(A folk legend from Germany and the Ukraine) |
nce upon a time, 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 came to bless the house. 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 attic.
T'was the Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting
for the children to see it. 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 crack in the door to see him. Silently they crept out of
their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in
the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the
spiders scurried into the room. They must see the tree closely, since
their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room... so the crept
all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw every
one of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of
the Christmas tree beauty.
But alas!! Everywhere they went they had left their webs, and when
the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved
the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too, but he knew the
mother, who had trimmed the tree for the little children, wouldn't feel
the same, so He touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling,
shimmering, silver and gold!
Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our christmas trees, and
according to the legend, it has been a custom to include a spider among
the decorations on the tree.
I would like to thank my wonderful sister Marsha (Mart)
for giving me this joyous story to share with you.
The following is the first version I heard:
'The Story of Christmas Spiders'
In a quiet cottage in the woods lived a gentle widow and her eight children. The widow worked very hard to keep her children warm and well-fed, but money was not plentiful. When the air grew crisp, and the snow began to fall, the widow knew Christmas was coming. But instead of feeling joyful as the holiday approached, she felt sadness and sorrow. She knew that she did not have enough money to buy her children any gifts to open on Christmas morning."I cannot afford new toys or books," she thought, walking home through the woods one night. "What will I give my children?"
On Christmas Eve the family ate their simple Christmas dinner together, and the widow tried to conceal her worries. After tucking her excited children snugly into bed, she pulled her chair close to the fire and tried to erase the visions of their little disappointed faces from her mind. After all, what fun is Christmas morning without gifts to open?
"Perhaps a Christmas tree would make my children happy," the widow sighed.
She put on her coat and hat and walked through the woods in search of the right tree. She chose a small but beautiful evergreen, chopped it down with her husband's ax, and brought it to the cottage.
For hours, the widow carefully decorated the fragrant tree branches with colorful fruits, bits of ribbon, and Christmas cookies. Then she blew out her candle and went to bed, hoping the tree would make her children's empty Christmas a little bit brighter.
While the tired widow slept, tiny spiders crept from the cracks and corners of the cottage. They had watched her hard at work, decorating the tree for her children. Onto the branches they jumped, spinning delicate strands of silky web which gracefully covered the small tree from trunk to top. It was a beautiful sight.
When the family awoke on Christmas morning, they could not believe their eyes. The webs of silk had been turned into pure silver, covering the tree with dazzling brightness! During the night, Santa Claus had come with gifts for the children and saw the tree covered with spiderwebs. He smiled as he saw how happy the spiders were, but knew how heartbroken the widow would be if she saw her tree covered with spiderwebs. So he turned the silky webs into pure, shining silver. The next morning, as the widow watched her children sing and dance around the beautiful shining tree, she knew it would be a wonderful Christmas after all!
From that day forward, people have hung strands of shiny silver tinsel on their Christmas trees in honor of the poor widow and her tiny Christmas spiders. -- By Stephanie Herbek
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/inspirational-christmas-stories9.htm
I chuckled over this version. This one sounds the most like me except I would be drinking hot chocolate with whip cream:
Christmas Story: The Christmas Spider This is one of my favorite stories to tell. It's magical, somehow logical, and imbued with the spirit of the season. This is how I tell it. I like the repetitions for children to be able to join in the telling of the tale. The Christmas Spider One Christmas Eve a long time ago, an old woman was busily preparing her home for the holidays. She had a lot to do—cooking, baking, cleaning. Her Christmas tree stood in the corner and she often looked at it and thought, “The Tree! The Tree! I need to decorate the tree!” But she had so much to do! Late that evening, all the work was done—the cookies were baked, the house was clean, the windows sparkled in the candlelight. The old woman thought, “The Tree! The Tree! I need to decorate the tree!” She poured a cup of tea from the kettle steaming by the fireplace, carried her cup to her favorite rocking chair, and sat down to rest—just for a minute. Looking up, she saw one spider’s web that she had missed in her cleaning. “I’ll get that web with my broom as soon as I finish my tea,” she thought. She stared into the fire thinking about how wonderful it would be on Christmas Day with all her grandchildren coming to visit. As she sat and sipped and rocked, she grew sleepier and sleepier. She looked at the tree and thought, “The Tree! The Tree! I need to decorate the tree!” But her eyes drooped, closed…and soon she was fast asleep. Up in the web, the spiders were curious. Every year the old woman had run them out with her cleaning, but this year they had all hidden in that one web high up in the corner of the ceiling, and she had forgotten about them. “Why did she bring a tree in her house?” asked a little spider. “I’m not sure,” answered on older, wiser spider. “Let’s go down and see.” The spiders crept out of their hiding place. The swung on their webs down to the tree, and when they landed on its branches, they crawled all over it, leaving bright silver strings of webbing behind them. When they had examined every part of the tree, they still were not sure why the old woman had brought it in, and they returned to their web on the ceiling. In the morning, when the old woman woke up, she was so surprised! Her tree was covered with spider webs. But as she looked, the sun came through the window and caught the webs in its rays. The spider webs started to sparkle and shine! They had all turned into sparkling, shimmering silver and gold. At that moment, the door burst open and in came her grandchildren. “Grandmother! Your tree is so beautiful! Look how it shines! This is even better than the decorations you usually use!” The old woman smiled, and looked up at the spider web. “I had help from many friends,” she said. "I hope they come back every year to decorate my tree.” Every year after that, when the old woman cleaned her house for Christmas, she always made sure to leave one web for the spiders, and they always came to help decorate her tree on Christmas Eve. According to legend, this is why people hang tinsel on their Christmas trees today. In many places, it is also the custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree. The tinsel and the spiders are reminders of that long-ago Christmas and those busy, busy spiders. You can find other versions of this old folktale online at:
http://www.kraftmstr.com/christmas/books/spider.html
http://mymerrychristmas.com/2005/spider.shtml
http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/gallery/chrspid.htm
http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-spider.html
http://gaga.essortment.com/christmaslegend_rvao.htm
Amazon.com lists at least six different versions of the story in picture books, as well as a puppet play.
1 comment:
These were fun to read Ruth! Thanks!!
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