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April |
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blossoms, while tiny white and yellow butterflies perched upon or hovered above them on invisible wires. The cakes and bonbons were in the forms of eggs or flowers.
At each place was a bonbonniere in the shape of a feathered fowl (the shops are full of them at Easter)— hens, roosters, ducks, etc., and wee chicks for the children. On their backs were tied cards inscribed with barn-yard names, supposed to be appropriate to the recipients. "Cock of the walk" was given to the head of the family, and "Pride of the nest" to his gentle consort, "Prize Bantam" to one of small stature, "Speckle-top" for one gray-haired person, and "Silver Crest" for another; a chick was called "Yellow fluff" for a golden-haired lassie, while the planners of the feast reserved for themselves the euphonious names of "Biddy" and "Old-Scratch-gravel."
Upon the reverse side of the cards the grown person read quotations appropriate to the day—such as: "Sow a seed, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny." And again:
"Earth cannot long ensepulchre In her dark depths the tiniest seed; When life begins to throb and stir The bands of death are weak indeed." Another was:
"God's plans, like lilies, pure and white, unfold. We may not tear the close-shut leaves apart; Time will reveal their calyxes of gold." The children found printed upon their cards selections from the classic of "Babyland," "Mother Goose": "Hickety, pickety, my black hen, She laid good eggs for gentlemen; |
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