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Easter Eggs
Most English holidays have a religious origin．Easter is originally the day to commemorate1） the Resurrection2） of Jesus Christ．But now for most people，Easter is a secular spring holiday，when everyone hopes to enjoy fine weather，when the days are lengthening fast，when trees are already in bud and leaf，and spring flowers appear，the most welcome of the year――violets，daffodils3） and narcissi4）．For children，Easter means more than anything else，Easter eggs or chocolate eggs．
Real，natural eggs，do not belong of course to a single season of the year．They are eaten all the year round（Duck eggs are a rarity5） in England，and the eggs of smaller birds are rarer still，a luxury for the very rich and privileged）．Eggs are everyday food――inexpensive，nutritious6），and especially good for breakfast．Their association with spring，when hens begin to lay after the winter，is older than the manufacture of chocolate eggs．In some places，real eggs are used in an Easter game called“egg－rolling”．They are first hardboiled and then given to competitors to roll down a slope．The winner is the person whose egg gets to the bottom first．In some families，the breakfast eggs on Easter Sunday morning are boiled in different pans，each containing a different vegetable dye，so that when they are served the shells are no longer white or pale brown in colour，but yellow or pink，blue or green．The dyes do not penetrate the shell of course．
Most British children would be very disappointed if these were the only eggs they had at Easter．Chocolate Easter eggs are displayed in confectioners’ shops as soon as Christmas is over．The smallest and simplest are inexpensive enough for children to buy with pocket money．These are of two sorts．Very small ones，perhaps a little longer than an inch in length，are coated thinly with chocolate on the outside and filled with a sweet，soft paste，called fondant．They are wrapped in coloured foil in a variety of patterns．Slightly larger eggs，a little bigger，as a rule，than a duck’s egg，are hollow．There is nothing in side at all――just a wrapped chocolate shell．You break the shell and eat the jagged，irregular pieces．
As Easter approaches，more elaborate eggs than these fill the sweet－shop windows．They are designed to be given as presents，and the larger ones are expensive．Manufacturers compete in producing pretty and unusual designs．Chocolate Eggs are often sold in chin a egg－cups or mugs，or baskets，so that here is something to enjoy when the chocolate is eaten and forgotten．They are accompanied by all sorts of small presents designed to appeal to children．They are often decorated with small fluffy7） chickens，made of wool，and with feet and beaks in card．And in addition to eggs，there are chickens or rabbits molded in chocolate．Lucky children may receive several of these as presents from friends or relations．
Special cardboard boxes are on sale at Easter，made in the shape of eggs，but not made of chocolate and certainly not intended to be eaten．They are just as pretty as any chocolate egg．They are patterned，and are often finished with lace or ribbon and artificial flowers．They are meant to contain any present that the giver thinks the receiver would like．As a rule it is quite a small present――handkerchiefs，perhaps，or a scarf，or a tie．Sometimes a small piece of jewelry will be boxed and wrapped and put inside．
Easter eggs are meant to give enjoyment――and they do．They are pretty and decorative，they signal good wishes and shared happiness in the changing sea sons．Manufacturers seem able to find new variations of colour and pattern every year．To my mind though，no springtime pleasure is equal to that of watching a hen hatch her brood of eggs．Weeks pass，when she must be left undisturbed．Then the time comes．Just one egg will crack．Then another．Then there is a faint cheeping as first one and then another of the chicks break the shell from the inside and struggle free of it．The damp feathers that give the newly hatched chicks such a bedraggled appearance soon dry，and within a few minutes，they are stepping out on their delicate red legs，bright－eyed，exquisitely fluffy，and pale yellow．Because of modern methods of egg production this is one pleasure of the early part of the year that is now a rarity，and altogether remote from the experience of most English children．
