Christmas Stories ~ legend of the Christmas Spider (version 2)

The wind howled and tore at the faces of the man and his wife as they made their way through the night.  Protectively he drew his cloak around her.  She was bundled up with her arms carrying the bundle.  "I can go no further" she said and she began to cry.  The man looked frantically around for a place to shelter away from the cruel wind.  He saw some rocks up ahead and persuaded his wife to walk "just a little further".  As they reached the crags, they could make out a cave.  Thankfully they crept in.  At once their ears were blessed with silence. Thankful for the shelter the pair settled down to rest.  The chill filled the night air and it was then that the bundle awoke.  carefully the woman unwrapped her precious cargo and put his lips to her breast.  Her dear little baby, so beautiful and so special.
Sitting in the corner of the cave, a spider watched.  The woman finished feeding her baby and wrapped him back up, the family settled and tried to sleep, but they were so cold.  The spider was touched and wanted to help the young family.  Carefully with all the skill he could muster, he began his work.  After a couple of hours the cave was sealed with a beautiful silken web.
Out in the dark, the sound of horses came nearer and nearer.   Then voices could be heard.  "They can't be much further ahead now, called one of the men.  Then came the cry "there, that cave..."  The spider held his breath and prayed with all his might, as the man alighted from his horse and walked towards the cave.  As he got to the entrance, the Captain shouted "you fool, see the web, no ones been there for a long long time, come back on your horse, we must make haste as King Herod said"
Soon the men and their horses had disappeared and in the safety of the cave Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus slept peacefully.

Christmas Stories ~ The legend of the Christmas Spider (version 1)

It was Christmas eve, in a small house on the edge of the village, a woman worked in preparation for the big day tomorrow.  She washed, swept and polished.  In the corner of the room sat crouched amongst the dust a family of spiders.  They watched the woman as she went about her work.  They watched as she dragged in a beautiful green tree in a pot.  They watched as she pushed it across the room and they watched in horror as she turned around and went to get her dustpan to sweep them up and take them out into the cold.  The hurried away to the safety of the attic and there they hid listening for the sounds of the house work.
When they heard the woman go up to bed, they crawled back down stairs to see the green tree covered in ornaments.  hey had never seen anything so beautiful and they climbed up the pot on to the branches.  Rushing from one ornament to another, they gazed in awe at the sparkling ornaments.
In the night, the Christ Child came to the house.  He was so touched to see the tree, but it was covered in a shroud of dusty grey cobwebs. How the woman would cry at the sight of it.  He knew that it had been prepared with love and so he reached out and touched it and at once the spiders webs glistened as they turned to threads of gold and silver.
And that so they say is why we have tinsel and a spider on our tree.