小兔本杰明

《小兔本杰明的故事》（The Tale of Benjamin Bunny）是一本由毕雅翠丝•波特(Beatrix Potter)撰写的童书，最早是在1904年9月由Frederick Warne & Co.出版社发行。这本书算是波特小姐于1902年所出版《彼得兔的故事》（The Tale of Peter Rabbit）的续集。内容是在描述彼得兔跟他的表哥本杰明一起回到麦克格莱高先生（Mr. McGregor）的菜园，想要找回上次彼得兔掉在这里的夹克跟鞋子。相较于《彼得兔的故事》，波特小姐对于兔子世界做出更深入的描述。这是一个平行于人类社会的完整兔子社会。

1903年，波特小姐和她的出版社讨论之后，决定下一本童书要让幼童能够更容易阅读。这本书主要描述的场景是位于湖区(Lake District)的Fawe园，1903年波特小姐在此度过她的夏日时光。除了对于书的开头与结尾很在意之外，波特小姐尤其坚持书的最后一个词必须是“兔子烟草”（rabbit-tobacco），因为这个词是来自于她所景仰的文坛前辈乔尔‧钱德勒‧哈里斯 (Joel Chandler Harris)于1879年所写的《雷摩大叔》(Uncle Remus) 。

《小兔本杰明的故事》立刻就造成轰动，而且在1904年年底就印制了数千本。

泰晤士報文學增刊 (Times Literary Supplement)除了形容波特小姐的故事栩栩如生(pencil perfect) ， 也建議波特小姐可以找一個文字助理為日後的創作而準備。波特小姐用托兒所的壁紙來描繪出班傑明的形象。而後來在《佛洛普西的小兔們的故事》（The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies）與《托德先生的故事》(The Tale of Mr. Tod)中，班傑明則已經變成一隻成熟的兔子了。1992年，《小兔班傑明的故事》也被改編進英國國家廣播公司(BBC)所製作的卡通影集《彼得兔的世界》中。

故事背景

1901年，波特小姐自费出版了第一本《彼得兔的故事》。1902年，Frederick Warne & Co.出版社进行了商业发行，市场反应非常热烈。1904年，波特小姐完成了续集《小兔本杰明的故事》。之后又分别在1909年与1912年出版了《佛洛普西的小兔们的故事》和《托德先生的故事》。由这些故事所组成的兔子大长篇都是启发自美国文学家乔尔‧钱德勒‧哈里斯 (Joel Chandler Harris)于1879年所写的《雷摩大叔》(Uncle Remus) 。纵使波特小姐没有办法将哈里斯的特色套用在英格兰的乡村花园上，她仍然试着将这位美国作家对兔子走路的脚步声“lippity-clippity, clippity-lippity”，转成彼得兔故事中的英式状声词“lippity-lippity”。并且在《小兔本杰明的故事》与《托德先生的故事》中使用“兔子烟草”一词(其实就是薰衣草) 。虽然如此，彼得兔故事的特色跟哈里斯的布雷尔兔(Br'er Rabbit)却是完全不同的。布雷尔兔是靠着机智狡诈取胜，而本杰明跟彼得兔则是纯凭运气。此外，波特小姐笔下的兔子世界也是远比哈里斯所描绘的来得欢愉许多。

故事情节

当麦克格莱高先生（Mr. McGregor）和他的妻子坐着马车离开家之后，本杰明和他的表弟彼得兔展开了他们的冒险行程。他们想要帮彼得兔找回在《彼得兔的故事》丢掉的衣服。当他们发现衣服是在稻草人身上时，彼得兔却因为上一次冒险的经验而犹豫是否要进去花园中。本杰明因为要摘一些洋葱，所以把出发的时间往后延。他把这些洋葱放入彼得兔的手帕之后，他开始在花园内任意地蹓达。而跟在他身后的彼得兔则是开始紧张兮兮起来。

当他们经过转角的时候，他们发现有一只猫在那边，所以他们躲进一个篮子里面。想不到这只猫后来就跑到篮子上面，而把本杰明跟彼得兔困住了好几个钟头。本杰明的父亲因为本杰明不见了，所以跑进花园找他的儿子。他把这只猫从篮子上赶下来，并且把猫关进温室里面。本杰明跟彼得兔也因此而重获自由。 一回到家，彼得兔就赶紧把洋葱交给妈妈。而彼得兔的妈妈也因为彼得兔找回了他的衣服而原谅他这一次的冒险活动。反而是麦克格莱高先生回家之后，对于稻草人的衣服不见了以及他的猫咪为什么被锁在温室里面，一直百思不得其解。[3]

作品出版

In July 1903, Potter suggested to her publisher Frederick Warne & Co. that the book to follow The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and The Tailor of Gloucester ought to be something less complex than the two previous productions. She had several possible stories in mind and outlined them for the firm, but was anxious to settle on a choice as quickly as possible to guide her sketching while on holiday. It was decided between Potter and her publisher that one of the two books for 1904 would be Benjamin Bunny.[4][5] Benjamin Bunny had been mentioned in the manuscript of the privately printed edition of Peter Rabbit but had been dropped as irrelevant to the tale. A picture of his father was included in the private edition although he has no part in the story.[6]

Potter was sensitive to the beginnings and endings of her books and usually avoided the conventional at those key places. The publisher did not like the Benjamin Bunny ending, but she refused to alter it to their suggested "happily ever after" because such an ending in her estimation was "rather trite" and "inexact". She suggested the last paragraph as it now appears in the book with the comment, "I would like the book to end with the word 'rabbit-tobacco', it is a rather fine word."[7] She rewrote several other passages including twice rewriting the passage depicting Mr. McGregor's discovery of the cat locked in the greenhouse.[8] Summering at Fawe Park in Keswick, Cumbria with her parents, Potter filled her sketchbook with pictures of the estate's several gardens including the kitchen garden and its greenhouses, cold frames, potting shed, and espaliered fruit trees. Her father photographed Fawe Park and Potter probably used his photographs (or her own) as an aid in her work.[9] The picture of Old Mr. Bunny attacking the cat did not satisfy her publisher, and she redrew it as she did the picture of Benjamin and Peter standing on the garden wall.[10] In Peter Rabbit, Mr. McGregor's garden was in Perthshire, but in Benjamin Bunny, the rabbit clan and the garden setting were moved to the Lake District, where they remained for The Tale of Mr. Tod, the final book of the Peter Rabbit saga.[11] During her London winter,[5] Potter developed her work, and, by the middle of June 1904, Benjamin Bunny was almost finished.[12] Many of the sketches from her Fawe Park holiday were little altered in their migration to the book,[13] and, upon completion of the work, Potter declared she was relieved to be finished with the rabbits.[14] The book was dedicated to "the children of Sawrey from old Mr. Bunny".[12][15] Beginnings and endings of tales were important to Potter and she specified Benjamin Bunny was to end with the words, "rabbit tobacco" – a term from Uncle Remus she had made her own.[12] Twenty thousand copies were published and released in September 1904. Within a month, reprints were ordered, and another ten thousand copies were printed at year's end. Much to her embarrassment, Potter realized "muffettees" (a muff worn at the wrist) was misspelled, but the error was not corrected until the third printing.[16]

书中插图

波特小姐借来一只猫[17]，然后又带了一只宠物兔来Fawe园当她的模特儿。她在写给Warne的信中提到她为了绘图进行的周详准备：“我想我已经完成了所有想像得到的兔子生活背景与相关物品的素描，总共大约有七十种这么多！我希望你会喜欢它们，虽然还蛮潦草的。”不论潦草与否，卷首插图上画得唯妙唯肖的洋葱和红色康乃馨就是一个最好的注解。 The illustrations communicate her obvious appreciation and love for the humble pots, onions, and flowers of the garden. Many of the objects in the illustrations – the gate, the potting shed, the wall – have changed little over the years and are recognizable today from her illustrations.[18] Aware the type of story she was writing was set primarily in colours of fawn, brown, and soft green, Potter wrote that, "the (red) handkerchief will make a good bit of colour all through the book.

批评指教

The tale was well received by the Scotsman,[16] but The Times Literary Supplement was not entirely enthusiastic: Among the little books that have become as much a manifestation of autumn as falling leaves, one looks first for whatever Miss Beatrix Potter gives ... In her new book ... although there is no diminution in the charm and drollery of the drawings, Miss Potter's fancy is not what it was. The story is inconclusive. Next year we think she must call in a literary assistant. We have no hestitation in calling her pencil perfect.[1] Potter biographer Linda Lear notes that none of the rabbit books subsequent to Peter Rabbit appealed to Potter with the passion she experienced for the original, but, in Benjamin Bunny, she successfully wrote a simple, didactic tale for very young children that was less complicated than The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and The Tailor of Gloucester. Benjamin Bunny however lacked the vitality of her previous efforts because it was made to order rather than allowed to flower from a picture letter to real children in the manner of Peter Rabbit and Squirrel Nutkin. The weak story line of Benjamin Bunny is evidence of her dwindling interest in continuing the Peter Rabbit saga, but the book displays a delight in place, a deep understanding of rabbit anatomy and behaviour, and beautifully miniaturized illustrations of vegetable gardens. Benjamin Bunny presented demands upon Potter she had not encountered in her previous three tales. She had depleted all her sketchbook backgrounds in the production of the other tales and was forced to create new ones, but the greatest challenge to Potter's artistry was consciously working to satisfy both her publisher's demand for another commercial success and her public's expectation of a tale as delightful as her others while labouring under the pressure to produce a sequel to a work of genius.[20]

后续发展

在波特小姐出版《小兔本杰明的故事》之后不久，本杰明变成波特小姐所设计的托儿所壁纸上的故事主题。本杰明跟彼得兔在1905年出版的《提姬.温克尔太太的故事》（The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle）曾经客串演出，然后在1909年与1912年的《佛洛普西的小兔们的故事》和《托德先生的故事》中，以成熟兔子的角色重新登场。

1992年，这个故事被改编进英国国家广播公司(BBC)所制作的卡通影集《彼得兔的世界》中。而本杰明也曾经在《托德先生的故事》、《佛洛普西的小兔们的故事》与《小不点鼠太太的故事》（The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse）中出现。