Legend of the Christmas Spider
(A German and Ukranian Legend)

Once upon a time a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for
the most wonderful day of the year. Not a speck of dust was left.
Even the spiders had left their cozy corner in the ceiling and had
fled to the attic to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning.

At last, it was Christmas Eve. The tree was decorated and waiting
for the children to see it. The poor spiders were frantic, for they
could not see the tree, nor the presents that waited for dawn. The
oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep
through the crack in the door to see this glorious sight. 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. The tree was
breathtaking and certainly more than their eyes were accustomed to
seeing. So, they crept all over the tree, up and down, over every
branch and twig and saw every one of the pretty things. At last they
were satisfied with the Christmas tree's beauty.

But alas! Everywhere they went they had left their webs. Now seeing
what they had done, they became very afraid that they would be
killed; so they prayed for mercy. Suddenly, an angel appeared and
said, "I'll save you, but I will need some help. One of you must
stay to save the rest." It was agreed who would stay, and then the
angel touched the spider and turned it to ice, and the webs became
shimmering silver and gold.

Since that time, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees to remind
us of the sacrifice of one to save many. According to the legend, it
has become a custom to include the spider among the decorations on
the tree.

Transcript will be available shortly.