The Easter Hare – a German Legend
Long, long ago, there was a village where the people were very poor. One Easter time the mothers had no money to buy the presents of sweets they usually gave their children on Easter Sunday. They were very sad for they knew how disappointed the children would be.
'What shall we do' they asked each other as they drew water from the well.
'We have plenty of eggs' sighed one.
'The children are tired of eggs' said another.
Then one of the mothers had an idea, and before dinner-time all the mothers had an idea, and before dinner-time all the mothers in the village knew about it but not a single child.
Early on Easter morning, the mothers left their homes and went into the woods with little baskets on their arms. It was quite impossible to see what had in the baskets as they were covered with coloured cloths. When the mothers returned home, the cloths were tied about their heads like headsquares, and the baskets were filled with wild flowers.
'My mother went to pick flowers for Easter this morning' said one child, as they all walked together to church. 'So did mine' said another. 'And mine too' said all the others and laughed for they were happy and it was Easter Sunday.
When they came out of church, the children were told to go and play in the woods before dinner. Off they ran, laughing and talking. The girls and boys picked flowers and climbed trees when someone shouted 'Look what I've found'.
'A RED egg'.
'I've found a BLUE one'.
''Here's a nestful, all different colours'.
They ran about searching in the bushes and filling their pockets and hats.
'What kind of eggs are they?' they asked each other.
'They're too big for wild birds' eggs.'
'They're the same size as hens' eggs'.
'Hens don't lay eggs these bright colours, silly'. Just then a hare ran out from behind a bush.
'They're hares' eggs,' cried the children. 'The hare laid the eggs! Hurrah for the Easter Hare.'
