Two versions of the tale of the Christmas Spider (retold from memory)

Preamble: Because spiders have been among my favorite animals since I was small enough to crawl under chairs, and marvel at their webs close up, these legends will always have a special place in my heart. I suspect I first encountered the German version of this story in an anthology from my high school library, and found the Ukrainian version online, later. But "later," in this case, had to have been at least fifteen years ago, as best as I can figure.

I know I've seen both (distinctly different) versions online, in the recent past. But when I put "Christmas Spider folktale" into Google's search engine today, I kept getting just the German version (with certain passages being word-for-word copies) at nearly every page result, except for one link that gave a three-line summary of the Ukrainian version .... So I won't be including any links in this post, since I can't guarantee they'll still be alive come this time next year.

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LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIDERS (retold from a German Legend)

It was Christmas Eve, and the lady of the house was working feverishly, to get everything spic and span so it would be fit for the visit from the Christ Child, to receive his blessing. Even the spiders, every last one of them, were banished to the farthest corner of the attic, while the silver was polished and the tree in the grand hall decorated, and all the excitement was going on downstairs.

This made the spiders sad -- not so much because their homes had been swept away, but because they wanted to be included in the celebration. So, once the house was quiet, and all the humans were snug in their beds, the spiders sneaked downstairs, to get a look at the Christmas tree. And when they saw it, they were so overcome with curiosity and admiration that they lost all sense of restraint, and swarmed the tree -- scampering over every needle, and gazing at their reflection in every bauble. And everywhere they went, they trailed their silk threads behind them. The tree was covered, tip to trunk, in webs.

At midnight, the Christ Child appeared, and he saw what the spiders had done. He knew that the mistress of the house would be angry, to see her beautiful tree covered in spiderwebs. But he also knew that the spiders had meant no harm, and that their wee hearts were pure. So he reached out and touched the silk. And in that instant, the spiders' drab webs were transformed into silver and gold, and the tree was more beautiful than it had ever been.

...And that's where the tradition of hanging tinsel on the Christmas Tree comes from.

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THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIDER (Retold from a Ukrainian Legend)

Once upon a time, there lived poor mother and her children. It had been a hard year, because her husband, the village blacksmith, had been called away to war, and she could not earn enough money with him gone.

The year before, their Christmas had been a time of plenty, but this year, she could barely afford to scrape together the basics for the Christmas Eve feast, much less bake extra cookies, or buy new decorations, to hang on the tree for her children's sake. And they had been so good this year, too. She put on a brave face as they put their small tree outside their door, and hung small nuts, and the tattered ribbons from last year on its branches.

But that night, after the children were asleep, she wept, and prayed for the strength to make it through another year.

Now, this house, like all Ukrainian houses, had a special house spider -- one who was never molested, and who was given crumbs to eat, so she could protect the good luck of the family within. The kind-hearted mother had taken good care of this spider, and the spider wanted to do something to make her happy.

A spider has no money to buy fancy decorations. And a spider would likely get stepped on, if she ventured into the market, anyway. But a spider does have her silk.
So, all night long, the spider worked, weaving her most beautiful designs on every branch of the tiny tree. And, just before dawn, she fell asleep, exhausted, on the top branch.

The mother was awakened, the next morning, by the squeals and laughter of her children. And when she looked out her window, she saw their tree: covered, tip to trunk, with spider webs, The spider webs were covered in dew, and glistened in the morning sun as if they were silver and gold. As poor as they were, they had the most beautiful tree in the town. It was a simple thing, perhaps, but the sight gave the mother hope.

That night, after the first star appeared in the sky, and the family sat down to their Christmas dinner, there was a knock at the door. The mother opened the door, and there, miracle of miracles, was her husband, home from the war. Peace had been declared the week before, and he had traveled non-stop to get home, and he appologized for being too late to say the first blessing over the meal.

Well, you can imagine everyone's joy, and how they all hugged him, and welcomed him home. Their little Good Luck spider had brought them very good luck, indeed.

And to this day, in the Ukraine, the first ornament hung on the tree every year is a spider ornament, for good luck. And it's considered especially good luck for the coming year if you find a real spiderweb in your tree on Christmas morning.