PETER RABBIT ALMOST DECIDES TO RETURN HOME
I have no doubt that you've been told
How timid folks are sometimes bold.
Peter Rabbit.
In all his life Peter Rabbit had never been so disappointed. Here he was
in the Old Pasture, about which he had dreamed and thought so long, and
in reaching which he had had such a narrow escape from Hooty the Owl,
and yet he was unhappy. The fact is, Peter was more unhappy than he
could remember ever to have been before. Not only was he unhappy, but
he was in great fear, and the worst of it was he was in fear of an enemy
who could go wherever he could go himself.
You see, it was this way: Peter had expected to find some enemies in the
Old Pasture. He had felt quite sure that fierce old Mr. Goshawk was to
be watched for, and perhaps Mr. Redtail and one or two others of the
Hawk family. He knew that Granny and Reddy Fox had lived there once upon
a time and might come back if things got too unpleasant for them on
the Green Meadows, now that Old Man Coyote had made his home there. But
Peter didn't worry about any of these dangers. He was used to them, was
Peter. He had been dodging them ever since he could remember, A friendly
bramble-bush, a little patch of briars, or an old stone wall near was
all that Peter needed to feel perfectly safe from these enemies, But
now he was in danger wherever he went, for he had an enemy who could
go everywhere he could, and it seemed to Peter that this enemy was
following him all the time. Who was it? Why, it was a great big old
Rabbit with a very short temper, who, because he had lived there for
a long time, felt that he owned the Old Pasture and that Peter had no
right there.
Now, In spite of all his trouble, Peter had seen enough of the Old
Pasture to think it a very wonderful place, a very wonderful place
indeed. He had seen just enough to want to see more. You know how very
curious Peter is. It seemed to him that he just couldn't go back to the
dear Old Briar-patch on the Green Meadows until he had seen everything
to be seen in the Old Pasture. So he couldn't make up his mind to go
back home, but stayed and stayed, hoping each day that the old gray
Rabbit would get tired of hunting for him, and would let him alone.
But the old gray Rabbit didn't do anything of the kind. He seemed to
take the greatest delight in waiting until Peter thought that he had
found a corner of the Old Pasture where he would be safe, and then in
stealing there when Peter was trying to take a nap, and driving him out.
Twice Peter had tried to fight, but the old gray Rabbit was too big for
him. He knocked all the wind out of poor Peter with a kick from his big
hind legs, and then with his sharp teeth he tore Peter's coat.
Poor Peter! His coat had already been badly torn by the cruel claws of
Hooty the Owl, and Old Mother Nature hadn't had time to mend it when he
fought with the old gray Rabbit. After the second time Peter didn't try
to fight again. He just tried to keep out of the way. And he did, too.
But in doing it he lost so much sleep and he had so little to eat that
he grew thin and thin and thinner, until, with his torn clothes, he
looked like a scarecrow.
And still he hated to give in
When there was still so much to see.
“Persistence, I was taught, will win,
And so I will persist,” said he.
And he did persist day after day, until at last he felt that he really
must give it up. He had stretched out wearily on a tiny sunning-bank in
the farthest corner of the Old Pasture, and had just about made up his
mind that he would go back that very night to the dear Old Briar-patch
on the Green Meadows, when a tiny rustle behind him made him jump to his
feet with his heart in his mouth. But instead of the angry face of the
old gray Rabbit he saw--what do you think? Why, two of the softest,
gentlest eyes peeping at him from behind a big fern.