First edition cover
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904. The book is a sequel to The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902), and tells of Peter's return to Mr. McGregor's garden with his cousin Benjamin to retrieve the clothes he lost there during his previous adventure.
PLOT[]
When Mr. McGregor and his wife leave home in their gig, Benjamin Bunny and his cousin Peter Rabbit venture into Mr. McGregor's garden to retrieve the clothes Peter lost there in The Tale of Peter Rabbit. They find the blue jacket and brown shoes on a scarecrow, but Peter is apprehensive about lingering in the garden because of his previous experience. Benjamin delays their departure by gathering onions, which he wraps in Peter's handkerchief, hoping to give them to his aunt, Peter's mother. He then takes a casual stroll around the garden, followed by an increasingly nervous Peter.
Rounding a corner, they see a cat and hide under a basket, but the cat then sits on top of the basket for hours, trapping the pair. Benjamin's father enters the garden looking for his son. He drives the cat from the basket and locks her in the greenhouse, frees Benjamin and Peter, and punishes them for going to Mr. McGregor's garden (by whipping them with a switch he had brought). (In the 1992-1995 TV series --TV adaptation-- he says --to Peter and Benjamin-- "AND LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT THIS DOESN'T HURT ME MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU!". That is, before whipping them with the switch. When he takes Peter home, he tells both Peter and Benjamin that they must "stop and think perhaps".) Once home, Peter gives the onions to his mother, who forgives his adventure because he has recovered his jacket and shoes. Following his return, Mr. McGregor is puzzled by the scarecrow's missing clothes and the cat locked in the greenhouse. In the end, Cotton Tail and Peter helped their mother by folding up the pocket handkerchief. And Old Mrs. Bunny (their mother) strung up the onions and the rabbit tobacco.