Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1878-04-30
Hares and Easter Eggs.


HareS and Easter Eggs
| 1t would be difficult to explain whenc
came the notion that 1.-THE hares Law th
Easter eggs" Queer hares they mus
be, indeed, but German children believ
1t as devoutly as they do that th
"Christkind" brings their Christina
presents, or as our own little ones do /,
Santa Claus. No one knows exactl,
whence came this myth. Many thinI
it a relic of heathen worship; but a wri
ter named Christoph Won Schmid, il
an interesting story for children, sug
gests this much prettier origin:
Many hundred years ago a good and
noble lady, Duchess Rosilinda Won Lin.
| denburg, at time when cruel war
was devastating the land, was Obliged
to fly from her beautiful home in Ger
many, accompanied only by her two
children and one cid man-servant.
They found refuge in small mining
village in the mountains, where tho
simple but contented and happy inhabi-
tants did what they could for their COM
fort, and placed the best of all thew had
at the disposal of the wanderers. New
ertheless, their face was miserable: no
meat was ever to be found, seldom fish.
and not even an egg; this last for the
very good reason that there was not a
single hen in the viliagel These useful
domestic fowls, now so common everv-
where, were originally brought from the
East. and had not yet found their wav
to this secluded place. The people had
not even heard of such ''strange birds. -
This troubled the kind duchess. who
well knew the great help they are in
housekeeping, and she determined that
the women who had been so kind to her
should no longer be without them.
Accordingly, the next time she sent
forth her faithful old servant to try and
gather news of his master and the pro-
gfeas of the war. she commissioned him
to bring back with him a coop full of
fowls. This he did, to the great surprise
OF the simple natives, and the village
chlldren were greatly excited few
weeks later at theappearance of brood
OF young chickens. They were so pref
y ana bright, were covered with such
q SOFT down, Were so open-eyed, and
could run about after their mother to
PICK up food the very first day, and
were altogether such a contrast to the
niind, bald, dnaedged, helpless, ugly lit
tie o!rds they sometimes saw in nests in
the hedges that they could not find
words enough to express their admira-
ton.
Ihe good lady now saved up eggs for
some time, then invited all the house
wives of the village to feast, when she
t0y
OF ways. She then taught them how
to prepare them for themselves, and.
distributing number of fowls among
them, sent the danes home grateful and
happy.
When Easter approached she was anx-
lous to arrange some pleasure for the
village children, but had nothing to give
them, mot even an apple or a nut,n
only some eggs; but that, she concluded,
was, after all, an appropriate Offering,
"as an egg is the first gift of the reviy-
| ing spring.. And then it occurred to
her to boil them with moses and roots
that would give them q variety of bril-
liant celors, las the earth,n said she.
"has just laid aside her white mantle,
and decorated herself with many colors !;
for the dear Ged makes the fruits and
berries not only good to eat, but also
pleasant to look upon" and the chill.
dren's pleasure would be all the greater.
Accordingly, on Sunday, after the
church service, all the little ones of
about the age of her OWN met together
in garden, and when their kind hostess
had talked to them awhile she led them
into ? sInal neighboring wood. There
she told them to make nests of moss,
and advised each to mark well his or
her own. All then returned to the gar
den, where feast of milk soup with
eggs and egg-cakes had been prepared.
Afterward they went back to the wood
and found to their great joy in each nest
five beautiful coloFed eggs, and on one
OF these q shOrs rhyme was written.
The surprise and delight Of the little
ones when they discovered nest of the
gayly- colsred treasures was very great,
and one of them exclaimed:
"How wonderful the hens paust be
that can lay such pretty eggs How /
| should like to see them "
"Oh, no hena could lay such beautiful
eggs," answered little girl. II think
IL must have been the little hare that
fsprang out OF the Juniper bush when
| wanted to build my nest there,D
Then all the children laughed togeth-
er, and said, "The hares lay the colored
eggs. Yes, yes shs dear little hares lay
the beautiful eggs" and they repeated
| it till they began to believe it.
| Not long afterward the war ended
and Duke Arno Won LinAenburg took
his wife and children back to their own
palace; but, before leaving, the Duchess
Sc. apart sum of money to be expended
ia giving the village children every
Easter feast of eggs. She instituted
the custom also in her OWE duchy, and
by degrees it spread over the whole
country. the eggs being considered 9
fsymbol OF redemption or deliveranei
from sin.
| To this day children living ia tht
country go to the woods just before Eas
ter and return with their arms full O
twigs and moss, cut Of which they buiIs
nests and AOuses, each child CAREFUL,
marking his own with his naxae. They
are then hidden behind stones anS
bushes in the garden, or, if the wsathe
be cold, in corners or under farnitur
in the house. And on Easter mornin.
what an excitement there is to see Wha
Etba good little hare has brought! No
lonIy real eggs boiled and co}ored, bu
sugar ones, too, and often wooden one
ltnat open like boxes, disclosing, PEI
Ihaps, a pair of new gloves or a brigh
ribbon. He even sometimes bring
hoops and skipping ropes, and generall
his own effigy IN dough or candy
found tying to scamper away benin
tha nest.-,St. Nicholas.
KILLED BY AN ELEPHANT.-Whil
Robinson's show was being ferried owe
1.-THE Roanoke river on the 5th instan