Agnes Murgoei

“ During the entire duration of the fast, no animal food of any kind,—not even milk, cheese, or curd,—is allowed, and life is supported, as best may be, on a diet consisting chiefly of Indian corn and beans.
But, if Lent is a fast, Easter is a feast indeed. Even the poorest Roumanian peasant contrives then to have new clothes. Cakes are baked, and Easter eggs with characteristic designs on them are prepared in large quantities. "Red eggs at Easter time" is a Roumanian expression for inevitableness, as Easter without red eggs is unthinkable. ”

“ The eggs are then boiled in a yellow dye, and the parts to be left yellow are covered with wax. The egg is next boiled in a red dye, and the parts to be left red are covered with wax. Lastly, the egg is boiled in a black dye, and all the accumulations of wax are wiped off. [2] The results with several colours are most successful and artistic, the colours being harmoniously blended, but the primitive character of the designs is to some extent obscured in these more elaborate decorations. ”

“ For example, Hungarian eggs have usually geometrical decorations, and less commonly patterns derived from the animal and vegetable worlds, although it may be remarked that the crocus is frequently to be seen on the eggs of the Szekler Hungarians. Ruthenian eggs are also in general geometrical in decoration, while Servian eggs are decorated in many colours, and have usually animal or vegetable subjects, which are, however, often so conventionalized that their origin is not easily recognizable. ”

“ The remaining illustrations are from eggs in my own collection. Amongst the Roumanians of the kingdom, flowers, and, still more, leaves, are everywhere the most common designs, but this is not indicated proportionately in the Plates. A great affection for leaves is a very marked characteristic of the peasant. ”

“ According to one of them, the red eggs were made for the first time by the Virgin Mary just after the birth of Christ, and were thrown at the Jews to enable Mother and Son to escape. According to a second legend, the stones thrown at Jesus turned to red eggs, and, according to a third, the stones to be used as missiles by the guardians of the Sepulchre turned to red eggs. The fourth legend, given at length below, ascribes the red to the blood of Christ, and the remaining four legends agree that the eggs became red as a miracle in testimony to the resurrection of Christ. ”