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Show Bre'r Rabbit Long Friend of Children A little animal known as Bre'r Rabbit Rab-bit bandies all of the business Incident In-cident to the delivery of Raster eggs to the children. He builds nests, colors eggs snd does all of the general work necessary to youthful happiness. Of coprse, you may believe the Easter rabbit a modern Institution. We think bis popularity Is of comparatively recent re-cent promotion but say, listen Bre'r Rabbit was In thu egg trade centuries before Joel Chandler Harris ever mode Georgia fnmous, says William Her schell, writing In the Indianapolis News. Wunt to know about Bre'r Rabbit as an Easter Institution? Well, tradition reports that this versatile little egg distributor wa In business before the Christian era. He has surrounded himself with many legends that date back Into the pugnn era, long before th birth of Christ, yet Easter eggs are supposed to symbolize the Resurrection Resur-rection and the rebirth of nature from very ancient times the hare has been s symbol for the moon. There are many reasons for this. A few only need be given. The hare Is a nocturnal animal and comes out at night to feed. The female carries her young for a month, thua representing flie lunar cycle. Hare and th Moon. "Both hare and moon were thought to bave the power of changing their sex. The new moon was masculine, the waning moon feminine But a more Important reason for the Identification Identi-fication of the hure wltb the moon lay In the fact that Its young are horn wltb their eyes open, unlike rabbits, which are born blind. "The name of the hare In Egyptian wn 'un,' meaning 'open.' Now, the nioon was the open eyed watcher of the skies at night and the hare, born with open eyes, was fabled never to close thein; hence the Identification of the open-eyed hare with the full moon. The old principle of cure by sympathies led to the prescription In early English folklore of the brains and eyes of the hare as a cure of somnolency. Egyptian Belief. "The Egyptian 'un' meant not only hare' and 'open' but also 'period,' and for this reason the hare 1ecame the type of periodicity both human and lunar, and in the character of opener was associated with the opening of the new yenr at Easter as well as with the beginning of a new life In the youtb and maiden. Hence the hare became connected In the popular mind with the pnschnl eggs broken to signify the opening of the year." Sterling Hellg traces the colored egg far beyond "the resurrection of the Savior, going back to pagan days whe.i a glided egg was a symbol of good luck to a pagan monarch. Whether laid by ben or hare, a gilded egg no matter who the magician that gilded It wus significant of good luck If It appeared at a ruler's table when troublous trou-blous days were upon the monarch. Of course tbat was far beyond the Christian Chris-tian era, yet It all goes to prove that we've alwajj been crazy about colored eggs. As one ranges back through history and tradition the connection of the rabbit with Easter becomes more mysterious. mys-terious. Here is one story, there Is another. an-other. They seem at counterpoint, and one may toy with the different legends a he chooses. Sue Brady, delver Into mythology, says: Why th Easter Bunny? flnto the beauty of Easter symbolism symbol-ism the Easter rabbit and the load of brightly-colored eggs which be carries car-ries for good children hops as a sort of quaintly comic Relief. Why, ask the curious, should a sleek, fat bunny and colored eggs be connected wltb a festival which celebrates the resurrection resur-rection of Jesus Christ? There seems at first glance to be no possible relation rela-tion between this picturesque whimsy snd the great spiritual significance of the day. "Yet, all over the world the Easter rabbit snd the eggs which he bring are, to the children at least, as important im-portant to the celebration as masses and anthems and church chimes. "In Germany wee Hans snd Gretcben bold him in almost as great veneration as they do Kris Kringle, lor, una me jony nnsimaa suint, oe only . visits good children. In Russia grownups ss well as children greet each other on Easter Sunday and for seven days thereafter wltb an exchange ex-change of colored eggs. In Italy on,, Easter eve, pious families carry great bowls full of eggs to the priest for his blessing. Easter riVrnIng these bowl surrounded by decorations adorn the center of the table. During the week any visitor who may drop In eats an egg with the hostess. Egg Hunt Popular. "In England and the United States egg hunts are popular. One of the major national events of the year to the children in Washington, Is the egg rolling on the grounds of the White House under the watchful eyes of the President and the First Lady of the Land. "A dusty scroll preserved In the Tower of London contains the household accounts of Edward I of England. One entry made shortly short-ly before Easter is for eighteen pence (thirty-six cents) to buy 400 eggs for the Easter celebration celebra-tion In the royal household. Outside of the purely economic Interest to the student of comparative prices, this item indicates to a certain extent the age of our modern custom. "But none of these explain the wby of the custom. As a ma'ter of fact, the origin of the rabbit and the eggs is very difficult to trace. Most festival festi-val customs have some specific person per-son or event to which they can be attributed. at-tributed. Not so the rabbit The process proc-ess by which he attached himself to Easter and gained a lasting affection in the hearts of millions of children is obscure and the only explanations which can be offered for him are pretty far-fetched." William S. Walsh, nationally known authority on mythology, was asked to give his version of the origin of the Easter rabbit He made this report: "The connection between Easter and the hare springs from the hare's connection with the moon. Easter, since Its date depends on the moon, la in a sense, a lunar holiday. Now |
