The San Francisco call., 1905-08-11

kind of soup. If bouillon Is served, and
bouillon is soup, the person to whom
| it is served has to drink, for II is a
physical impossibility to eat it, but if
family soup is served the person must
eat it as the greater portion of the ingre-
dents must be maSticat ted.
EASTER-H R., City. The
following compiled by a writer for
Philadelphia paper is an answer to your
question. What is the connection of the
hare with Eastern:
That the all-important question of the full
moon, and incidentally the influence of the
goddess Eastra, should be the fountainhead OF
the hare's connection with our Easter customs
may seem strange TO the superficial observer
and yet, does not the efficacy of the left hindT
foot of a graveyard hare Tor rabbi) lie In the
fact that this animal is. IN the negro mlnd,
the symbol of the new moon, the conqueror OF
darkness and all evil things? And how many
years is it since. over in the old Vaterland, in
Swahia a child would have exposed himself
to a good spanking IL he had indulged in the
pastime of making shadow pictures of haTes
on the wall as 1t was a sin against the moon?
And if we were to go farther afleld we would
hnd the Chinese representing the moon as a
hare pounding rice in mortar; and the Jap
anese painting it right across the disc Of the
moon; and the Hindus locating its abode in
the moon itself. and weaving singularly pretty
stories in explanation OF the same, one of which
being to the effect that the great god IndTa,
the god of the elements, disguised a starv
ing pilgrim, was once begging men for a little
food and all in vain. when hare, seeing his
pitiable condition. and having nothing else to
give him. threw itself into a neighboring fire
that it might get roasted and thus save his
life, whereupon the grateful god transferred
the hare to the moon, In witness whereof. no
tiee that the Sanskrit "eacas," the leaping one
is applied not to the hare alone but TO the
spots in the moon which show his profile.
Ito OPEN also when used adjectively ''periodi
CAL" and when employed as a noun "a pc
ROD il very naturally happened. therefore.
that the hare became the type of periodicity;
and the moon from time immemorial
the great measure of time" dts Sanskrtt
name. Mas is derived from the verb ma, ;"
to rleasurel, both were identified in many
ways, and chiefly marking the opening OF
new seasons the beginning of a life, etc;
connected the hare with the opening OF a
year at the Easter full moon, and subsequently
with the Paschal eggs which used to be broken
for the purpose OF symbolizing that very open
Ing.
Here stepped in an old tradition that the hare
originally bird. that on it's own request
1t was transformed into a quadruped by the
goddess Eastra (mentioned apove), and that in
gratitude 1T kept on exercising its original
functions once a year and laid eggs for it's ben
efactress on her festal day. Accordingly, chill
dren sent out Easter day 10 look for
hares' eggs and how many of our readers may
remember going on such an errand. who came
to these shores from any Of the countries where
Teutonic mythology still holds sway?
In England the only trace of the hare can
call to mind in connection with Easter Is a
custom which still survives (or at least sur
vived few years ago. at ColeshiH. in War
ish can succeed IN catching hare and bring
it to the parson before 10 a. Easter Mon
day (moon-day) he is by tradition bound to
present them with hundred eggs
The suggestion OF such a gift may have
sprung from the scarcity Of the animal at the
time. for 1t must be remembered that there
were parts of Great Britain (Scotland, for in
stance) where the rabbit introduced for
the first time as late as the beginning of the
nineteenth century. Its original home Is sup
posed to have been Spain. at least that sec
tion of the Mediterranean shores