“Never fear,” the old grandmother said, “the hens are laying well, and I know how to make beautiful dyes from moss and leaves. We can color some eggs for Hans and Annchen, and they will be happy.”
This was a lovely thought to the poor mother, and she went to work. Soon she had beautiful red, blue, yellow, purple, and orange eggs, and when Easter morning came she and the grandmother hid them in a nest in the woods. It was a lovely spot, with a thick carpet of moss underfoot and the snowy blossoms of the wild plum overhead.
Then they all went to the tiny chapel that stood at the other side of the village, to listen to the music and hear the good pastor tell the story of Easter day, after which they walked home by the woodland path.
Little Hans and Annchen were running ahead of the others, and all at once they called, “Oh, Mother, Grandmother, come!”
The good mother said, “They must have found the eggs,” and hurried to see.
Yes, there the children knelt, bending over the nest of eggs lovelier than they had ever seen.
“They are beautiful, Mother!” exclaimed Hans. “See, they look like hen’s eggs, yet they are every color, like the rainbow. How did they get here in the woods?”
“I know,” cried little Annchen. “A fairy bird laid them.”
Just then a rabbit leaped out of some tall grass behind the nest, and hopped away into the forest.
The children screamed with delight. “The rabbit laid the eggs! The rabbit laid the eggs!” they shouted.