One mid-March morning, as the goddess Oestara was just beginning to awaken from her long winter sleep, the earth warmed around her and the sky cleared to a crystalline blue. In the southern realms, a little bird felt the change, and despite the warnings of its elders, decided that it was time to fly north again.

Arriving at the meadow where it had spent its youth, the bird saw the long leaves of the bulb-flowers beginnng to poke from the ground, and in the trees bordering the meadow, saw buds of blossoms framed by tiny leaves. "Spring it here! Oestara has awakened!"

But Oestara is a silly goddess, irresponsible and sometimes downright lazy. She rolled over in her grassy bed beneath the earth. "It can't be time to get up yet!" she muttered, pulling the blanket over her head.

Out on the earth, the wind blew cold again. Clouds gathered, and snow began to fall. The tiny bird huddled among the bulb-leaves, hoping for shelter, but soon was entirely covered in snow. Shivering, the bird peeped and called for help.

Oestara is silly, but she is not careless. In her waking dream, she heard the frail calls of the bird. Rising, she spread her flowery cloak wide, and the air warmed again. Finding the bird huddled under the snow, she wrapped it against her body under the cloak.

Alas, the bird had become so cold, its wings had frozen and fell off in her cloak. Silly Oestara sewed them back on with spider silk, but she couldn't remember how they fit exactly, and when she was finished she saw that they were now attached to the bird's head.

The bird's feathers turned to warm fur, and its wings now became long, silky ears. Forever after, the bird-turned-bunny became the symbol of the silly goddess of spring, Oestara.