The Christmas Spider

A long time ago in Germany a mother was busily cleaning for Christmas. She swept every corner of the house completely clean, for she wanted everything bright and shiny in time for Christmas Day.

The spiders fled upstairs to the attic to escape the broom, for they knew she was far too busy to follow them up there.

On Christmas Eve, as soon as the house became quiet, the spiders slowly crept down for a peek. They scuttled into the living room and oh what a sight they saw!

A beautiful Christmas Tree! In their excitement they scurried up the trunk and out along each branch. They were filled with happiness as they climbed among the glittering beauty.

Alas, by the time they had finished climbing, the tree was completely covered with dusty grey spiders' webs.

Midnight came, and Santa Claus came with the gifts for the children. When he saw the tree, he smiled to see how happy the spiders were, but he knew how heartbroken the mother would be if she saw the tree covered with dusty webs. So he turned the grey spiders' webs to silver and gold.

The Christmas Tree sparkled and shimmered and was even more beautiful than before.

That is why we have tinsel on Christmas Trees, and every tree should have a Christmas spider in its branches.