The Dickinson press., 1897-08-14
THE EGG AND THE HARE.
Evo Different Symbols Connected With
the Easter Anniversary,

Two Different Symbols Connected With
the Easter Anniversary.
OF late years there has been a
marked and growing tendency on
the part of Easter artists and con-
~tectloners to substitute tho rabbit or
hare for the old familiar Easter egg
as a symbol of the joyous Easter an.
niversary. In the we'll remembered
mot long aga" the egg held abso.
@ate and undisputed sway as the
universal emblem of the resurrec.
ton. Then the egg "ripened" and
tho fuzzy little chick added its Gun.
ming presence to confectioners' win.
dow decorations. So far the connec,
ton between the symbol and tho
event was so easily understood that
comment or questioning would have
been entirely s%uperfuous, but with
the advent of the dummy" tribe the
complexity becomes too embarrass.
ing for silence, and one is anxious
to have an answer to the question,
Why9 Tho timid, dainty little long
cared rabbit is certainly cute and at.
tractive, but what has it to do with
Eastern No one questions it's beauty
or effectiveness, but wherein lies it's
appropriateness?
In seeking an answer to this rea.
sonable inquiry ono finds an easy
clew in the work of Chinese, Japa-
peso and Hindoo artists, who all
agree in associating the haro with
the moon. In the minds of these
authorities the "man in the moon,"
with whom one is SO well acquaint-
ed, is not a man at all, but a hare,
and tits found IN studying tho my
thology of these countries that the
hare and the moon are identical in
their symbology, the Chinese rep
Fesenting the moon as ahnre pound
ing rice in a mortar. Aftor estab-
fishing the connection between the
hare and the moon tho rest is easy,
for Easter is really a festival of the
moon, its date being fixed by the
council of Nice in 351 A. D. as the
first Sunday after the first full moon
following the vernal equinox.
50 the moon being clearly related
to Easter, and the hare being related
to the moon, the haro is clearly en-.
titled to participate in the Easter
cheer,
OF course this only opens the door
to a flood of eager questions whose
answers are only to be found in
dusty, masty tones of NEUROLOGICAL
lore, and the search is too involved
and tiresome to be interesting. Just
why the hare should have been
adopted as the symbol of the moon
is not easy to determine s~atisfacto-
rily, as history on this point is
shrouded i'll the clouds of antiquity
and complicated by conflicting tes-
timony. One account has it that
Buddha onco desired to feed a hum
cry fellow creature and to do this
took tue form of q hare. In this
form he was transferred to the
moon, where he still remains.
Equally reliable is the accounted
1ndra's being at one timo in a fam
ishing condition, when the hare, be.
ing an extremely sympathetic crea-
ture, was naturally hea1tbroken at
such distress. Unable to relieve the
great mans hunger in any other
way the hare threw himself into the
fire and thus saved Indra from star.
walton. Out of gratitude for this
sacrifice Indra translated tho animal
to the MOON.
Many more recent bases for link.
ing the hare to the moon could be
az tho fact Of its carrying Its
young a lunar month, being noe
in its habits, its young being
born with their eyes open, and the
being called the "open eyed"
and a superstition that the hare
changed its sex annually, the moons
sex being changed from masculine
its waxing period, when it
was called the "lord of light and
considered as the sign Of new life,
and feminine during the waning
perioA,-New York Tribune.
In a'City Theater,
whats tho difference between q
sacred concert and other concerts2"
"Why, q sacred concert is always
given Oh Sunday. Chicago Record.
What Follows.
Van Clove-Old Soak is a funny
isn't he?
Do Caverly-Yes. ! always smile
when I meet him.-Town Tepica