II. PETER MAKES A FLYING JUMP II. ПЕТРО РОБИТЬ СТРИБОК У ВИСОТУ

To risk your life unless there’s need Is downright foolishness indeed. To risk your life unless there's need Is downright foolishness indeed. Ризикувати своїм життям без необхідності - це справді відверта дурість. 除非有需要，否则冒着生命危险确实是彻头彻尾的愚蠢。

Never forget that. Never do such a crazy thing as Peter Rabbit was doing. What was he doing? Why, he was running the risk of being caught by Reddy Fox all for the sake of a joke. Why, he was running the risk of being caught by Reddy Fox all for the sake of a joke. Did you ever hear of anything more foolish? Yet Peter was no different from a lot of people who every day risk their lives in the most careless and heedless ways just to save a few minutes of time or for some other equally foolish reason. Проте Пітер нічим не відрізнявся від багатьох людей, які щодня ризикують своїм життям у найнедбаліший і найбезглуздіший спосіб, щоб заощадити кілька хвилин часу або з якоїсь іншої, не менш безглуздої причини. The fact is, Peter didn’t stop to think what dreadful thing might happen if his plans didn’t work out as he intended. He didn’t once think of little Mrs. Peter over in the dear Old Briar-patch and how she would feel if he never came home again. That’s the trouble with thoughtlessness; it never remembers other people.

All the time that Reddy Fox was creeping along behind the old stone wall on the edge of the Old Orchard, Peter knew just where he was, though Reddy didn’t know that. Увесь час, поки Лис Редді скрадався за старою кам'яною стіною на краю Старого Саду, Пітер точно знав, де він знаходиться, хоча Лис Редді цього не знав. If he had known it, he would have suspected one of Peter’s tricks. Якби він знав про це, то запідозрив би один із трюків Пітера.

"He’ll peep over that wall, and just as soon as he sees me, he will feel sure that this time he will catch me," thought Peter. "Він зазирне через стіну, і як тільки побачить мене, буде впевнений, що цього разу він мене спіймає", - подумав Пітер. "He will steal along to that place where the wall is lowest and will jump over it right there. I must be ready to jump the very second he does." It all happened just as Peter had expected. While seeming to be paying no attention to anything but to Sammy Jay, he kept his eyes on that low place in the old wall, and presently he saw Reddy’s sharp nose, as Reddy peeped over to make sure that he was still there. While seeming to be paying no attention to anything but to Sammy Jay, he kept his eyes on that low place in the old wall, and presently he saw Reddy's sharp nose, as Reddy peeped over to make sure that he was still there. The instant that sharp nose dropped out of sight, Peter made ready to run for his life. A second later, Reddy leaped over the wall, and Peter was off as hard as he could go, with Reddy almost at his heels. Секундою пізніше Редді перестрибнув через стіну, і Пітер помчав щодуху, а Редді майже наступав йому на п'яти. Sammy Jay, who had been so busy calling Peter names that he hadn’t seen Reddy at all, forgot all about his quarrel with Peter. Семмі Джей, який був так зайнятий тим, що обзивав Пітера, що зовсім не бачив Редді, зовсім забув про свою сварку з Пітером.

"Go it, Peter! Go it!" he screamed excitedly. збуджено вигукнув він. That was just like Sammy. Прямо як Семмі.

Peter did go it. He had to. He ran with all his might. Reddy grinned as he saw Peter start towards the Green Meadows. Редді посміхнувся, побачивши, як Пітер попрямував до Зелених Лугів. It was a long way to the dear Old Briar-patch, and Reddy didn’t have any doubt at all that he would catch Peter before he got there. До омріяної Старої Шипшини була довга дорога, і Редді не мав жодного сумніву, що він наздожене Пітера ще до того, як той туди дістанеться. He watched sharply for Peter to dodge and try to get back to the old stone wall. Він пильно стежив за тим, як Петро ухиляється і намагається повернутися до старої кам'яної стіни. He didn’t mean to let Peter do that. But Peter didn’t even try. He ran straight for the edge of the hill above the Green Meadows. Then, for the first time, Reddy noticed an old barrel there lying on its side.

"I wonder if he thinks he can hide in that," thought Reddy, and grinned again, for he remembered that he had passed that old barrel a few days before, and that one end was open while the other end was closed. "Цікаво, чи він думає, що зможе в ній сховатися", - подумав Редді і знову посміхнувся, бо згадав, що кілька днів тому проходив повз цю стару бочку, і що один її кінець був відкритий, а інший - закритий. "If he tries that, I will get him without the trouble of much of a chase," thought Reddy, and chuckled. Lipperty-lipperty-lip ran Peter, lipperty-lipperty-lip, Reddy right at his heels! Губки-губки-губки біг Пітер, губки-губки-губки, а Редді йому по п'ятах! To Sammy Jay it looked as if in a few more jumps Reddy certainly would catch Peter. "Go it, Peter! Oh, go it! Go it!" screamed Sammy, for in spite of his quarrels with Peter, he didn’t want to see him come to any real harm.

Just as he reached the old barrel, Reddy was so close to him that Peter was almost sure that he could feel Reddy’s breath. Коли він підійшов до старої бочки, Редді був так близько до нього, що Пітер був майже впевнений, що відчуває його дихання. Then Peter made a splendid flying jump right over the old barrel and kept on down the hill, lipperty-lipperty-lip, as fast as ever he could, straight for an old house of Johnny Chuck’s of which he knew. Тоді Пітер зробив чудовий стрибок прямо над старою бочкою і понісся вниз по схилу пагорба так швидко, як тільки міг, прямо до старого будинку Джонні Чака, про який він знав. When he reached it, he turned to see what was happening behind him, for he knew by the screaming of Sammy Jay and by other sounds that a great deal was happening. Дійшовши до нього, він обернувся, щоб подивитися, що відбувається позаду, бо з криків Семмі Джея та інших звуків зрозумів, що там відбувається щось дуже серйозне. In fact, he suspected that the joke which he had planned was working out just as he had hoped it would. Насправді він підозрював, що задуманий ним жарт спрацював саме так, як він і сподівався.