Hi, everyone and welcome back to Britain Under the Microscope. 歡迎回來【閑話英倫】. Hi, 安瀾.

Hi Lulu, hi everyone.

So what are we gonna talk about today?

I know it was a little bit strange, but I thought we would talk about the most famous rabbit in Britain.

Famous rabbit in Britain?

Yes.

I don't know any British rabbits, I know Bugs Bunny, I know that's American. And I also know that rabbit, that really cute rabbit in the Secret Life of pets. So, what is ...

Peter Rabbit!

Oh, Beatrix Potter.

Yes! So we can talk a little bit about Beatrix Potter.

Why do I sound British?

I don't know. Well, you didn't actually.

大家可能看到有一個彼得兔，就好像是brown對吧? He is brown, he is brown furred, I don't know, with like a jacket?

Yeah.

彼得兔.

So today I thought we talked a little bit about Beatrix Potter.

The one who created Peter Rabbit.

The one who created Peter Rabbit.

Is that something, is that like a household name, like every British person knows?

Every British person knows Beatrix Potter and they probably also know or read some of her books. She's been around for over a century and she was incredibly famous and she still is.

So it's kind of like a cultural icon.

It's a cultural icon. Beatrix Potter was born in July, 1866 in London. She grew up in a really wealthy family and had a very privileged childhood.

Yeah, even the rabbits she created had, like jackets.

Exactly, as a child, Beatrix loved to draw and paint and she had many pets, including rabbits, mice and frogs...

Hang on. Mice? Who would keep mice as pets?

Some people do.

Okay.

She loved to sketch them. She never actually went to school. Her parents were really rich, so they hired private tutors for her. But Beatrix Potter mostly taught herself and she liked to study art and nature.

Hence the anthropomorphized rabbits.

Hence her books. So Beatrix’s love for animals, nature led her to write stories and her most famous character is Peter Rabbit.

I've never read any of the books. Was it that like kind of like those illustrated books or was it actual novel for kids?

These were very small books, very small stories with really pretty pictures.

有點像繪本那種.

And in 1902 she published the Tale of Peter Rabbit, and that was based on her own rabbit.

That is cute. I would love to write a book about my cat.

I don't think it would sell. I've met your cat. Now Peter Rabbit is a mischievous little rabbit who loves to explore Mr. McGregor’s garden.

Mr. McGregor is just a character in the book.

Is a character in the book who doesn't like rabbits. So, I thought I could read the first part of The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Once upon a time, there were four little rabbits and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter.

It's so weird, why would Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail play with Peter?

They were together with their family.

No, I mean, because they sound very different.

You don't know this. They are rabbits may be different father.

But Peter is just a human name.

Yeah. Do you want me to tell the story or not?

Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail...

And Peter.

I'm sorry. 戳中我的笑點. All right!

They lived with their mother in a sandbag underneath the root of a very big fir tree. “Now my dears,” said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning. “You may go into the fields or down the lane but don't go into Mr. McGregor’s garden.”

I see Mr. McGregor, here is the villain in this.

Your father had an accident there. He was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.

That's very dark for a children's book.

Now run along and don't get into mischief. I'm going out.

And also why is the mother called Mrs. Rabbit? Does she not have a name?

This is her name, Mrs. Rabbit.

I'm sorry. This is like, what's your mom's name? No, my mom's name is Mom.

Why don't we take one of the childhood stories that you loved when you were a kid and tear it apart?

Sorry. So it's one of those very typical children's book setup, little animals, which essentially, kids can identify with. They go on adventures.

So Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated many more stories including characters like Jemima Puddle-Duck, Squirrel Nutkin and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle .

Yeah. She really does sound like a writer for children's books. Jemima Puddle-Duck, which I'm assuming is a duck. Squirrel Nutkin is a squirrel that hides nuts? And Mrs Tiggy-Winkle? Don't know what that is.

I can't remember. I think it's a hedgehog, I think, I can't remember.

Yeah, sounds also very British.

But she was actually a very good business woman. She invented merchandise.

The merch, 周邊。

So she was the first person to have merch and she designed Peter Rabbit wallpaper and jigsaw puzzles.

She designed them?

She designed them and she sold them.

Maybe we should start designing like 安瀾facemasks. Anlan &. Lulu jigsaw puzzles and sell it as merch.

I don't think anyone would buy that. Not even my mother would buy that.

I see, but that is a very smart idea because I think most people if our audience have seen Peter Rabbits is going to be in these merch, I doubt very much many of our audience actually have read the book or read the stories.

But she didn't use the money for herself. She was actually a famous conservationist.

Conservationist, kind of an environmentalist.

She used the money she earned from her books and her merch to buy farmland in English countryside...

And raise Rabbits?

No, she wanted to preserve an area called the Lake District.

That's very famous in Britain.

Very famous, very beautiful.

湖區(qū)。

And she helped to protect the landscape and the wildlife there.

So basically she set up a like a foundation.

She set up a foundation and much of the land she purchased is managed now by the National Trust. You can't build on it. It has to be preserved.

That is very nice. I mean, to have that kind of influence and then also to use that influence for good...

Exactly, yeah. She died in 1943. Now another reason why I chose Beatrix Potter is because I got a bit of a personal connection. I got a bit of a love of Peter Rabbit. The reason for that is my primary school was actually called Beatrix Potter.

Was your school uniform Peter Rabbit?

It was. We had to wear a sweater or we had to wear a T-shirt that had Peter Rabbit.

That is, I'm so jealous, you know, that would have killed for wearing some sort of really like cartoon character.

No, that was our school uniform Peter Rabbit in his little jacket.

And little 安瀾 is in his little jacket.

Exactly.

I bet kids were really proud to wear that.

They were, they were. I think I still got the sweater somewhere. It's a bit too small for me now.

All right. And on that note, we wrap up this little nostalgia, this little nostalgic episode for 安瀾. Thank you for sharing that with us. I know it's a really minor topic, but it certainly put a smile on my face.

Exactly. And I hope that you all enjoyed it as well. So if you have any questions, let us know in the comment section.

Thank you, 安瀾 for coming to the show.

Thanks, everyone. Thanks, Lulu.

We'll see you next time.

Bye.

Bye.