TRIVIA

Although EASTER Sunday is the culmination of HOLY WEEK and the end of LENT, the following Monday (also known as Pasch Monday ) is observed as a public holiday in many nations, perhaps to round off the long weekend that begins on GOODFRIDAY. In London there is a big Easter parade in Hyde Park ( London ) on this day.

A curious English tradition associated at one time with Easter Monday involved “lifting” or “heaving.” Forming what childrencall a “chair” by crossing hands and grasping another person’s wrists, the men would lift the women on Easter Monday sometimes carrying them for a short distance down the street or to the village green and on Easter Tuesday the womenwould lift the men.

A similar retaliatory game involved taking off each other’s shoes. This is thought to have a connectionwith the resurrection of Christ. Polish children play smigus, a water-throwing game baskets and carried to an open field for the contest.

At a given signal, thechildren line up and try to break the shell of an opposing team member’s egg (the two eggs must be the same color) byknocking them together. The winner keeps the opponent’s egg, and the boy or girl who collects the most eggs wins.

Another Easter game, which was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries and was still played in the 20th, is called the eiergaren. Played by both children and adults who assemble in the main streets of villages on Easter Monday, the game involves a tub of water with a huge apple floating in it.

The tub is placed in the middle of the road and 25 eggs are placed at intervals of about 12 feet along the same road. One person must eat the apple with his hands tied behind his back while asecond contestant has to run and
gather up a the eggs in a basket before the apple is eaten. Whoever finishes his or her task first is the winner.