It was about the middle of the morning when Peter heard the merry laughter and shouting of children. 当彼得听到孩子们愉快的笑声和叫喊声时，已经过了大半个上午了。

　　From the sound he knew that the children were at the other end of the Old Pasture. 他知道孩子们在老牧场的另一端。

　　When their voices told him that they were coming close to where he was sitting,  他们的声音告诉他，他们正走近他坐的地方时，

　　he thought he would find out who they were and what they were doing. 他认为应该弄清楚他们是谁以及他们在干什么。

　　Peeping out from beneath the briars, Peter saw two boys and a girl. 彼得从荆棘里探出头来，看到两个男孩和一个女孩。

　　In their hands were flowers, and Peter saw that the children were looking for more flowers. 他看到他们手里拿着花，孩子们正在寻找更多的花。

　　He heard the little girl give a cry of delight when she found a patch of beautiful arbutus. 当小女孩发现一片美丽的藤地莓时，他听到她高兴的叫喊声。

　　From where Peter sat, he saw her pull it up, roots and all, and then break off some of the roots. 彼得从坐的地方看到她把它拉起来，连根拔起，然后折掉了一些根。

　　Peter was very angry. 彼得很生气。

　　He knew that the little girl was just thoughtless, 他知道那个小女孩只是粗心大意，

　　but soon there would be no arbutus left, if everyone were thoughtless. 但如果每个人都粗心大意的话，这里很快就不会有藤地莓了。

　　Later he saw one of the boys do just what the little girl had done. 后来，他看到一个男孩做了和小女孩一样的事情。

　　Then he noticed that some of the flowers in their hands were badly wilted. 然后他注意到他们手里的一些花枯萎了。

　　Peter knew how lovely the growing flowers had been, 彼得知道花长得有多可爱，

　　and he could not understand why the children should want these sickly, wilted blossoms. 他不明白孩子们为什么想要这些枯萎的花。

　　But they seemed to want them and to want more, too, for they were hunting everywhere. 但他们似乎想要它们，而且还想要更多，因为他们在到处寻找。

　　Then, Peter suddenly remembered the columbine blossoms. 这时，彼得突然想起了耧斗菜的花。

　　The children would be sure to find them, 孩子们一定会找到它们的，

　　and take not only the blossoms, but the whole plants. 并拿走整株植物，而不单单是花。

　　He must do something about it, and do it quickly. But what could he do? 他必须做点儿什么，并且迅速行动。但是他能做什么呢？

　　All of a sudden Peter remembered how often he had been chased by boys. 突然，彼得想起他经常被男孩子追赶。

　　"I'll have to use my long legs to save the columbine." he said. “我必须用我的长腿来拯救耧斗菜。”他说。

　　Quickly he jumped out into one of the winding paths, and up this path he hopped. 他迅速跳到一条弯曲的小路上，并沿着这条小路跳下去。

　　Just ahead of him he saw one of the boys. Peter stopped. 直到看见前面的一个男孩，他才停了下来。

　　Then he thumped the ground with his long hind feet. 然后他用自己的后长腿重重地踩在地上。

　　The boy heard the thump and turned. 那男孩听到重击声，转过身来。

　　Of course he saw Peter at once. Right then and there he forgot all about the flowers. 当然，他马上看见了彼得。这时，他把花忘得一干二净。

　　"A rabbit!" he shouted. "Here's a rabbit!" “一只兔子，”他喊道，“这里有只兔子。”

　　Then the other little boy and the little girl came runing. 随后，另一个小男孩和小女孩跑了过来。

　　Peter hopped into the bushes at one side and, a little later, ran out of them. 彼得跳到了一边的灌木丛中，过了一会儿，他们跑了出来。

　　Away he went down the path, and hopped into a briar bush. 他沿着小路跳下去，跳进了一丛荆棘中。

　　After him raced the children. 孩子们在后面追着他。

　　They saw him in the bush and tried to drive him out. 他们在灌木丛中看见了他，想把他赶出来。

　　When he saw a good chance, away he went again, lipperty-lip, for another briar bush. 他看到一个好机会，再次离开，跳进了另一丛荆棘中。

　　The excited children followed, but Peter wasn't at all afraid. 孩子们兴奋地跟着，但彼得一点儿也不害怕。

　　It was just a game to him, a game he had often played before. 这对他来说只是一场游戏，他以前经常玩得游戏。

　　And so, little by little, the rabbit led the children far away from where the columbine was growing. 所以，渐渐地，彼得领着孩子们远离了耧斗菜的生长地。

　　Then, when they were quite tired out, 然后，当他们筋疲力尽的时候，

　　Peter hopped back to the little briar bush to watch the columbine blossoms. 彼得跳回了小灌木丛中，去看耧斗菜的花。

　　"Of course you don't know it," he said to them, “你们当然不知道，”他对它们说，

　　"but I saved you with my long heels. “但我用长腿救了你们。

　　Why, oh, why, do people want to destroy such beautiful things?" 为什么，噢，为什么人们要破坏这么漂亮的花呢？”