The Legend of the Christmas Spider

Once upon a time in Germany long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year - the day on which the Christ child was to come and bring the gifts on Christmas Eve. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling. To avoid the housewife's busy cleaning, they finally fled to the farthest corner of the forgotten attic.

Twas Christmas Eve at last; the tree was decorated, and the children delighted. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ Child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crak in the door and see Him. Silently they crept out of their attic, and across the floor to wait in the crack on the threshold.

Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit, and quickly the spiders sneaked into the room. The tree towered so high they couldn't see the ornaments on top. In fact, their eyes were so small they could see only one ornament at a time. They scurried up the trunk, out along each branch, filled with a happy wonder at the glittering beauty. Every place they went they left a trail of dusty, grey web. When at last they had inspected every fit of the Christmas tree, it was shrouded in a dusty grey o spider webs.

The Christ Child smiled as he thought of the happy spiders seeing His tree. But as he thought of how brokenhearted the mother would be over the dusty tree, He reached out His hand and touched the webs and blessed them. They all turned to shimmering, sparkling silver and gold. The tree glistened in greater beauty than ever before.

And so it became a custom to have a spider among other decorations on the Christmas tree.

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