The Story of the Easter Bunny

Once upon a time there was a father hare and a mother hare who had seven little hares, and they did not know which of them would become the true Easter bunny. So mother hare took a basket with seven eggs, and father hare called the little hares together. Then he said to the eldest: “Take an egg from the basket and carry it to the garden of the house, where there are lots of children.”

The eldest hare took the golden egg, ran into the woods, crossed the stream, came out of the woods, ran across the meadow and reached the garden of the house. There he wanted to leap over the gate, but he made such a big, powerful jump that the egg fell and broke.

This was not the true Easter bunny.

Now it was the second one's turn. He took the silver egg, ran off into the woods, crossed the stream, came out of the woods, ran across the meadow; but he saw the magpie, who called out “Give me the egg, give me the egg, I'll give you a silver coin!” And before the hare realised what was happening, the magpie had already carried the silver egg off to her nest.

Neither was this the true Easter bunny.

Now it was the third one's turn. He took the chocolate egg. He ran into the woods, crossed the stream, came out of the woods, and met a squirrel hopping down from a tall fir tree. The squirrel's eyes went wide, and he asked: “Is the egg good to eat?”

“I don't know, I want to bring it to the children,” said the hare.

“Let me have a little taste.” The squirrel started licking, and since he liked it so much, he simply couldn't stop, and he licked and nibbled away, and even nibbled the hare a little too, until nothing was left of the egg at all. And when the third hare came home, mother hare pulled him by his whiskers, still covered in chocolate, and said: “You are not the true Easter bunny either.”

Now it was the fourth one's turn. The little hare took the speckled egg. With this egg he ran into the woods and reached the stream. He hopped onto the tree branch lying across it, but stopped halfway. He looked down and saw himself in the stream as if in a mirror. And while he was gazing at himself like that, the egg fell into the water with a great splash. Nor was this one the true Easter bunny.

Now it was the fifth one's turn. He took the yellow egg. He ran into the woods, and even before he reached the stream, he met the fox, who said: “Come now, come with me to my den and show my little ones this fine egg!” The fox cubs started playing with the egg until it knocked against a stone and broke. The hare ran quickly home, his ears drooping.

He too was not the true Easter bunny.

Now it was the turn of the sixth little hare, who took the red egg. He ran into the woods. Along the way he met another hare. He set his egg down on the path and the two of them began to scuffle. They traded great swipes of their paws, and in the end the other hare turned tail and ran, but when the little hare went looking for his egg, it had already been trampled underfoot, smashed into a thousand pieces.

Now it was the seventh one's turn: the youngest hare, and also the smallest. He took the blue egg. With the blue egg he ran into the woods.

Along the way, he met another hare, but he let him pass and kept on running. The fox came along. Our little hare made a couple of hops this way and that and kept running, until he reached the stream. With one leap he crossed it, passing along the tree trunk. The squirrel came along, but he kept on running and reached the meadow. When the magpie screeched at him, he simply said: “I can't stop, I can't stop!” At last he reached the garden of the house. The gate was closed. So he made a jump, neither too big nor too small, and laid the egg in the nest the children had prepared. This was the true Easter bunny!