷格看到了彼得，但彼得不在乎了。他从大门下钻了出去，最后终于离开菜园，安全地跑回了树林。
Mr. McGregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scare-crow to frighten the blackbirds.
麦克雷格把彼得的小夹克和鞋子挂在稻草人身上，用来吓唬乌鸦。
Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big fir-tree.
彼得一刻不停地往回跑，头也没回地一直跑回了大杉树下的家。
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!
彼得太累了，到了兔窝就一屁股躺在柔软的沙子上，闭上了眼睛。他的妈妈正忙着做饭。她很疑惑彼得的衣服去哪了。短短两个星期内，这是彼得第二次丢了夹克和鞋子。
