The Tale of Benjamin Bunny

Hello,

Hello!

My name is Jessica Amos and I am here today to read to you the tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter.

This is such a cute and sweet little story.

This book was written a very long time ago.

It was written in 1904,

Which is a hundred and twenty years ago.

Such a cute little book.

So,

Thank you so much for being here with me today.

I invite you to get really comfortable.

Blankets,

Pillows,

Get all cozy and just settle in for a nice little story time.

Okay,

Here we go.

The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter.

One morning,

A little rabbit sat on a bank.

He pricked his ears and listened,

Trip-trop,

Trip-trop,

To the sound of a pony.

A gig was coming along the road.

It was driven by Mr.

McGregor and beside him sat Mrs.

McGregor in her bonnet.

As soon as they had passed,

Little Benjamin slid down into the road and set off with a hop,

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 nearest sandiest hole of all lived Benjamin's aunt and his cousins,

Flopsy,

Mopsy,

Cottontail,

And Peter.

Old Mrs.

Rabbit was a widow.

She earned her living by knitting rabbit wool mittens and muffatees.

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 around 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,

Cottontail,

Cottontail,

Fetch some more chamomile.

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 out 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.

There's a little scarecrow.

The tam-o-shanter is a hat.

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 he had as the bed below was newly raked and quite soft.

It had been sewn with lettuce.

They left a great many odd little foot marks all over the bed especially little Benjamin who was wearing clogs.

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.

Here they are.

Here's the tam-o-shanter,

The hat and we got Peter's clothes back.

Benjamin on the contrary was perfectly at home and ate a lettuce 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.

Peter's having a hard time.

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 toward the other end of the garden.

They went along a little walk on planks under a sunny red brick wall.

The mice sat on their doorsteps cracking cherry stones.

They winked at Peter and little Benjamin Bunny.

Presently Peter let the pocket handkerchief go again.

Keeps dropping handkerchief.

They are going through the garden.

They got amongst flower pots and frames and tubs.

Peter heard noises worse than ever.

His eyes were as big as lollipops.

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

This is what those little rabbits saw around 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 underneath a large basket.

Oh look what they what they ran into.

They ran into a cat.

Sleeping cat.

They're hiding under a basket.

The cat got up and stretched himself and came and sniffed at the basket.

Perhaps she liked the smell of onions.

Anyway she sat down upon the top of the basket and 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 mortar fell from the wall above.

The cat looked up and saw old Mr.

Benjamin Bunny prancing along the top of the wall in the upper terrace.

He was smoking his pipe of rabbit tobacco which we call lavender and he had a little switch in his hand.

He was looking for his son.

There's the cat sitting on the basket.

Old Benjamin Bunny looking for his son who's under the basket.

Old Mr.

Bunny had no opinion whatever of cats.

He took a tremendous jump off the top of the wall on top of the cat and cuffed it off the basket and kicked it into the greenhouse scuffing 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.

Then he took out his nephew Peter.

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

There he is jumping on the cat saving his kids.

When Mr.

McGregor returned about half an hour later he observed several things which perplexed him.

It looked as though some person had been walking all over the garden in a pair of clogs only the foot marks 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 it from 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.

Cottontail 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.

There it is confused Mr.

Farmer McGregor on here they are safely home.

The end.

Thank you so much for being here with me for reading this book with me is such a back to listen as many times as you want until next time may you stay with yourself today and always.