On December 16, 1901, Beatrix Potter published the sad, sad “Tale of Peter Rabbit”. This was the story of a young, juvenile delinquent buck who caused his widowed mother nothing but grief because of his vegetable thieving ways. Mrs. Rabbit and her four children lived next door to the hard-working and fine, upstanding gentleman farmer, Mr. McGregor. Mr. McGregor had asked Mrs. Rabbit to talk to her children, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter to stay out of his garden, as he was growing crops to help fight the Boers in South Africa. The three older sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail were obedient, good does and readily agreed. But Peter was a little, chain-smoking hoodlum and would sneak over to McGregor’s garden and steal as much of the vegetables as he could carry and sell them to pay for his hashish addiction. Finally, McGregor had no choice but to shoot Peter Rabbit, when he found the drugged-out bunny rampaging through his garden. Mrs. Rabbit and her daughters were very sad, but understood why it had to be done and even gave McGregor Peter’s body for his supper, to make up for the damage he had caused. So, children, remember, delinquent bunnies who do hashish always come to a bad end, just like Peter Hashenpfeffer Rabbit.
This seems like a version of “Peter Rabbit” that Gregory Maguire might’ve written. Share this post, if you’re waiting for the musical.