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diff --git a/27552.txt b/27552.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dfefc74 --- /dev/null +++ b/27552.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4482 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Representative Plays by American +Dramatists: 1856-1911: Rip van Winkle by Charles Burke + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: Rip van + Winkle + +Author: Charles Burke + +Release Date: December 18, 2007 [Ebook #27552] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REPRESENTATIVE PLAYS BY AMERICAN DRAMATISTS: 1856-1911: RIP VAN WINKLE*** + + + + + +Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: +Rip van Winkle + + +by Charles Burke + + + + +First Project Gutenberg Edition , (December 18, 2007) + + + + + +[Illustration: Charles Burke] + + CHARLES BURKE + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Preface +Announcement +RIP VAN WINKLE +Introduction + CAST OF CHARACTERS + COSTUME + RIP VAN WINKLE + ACT I. + SCENE I. + SCENE II. + SCENE III. + SCENE IV. + SCENE V. + ACT II. + SCENE I. + SCENE II. + SCENE III. + SCENE IV. + SCENE LAST. +Transcribers' Notes + + + + + + +This is the history of the evolution of a play. Many hands were concerned +in its growth, but its increase in scenic effect as well as in dialogue +was a stage one, rather than prompted by literary fervour. No +dramatization of Washington Irving's immortal story has approached the +original in art of expression or in vividness of scene. But, if historical +record can be believed, it is the actor, rather than the dramatist, who +has vied with Irving in the vitality of characterization and in the +romantic ideality of figure and speech. Some of our best comedians found +attraction in the ri?1/2le, yet, though Charles Burke and James A. Herne are +recalled, by those who remember back so far, for the very Dutch +lifelikeness of the genial old drunkard, Joseph Jefferson overtops all +memories by his classic portrayal. + +As far as literary value of the versions is concerned, it would be small +loss if none of them were available. They form a mechanical frame-work as +devoid of beauty as the skeleton scarecrow in Percy Mackaye's play, which +was based on Hawthorne's "Feathertop" in "Mosses from an Old Manse." It +was only when the dry bones were clothed and breathed into by the actor's +personality that the dramatizations lived. One can recall no plot that +moves naturally in these versions; the transformation of the story into +dialogue was mechanical, done by men to whom hack-work was the easiest +thing in the world. Comparing the Kerr play with the Burke revision of it, +when the text is strained for richness of phrase it might contain, only +one line results, and is worth remembering; it is Burke's original +contribution,--"Are we so soon forgot when we are gone?" + +The frequency with which "Rip Van Winkle" was dramatized would indicate +that, very early in the nineteenth century, managers of the theatre were +assiduous hunters after material which might be considered native. +Certainly _Rip_ takes his place with _Deuteronomy Dutiful_, _Bardwell +Slote_, _Solon Shingle_ and _Davy Crockett_ as of the soil. + +Irving's "Sketch Book" was published in 1819, and, considering his vast +interest in the stage, and the dramatic work done by him in conjunction +with John Howard Payne, it is unfortunate that he himself did not realize +the dramatic possibilities of his story. There is no available record to +show that he either approved or disapproved of the early dramatizations. +But there is ample record to show that, with the beginning of its stage +career, nine years after publication, "Rip" caught fire on the stage both +in America and in London. Mr. James K. Hackett is authority for the +statement that among his father's papers is a letter from Irving +congratulating him upon having made so much from such scant material. + +The legendary character of Irving's sources, as traced in German +folk-lore, does not come within the scope of this introduction. The first +record of a play is Thomas Flynn's appearance as _Rip_ in a dramatization +made by an unnamed Albanian, at the South Pearl Street Theatre, Albany, +N. Y., May 26, 1828. It was given for the benefit of the actor's wife, and +was called "Rip Van Winkle; or, The Spirits of the Catskill Mountains." +Notice of it may be found in the files of the Albany _Argus_. Winter, in +his Life of Joseph Jefferson, reproduces the prologue. Part of the cast +was as follows: + +Derrick Van Slous--Charles B. Parsons +Knickerbocker--Moses S. Phillips +Rip Van Winkle--Thomas Flynn +Lowenna--Mrs. Flynn +Alice--Mrs. Forbes + +Flynn was a great friend of the elder Booth, and Edwin bore Thomas as a +middle name. + +In 1829, Charles B. Parsons was playing "Rip" in Cincinnati, Ohio, but no +authorship is mentioned in connection with it, so it must be inferred that +it was probably one of those stock products so characteristic of the early +American theatre. Ludlow, in his "Dramatic Life," records "Rip" in +Louisville, Kentucky, November 21, 1831, and says that the Cincinnati +performance occurred three years before, making it, therefore, in the +dramatic season of 1828-29, this being Rip's "first representation West of +the Alleghany Mountains, and, I believe, the first time on any stage." +Ludlow proceeds to state that, while in New York, in the summer of 1828, +an old stage friend of his offered to sell him a manuscript version of +"Rip," which, on his recommendation, he proceeded to purchase "without +reading it." And then the manager indicates how a character part is built +to catch the interest of the audience, by the following bit of anecdote: + + + It passed off there [in Cincinnati] without appearing to create + any interest more than a drama on any ordinary subject, with the + exception of one speech, which was not the author's, but + introduced without my previous knowledge by one of the actors in + the piece. This actor was a young gentleman of education, who was + performing on the stage under the name of Barry; but that was not + his real name, and he was acting the part of _Nicholas Vedder_ in + this drama. In the scene where _Rip_ returns to his native village + after the twenty years of sleep that he had passed through, and + finds the objects changed from what he remembered them,--among + other things the sign over the door of the tavern where he used to + take his drinks,--he enquires of _Vedder_, whom he had recognized, + and to whom he had made himself known, who that sign was intended + to represent, saying at the same time that the head of King George + III used to hang there. In reply to him, instead of speaking the + words of the author, Mr. Barry said, "Don't you know who that is? + That's George Washington." Then _Rip_ said, "Who is George + Vashingdoner?" To which Barry replied, using the language of + General Henry (see his "Eulogy on Washington," December 26, 1799), + "He was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of + his countrymen!" This woke the Cincinnatians up. + + +Joseph Jefferson rejected this emendation later on, giving as his reason +that, once an audience is caught in the flare of a patriotic emotion, it +is difficult for an actor to draw them back effectively to the main +currents of his story. We have Ludlow's statement to the effect that +Burke's version was not unlike that produced by him as early as 1828-29, +in the middle West. Could it have had any relationship to the manuscript +by Kerr? + +In Philadelphia, at the Walnut Street Theatre, on October 30, 1829, +William Chapman appeared as _Rip_, supported by Elizabeth and J. (probably +John) Jefferson. Winter suggests that the dramatization may have been +Ludlow's, or it may have been the first draft of Kerr's. Though it is +generally conceded that the latter play was the one used by James +H. Hackett, in a letter received by the Editor from Mr. James K. Hackett, +it is suggested that his father made his own version, a statement not +proved, but substantiated by Winter. + +The piece was given by Hackett, at the Park Theatre, New York, on +August 22, 1830, and Sol Smith, in his "Theatrical Management in the West +and South," declares, "I should despair of finding a man or woman in an +audience of five hundred, who could hear [his] utterance of five words in +the second act, 'But she was mine vrow' without experiencing some moisture +in the eyes." While the _Galaxy_, in a later year, for February, 1868, +states: "His _Rip Van Winkle_ is far nearer the ordinary conception of the +good-for-nothing Dutchman than Mr. Jefferson's, whose performance is +praised so much for its naturalness." The statement, by Oliver Bell Bunce, +is followed by this stricture against Jefferson: "Jefferson, indeed, is a +good example of our modern art. His naturalness, his unaffected methods, +his susceptible temperament, his subtleties of humour and pathos are +appreciated and applauded, yet his want of breadth and tone sometimes +renders his performance feeble and flavourless." On the day before its +presentment by Hackett, the New York _Evening Post_ contained the +following notice: + + + Park Theatre, Mr. Hackett's Benefit. Thursday, 22d inst. First + night of Rip Van Winkle and second night of Down East.--Mr. Hackett + has the pleasure of announcing to his friends and the public that + his Benefit is fixed for Thursday next, 22d inst., when will be + produced for the first time the new drama of "Rip Van Winkle; or, + The Legend of the Kaatskill Mountains"--(founded on Washington + Irving's celebrated tale called "Rip Van Winkle")--with appropriate + Dutch costumes; the River and Mountain scenery painted by Mr. + Evers, all of which will be particularly described in the bills of + the day.--Principal characters--_Rip Van Winkle_, Mr. Hackett; + _Knickerbocker_, Mr. Placide; _Vedder_, Mr. Chapman; _Van Slous_, + Mr. Blakely; _Herman_, Mr. Richings; _Dame Rip Van Winkle_, Mrs. + Wheatley; _Alice_, Mrs. Hackett; _Lowenna_, Mrs. Wallack. + + +Durang refers to the dramatist who is reputed to have done the version for +Mr. Hackett, as "Old Mr. Kerr," an actor, who appeared in Philadelphia +under the management of F. C. Wemyss. However much of an actor John Kerr +was, he must have gained some small reputation as a playwright. In 1818, +Duncombe issued Kerr's "Ancient Legends or Simple and Romantic Tales," and +at the Harvard Library, where there is a copy of this book, the catalogue +gives Kerr's position in London at the time as Prompter of the Regency +Theatre. He must have ventured, with a relative, into independent +publishing, for there was issued, in 1826, by J. & H. Kerr, the former's +freely translated melodramatic romance, "The Monster and Magician; or, The +Fate of Frankenstein," taken from the French of J. T. Merle and A. N. +Bi?1/2raud. He did constant translation, and it is interesting to note the +similarity between his "The Wandering Boys! or, The Castle of Olival," +announced as an original comedy, and M. M. Noah's play of the same name. + +There is valuable material in possession of Mr. James K. Hackett for a +much needed life of his father. This may throw light on his negotiations +with Kerr; it may also detail more thoroughly than the records now show +why it was that, when he went to England in 1832, he engaged Bayle Bernard +to make a new draft of the piece, given in New York at the Park Theatre, +September 4, 1833. It may have been because he saw, when he reached +London, a version which Bernard had shaped for the Adelphi Theatre, +1831-32, when Yates, John Reeve, and J. B. Buckstone had played together. +But I am inclined to think that, whatever the outlines of the piece as +given by Hackett, it was his acting which constituted the chief creative +part of the performance. Like Jefferson, he must have been largely +responsible for the finished product. + +Hackett's success in dialect made him eager for any picturesque material +which would exploit this ability. Obviously, local character was the best +vehicle. That was his chief interest in encouraging American plays. Bayle +Bernard had done writing for him before "Rip." In 1831, J. K. Paulding's +"The Lion of the West" had proven so successful, as to warrant Bernard's +transferring the popular _Col. Nimrod Wildfire_ to another play, "The +Kentuckian." Then, in 1837, Hackett corresponded with Washington Irving +about dramatizing the "Knickerbocker History," which plan was consummated +by Bernard as "Three Dutch Governors," even though Irving was not +confident of results. Hackett went out of his way for such native +material. Soon after his appearance as _Rip_, the following notice +appeared in the New York _Evening Post_, for April 24, 1830: + + + Prize Comedy.--The Subscriber, desirous of affording some pecuniary + inducement for more frequent attempts at dramatizing the manners + and peculiarities of our own country, and the numerous subjects + and incidents connected with its history, hereby offers to the + writer of the best Comedy in 3 acts, in which a principal + character shall be an original of this country, the sum of Two + Hundred and Fifty Dollars--the decision to be made by a committee + of competent literary gentlemen, whose names shall duly be made + public. The manuscripts to be sent to the address of the + subscriber through the Post Office, before _1st September, next,_ + each accompanied with a letter communicating the address to which + the author would desire his production returned, if unsuccessful, + together with his _name_ in a _sealed enclosure_, which will only + be opened in the event of his obtaining the Prize. + + Jas. H. Hackett, + 64 Reed Street, New York + + +Many such prize contests were the fashion of the day. + +Mr. James K. Hackett, in reminiscence, writes: "My mother used to tell me +that Joe Jefferson played the part like a German, whereas _Rip_ was a +North River Dutchman, and in those days dialects were very marked in our +country. But my father soon became identified with the part of _Falstaff_, +and he used to say, 'Jefferson is a younger man than I, so I'll let him +have _Rip_. I don't care to play against him'." + +A stage version of the Irving story was made by one John H. Hewitt, of +Baltimore, and during the season of 1833-34 was played in that city by +William Isherwood. It was after this that Charles Burke (1822-1854) turned +his attention to the play, and, as is shown in the text here reproduced, +drew heavily upon Kerr. Winter says that he depended also upon the +dramatic pieces used by Flynn and Parsons. The date of the first essayal +of the part in New York was January 7, 1850, at the New National Theatre. +But, during the previous year, he went with the play to the Philadelphia +Arch Street Theatre, where his half-brother, Joseph, appeared with him in +the ri?1/2le of _Seth_. Durang, however, disagrees with this date, giving it +under the heading of the "Summer Season of 1850 at the Arch Street +Theatre," and the specific time as August 19. In his short career Burke +won an enviable position as an actor. "He had an eye and a face," wrote +Joe Jefferson, "that told their meaning before he spoke, a voice that +seemed to come from the heart itself, penetrating--but melodious." He was +slender, emaciated, sensitive,--and full of lively response to things. Like +all of the Jeffersons, he was a born comedian, and critics concede that W. +E. Burton feared his rivalry. Between Burke and his half-brother, there +was a profound attraction; they had "barn stormed" together, and through +Burke's consideration it was that Joe was first encouraged and furthered +in Philadelphia. Contrasting Burton and Burke, Jefferson wrote in his +"Autobiography:" + + + Burton coloured highly, and laid on the effects with a liberal + brush, while Burke was subtle, incisive and refined. Burton's + features were strong and heavy, and his figure was portly and + ungainly. Burke was lithe and graceful. His face was plain, but + wonderfully expressive. The versatility of this rare actor was + remarkable, his pathos being quite as striking a feature as his + comedy. {~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} His dramatic effects sprung more from intuition than + from study; and, as was said of Barton Booth, "the blind might + have seen him in his voice, and the deaf have heard him in his + visage." + + +But the height of Jefferson's praise was reached when he said: "Charles +Burke was to acting what Mendelssohn was to music. He did not have to work +for his effects, as I do; he was not analytical, as I am. Whatever he did +came to him naturally, as grass grows or water runs; it was not talent +that informed his art, but genius." + +Such was the comedian who next undertook the ri?1/2le of _Rip_. How often +his own phrase, "Are we so soon forgot," has been applied to the actor and +his art! The only preservative we have of this art is either in individual +expressions of opinion or else in contemporary criticism. Fortunately, +John Sleeper Clarke, another estimable comedian of the Jefferson family, +has left an impression of how Burke read that one famous line of his. He +has said: + + + No other actor has ever disturbed the impression that the profound + pathos of Burke's voice, face, and gesture created; it fell upon + the senses like the culmination of all mortal despair, and the + actor's figure, as the low, sweet tones died away, symbolized more + the ruin of the representative of the race than the sufferings of + an individual: his awful loss and loneliness seemed to clothe him + with a supernatural dignity and grandeur which commanded the + sympathy and awe of his audience. + + +Never, said Clarke, who often played _Seth_ to Burke's _Rip_, was he +disappointed in the poignant reading of that line--so tender, pathetic and +simple that even the actors of his company were affected by it. + +However much these various attempts at dramatization may have served their +theatrical purpose, they have all been supplanted in memory by the play as +evolved by Jefferson and Boucicault, who began work upon it in 1861. The +incident told by Jefferson of how he arrived by his decision to play +_Rip_, as his father had done before him, is picturesque. One summer day, +in 1859, he lay in the loft of an old barn, reading the "Life and Letters +of Washington Irving," and his eye fell upon this passage: + + + September 30, 1858. Mr. Irving came in town, to remain a few days. + In the evening went to Laura Keene's Theatre to see young + Jefferson as _Goldfinch_ in Holcroft's comedy, "The Road to Ruin." + Thought Jefferson, the father, one of the best actors he had ever + seen; and the son reminded him, in look, gesture, size, and + "make," of the father. Had never seen the father in _Goldfinch_, + but was delighted with the son. + + +This incident undoubtedly whetted the interest of Joseph Jefferson, and he +set about preparing his version. He had played in his half-brother's, and +had probably seen Hackett in Kerr's. All that was needed, therefore, was +to evolve something which would be more ideal, more ample in opportunity +for the exercise of his particular type of genius. So he turned to the +haven at all times of theatrical need, Dion Boucicault, and talked over +with him the ideas that were fulminating in his brain. Clark Davis has +pointed out that in the Jefferson "Rip" the credits should thus be +measured: + +Act I.--Burke + Jefferson + Boucicault ending. +Act II.--Jefferson. +Act III.--Burke + Jefferson + ending suggested by Shakespeare's + "King Lear." + +But, however the credit is distributed, Jefferson alone made the play as +it lives in the memories of those who saw it. It grew by what it fed on, +by accretions of rich imagination. Often times, Jefferson was scored for +his glorification of the drunkard. He and Boucicault were continually +discussing how best to circumvent the disagreeable aspects of _Rip's_ +character. Even Winter and J. Rankin Towse are inclined to frown at the +reprobate, especially by the side of Jefferson's interpretation of _Bob +Acres_ or of _Caleb Plummer_. There is no doubt that, in their +collaboration, Boucicault and Jefferson had many arguments about "Rip." +Boucicault has left a record of the encounters: + + + "Let us return to 1865," he wrote. "Jefferson was anxious to + appear in London. All his pieces had been played there. The + managers would not give him an appearance unless he could offer + them a new play. He had a piece called 'Rip Van Winkle', but when + submitted for their perusal, they rejected it. Still he was so + desirous of playing _Rip_ that I took down Washington Irving's + story and read it over. It was hopelessly undramatic. 'Joe', I + said, 'this old sot is not a pleasant figure. He lacks romance. I + dare say you made a fine sketch of the old beast, but there is no + interest in him. He may be picturesque, but he is not dramatic. I + would prefer to start him in a play as a young scamp, thoughtless, + gay, just such a curly-head, good-humoured fellow as all the + village girls would love, and the children and dogs would run + after'. Jefferson threw up his hands in despair. It was totally + opposed to his artistic preconception. But I insisted, and he + reluctantly conceded. Well, I wrote the play as he plays it now. + It was not much of a literary production, and it was with some + apology that it was handed to him. He read it, and when he met me, + I said: 'It is a poor thing, Joe'. 'Well', he replied, 'it is good + enough for me'. It was produced. Three or four weeks afterward he + called on me, and his first words were: 'You were right about + making _Rip_ a young man. Now I could not conceive and play him in + any other shape'." + + +When finished, the manuscript was read to Ben Webster, the manager of the +Haymarket Theatre, London, and to Charles Reade, the collaborator, with +Boucicault, in so many plays. Then the company heard it, after which +Jefferson proceeded to study it, literally living and breathing the part. +Many are the humourous records of the play as preserved in the Jefferson +"Autobiography" and in the three books on Jefferson by Winter Frances +Wilson and Euphemia Jefferson. + +On the evening of September 4, 1865, at the London Adelphi, the play was +given. Accounts of current impressions are extant by Pascoe and Oxenford. +It was not seen in New York until September 3, 1866, when it began a run +at the Olympic, and it did not reach Boston until May 3, 1869. From the +very first, it was destined to be Jefferson's most popular ri?1/2le. His +royalties, as time progressed, were fabulous, or rather his profits, for +actor, manager, and author were all rolled into one. He deserted a large +repertory of parts as the years passed and his strength declined. But to +the very end he never deserted _Rip_. At his death the play passed to his +son, Thomas. The Jefferson version has been published with an +interpretative introduction by him. + +When it was first given, the play was scored for the apparent padding of +the piece in order to keep Jefferson longer on the stage. The supernatural +elements could not hoodwink the critics, but, as Jefferson added humanity +to the part, and created a poetic, lovable character, the play was greatly +strengthened. In fact Jefferson was the play. His was a classic +embodiment, preserved in its essential details in contemporary criticism +and vivid pictures. + + + + + +[Illustration: +THEATRE +------- +FOR THE BENEFIT + +OF + +Mrs. SHARPE +AND HER LAST APPEARANCE, prior to her departure for +the South--on which occasion + +Mr. Hackett +Has kindly consented to perform. +-------------------------------- +On Wednesday Evening, Oct. 18 + +Will be produced, 1st time in America, the Tragedy in 5 acts, of + +THE BRIDAL + +_As altered from a Tragedy of Beaumont & Fletcher, by_ WILLIAM +MACREADY _and_ SHERIDAN KNOWLES, _and now performing +in London with great applause._ + + +Areanus, (King of Rhodes) Mr. Richings +Melantius Fredericks +Amintor Mason +Lysippus (brother to the King) Wells +Diphibus, (brother of Melantius & Evadne) Nexsom +Cleon, Garland +Caltranex, (Kinsman o to Aspasia,) Wheatley +Archas (Keeper of the Prison) Bedford +Strato, Isherwood +Diagoras, Johnson +Assassin King +Dion Gallott + +Nobles, Guards, &c + +EVADNE (Wife of Amintor ) MRS. SHARPE +Aspasia (formerly betrothed to Amintor) Mrs. Richardson +Antiphole, Pritchard +Olympias Conway +Dula Durie +Cleanthe Miss Bedford + +Ladies, &c. &c. +-------------------------------------------------------- + +--IN ACT 2-- + +A GREEK PAS DE DEUX, + +WILL BE DANCED + +By MR. & MRS. CHECKENI. + +-------------------------------------------------------- + +After which, the Drama of + +_Rip Van Winkle!_ + +_Or--A Legend of the Catskill Mountains._] + + +[Illustration: +Characters in Act First--or 1763. + +_RIP VAN WINKLE, a North River Dutchman_ _Mr. HACKETT_ +Derrick Van Tassel, the Burgomaster Mr. Clarke +Nichols Vedder, a Farmer, Isherwood +Brom Van Brunt, a Schoolmaster, Fisher +Rory Van Clump, Landlord of George 3d Tavern, Wells +Henderick Hudson, Capt. of the Spirit Crew of the Dutch +discovery ship 'Half Moon' Hayden +Richard Juet, his Mate, +Dirk Quackenboss, + Dutchmen, Spirit Crew, &c. +Dame Van Winkle, Rip's Scolding Wife, Mrs. Wheatley +Alice, Rip's Sister, Chippindale + +Between the first and Second Acts a period of Twenty Years +is supposed to elapse. + +RIP VAN WINKLE, the Sleeper, now a Stranger + in his Native Village, MR. HACKETT +Herman Van Tassel, Son of the late Burgomaster + Contracted to Gertrude, Mr. Wheatley +Abram Higginbottomm, late Brom Van Brunt Fisher +Bradford, in love with Gertrude Richings +Perseverance Peashell, Landlord of Washington Hotel Povey +Hiram } Yankee Wits King +Ebeneezer, } Wells +Young Rip Van Winkle, Bancker +District Judge Nexsom +Gertrude Van Winkle, contracted to Herman Miss E. Turnbull +Dame Van Winkle, formerly Alice Van Winkle Chippindale + +--------------------------------------------- +*A Double Hornpipe by Mast & Miss Wells.* +--------------------------------------------- + +To conclude with, The FIRST ACT of the Farce of the + +_Kentuckian_ + +Or--A Trip to New-York. + +*Nimrod Wildfire,* *Mr. Hackett* +Mr. Freeman Mr. Clarke +Percival, Wheatley +Pompey, Povey +Tradesman, Gallott +Mrs. Luminary, Mrs. Wheatley +Mrs. Freeman Vernon +Mary, Durie +Servant, Conway +Caroline Miss Turnbull + +-------------------------------------------- +_Thursday--Third Night of the Engagement of_ + +*MISS TREE* + +LOM, + Miss Tree + +And, ANIMAL MAGNETISM. + +---------------------------------------------------- +Friday and Saturday Evenings MISS TREE will perform. +---------------------------------------------------- +] + + + + + + RIP VAN WINKLE + + + _A LEGEND OF THE CATSKILLS_ + + A ROMANTIC DRAMA IN TWO ACTS + + ADAPTED FROM WASHINGTON IRVING'S SKETCH BOOK + + _By_ CHARLES BURKE + + + + +[It is common knowledge that "Rip Van Winkle," as a play, was a general +mixture of several versions when it finally reached the hands of Joseph +Jefferson. From Kerr to Burke, from Burke to Boucicault, from Boucicault +to Jefferson was the progress. The changes made by Burke in the Kerr +version are so interesting, and the similarities are so close, that the +Editor has thought it might be useful to make an annotated comparison of +the two. This has been done, with the result that the reader is given two +plays in one. The title-page of the Kerr acting edition runs as follows: +"Rip Van Winkle; A Legend of Sleepy Hollow. A Romantic Drama in Two Acts. +Adapted from Washington Irving's Sketch-Book by John Kerr, Author of +'Therese', 'Presumptive Guilt', 'Wandering Boys', 'Michael and Christine', +'Drench'd and Dried', 'Robert Bruce', &c., &c. With Some Alterations, by +Thomas Hailes Lacy. Theatrical Publisher. London." The Burke version, used +here as a basis, follows the acting text, without stage positions, +published by Samuel French. An opera on the subject of "Rip Van Winkle," +the libretto written by Wainwright, was presented at Niblo's Garden, New +York, by the Pyne and Harrison Troupe, Thursday, September 27, 1855. There +was given, during the season of 1919-20, by the Chicago Opera Association, +"Rip Van Winkle: A Folk Opera," with music by Reginald de Kovan and +libretto by Percy Mackaye, the score to be published by G. Schirmer. New +York.] + + + + + CAST OF CHARACTERS + + +First performed at the West London Theatre (under the management of Mr. +Beverley). + + RIP VAN WINKLE + + A Legend of the Sleepy Hollow. + + CHARACTERS + + ACT I. 1763 + + _Original_ _Walnut St. _ + _Philadelphia_ +DEIDRICH VAN SLAUS Mr. Sanger Mr. Porter +HERMAN (his Son) " N. Norton " Read +KNICKERBOCKER (a " S. Beverley " J. Jefferson +Schoolmaster) +RORY VAN CLUMP (a " C. Osborne " Greene +Landlord) + " Chapman +RIP VAN WINKLE " H. BEVERLEY " Hackett +NICHOLAS VEDDER " T. Santer " Sefton +PETER CLAUSEN " Cogan " James +GUSTAVE Master Kerr Miss Anderson +DAME VAN WINKLE Mrs. Porter Mrs. B. Stickney +ALICE " W. Hall Mrs. S. Chapman +LOWENA Miss Kerr Miss Eberle +IMP OF THE W. Oxberry, Jun. W. Wells +MOUNTAIN + + The Spectre Crew of the Mountains, Farmers, &c. + A Lapse of Twenty Years occurs between the Acts. + + Act II. 1783. + +HERMAN VAN SLAUS Mr. H. Norton Mr. Read +SETH KILDERKIN ---- ---- +KNICKERBOCKER " S. Beverley " J. Jefferson +NICHOLAS VEDDER " T. Santer " Sefton +GUSTAVE ---- ---- +YOUNG RIP ---- ---- + " Chapman +RIP VAN WINKLE " H. Beverley " Hackett +ALICE VAN Mrs. W. Hall Mrs. S. Chapman +KNICKERBOCKER +LOWENA Miss Kerr Miss Eberle +JACINTHA ---- ---- + + CAST OF THE CHARACTERS + + _Bowery_ _Arch Street_ + _Theatre_ _Theatre_ + _New York_ _Philadelphia_ +ACT I--1763 1857 1850 +RIP VAN WINKLE (a Mr. F. S. Chanfrau Mr. C. Burke +Dutchman) +KNICKERBOCKER (a " Whiting " J. L. Baker +Schoolmaster) +DERRIC VAN SLAUS " Ferdon " Marsh +(the Burgomaster) +HERMAN VAN SLAUS " Blake " Henkins +(his son). +NICHOLAS VEDDER " Baker ---- +(friend to Rip) +CLAUSEN " Edson " Bradford +RORY VANCLUMP (a " Foster " Worrell +Landlord) +GUSTAFFE " F. Hodge " Mortimore +DAME VAN WINKLE Mrs. Axtel Mrs. Hughs +ALICE " Fitzgerald Miss Wood +LORRENNA Miss Wallis " E. Jones +SWAGGRINO } Mr. Williams Mr. Brown +Spirits of the +{ +GAUDERKIN } " Barry " Ray +Catskills { +ICKEN } " Bennett " Ross +{ + +ACT II.--1783.--_A lapse of twenty years is supposed to occur between_ + _the First and Second Acts._ + +RIP VAN WINKLE Mr. F. S. Chanfrau Mr. C. Burke +(the dreamer) +HERMAN VAN SLAUS " Blake " Henkins +SETH SLOUGH " Denham " J. Jefferson +KNICKERBOCKER " Whiting " J. L. Baker +THE JUDGE " Pelham " Anderson +GUSTAFFE " F. Hodges " Mortimore +RIP VAN WINKLE, " Thompson " Stanley +JR. +FIRST VILLAGER " Bennett " Thomas +SECOND VILLAGER " Alkins " Sims +ALICE Mrs. Fitzgerald Miss Wood +KNICKERBOCKER +LORRENNA " J. R. Scott " E. Jones + + _Broadway_ _Metropolitan_ + _Theatre_ _Theatre_ + _New York_ _Buffalo_ +ACT I--1763 1855 1857 +RIP VAN WINKLE (a Mr. Hackett Mr. F. S. Chanfrau +Dutchman) +KNICKERBOCKER (a " Norton " B. G. Rogers +Schoolmaster) +DERRIC VAN SLAUS " McDonall " Ross +(the Burgomaster) +HERMAN VAN SLAUS ---- " Ferrell +(his son) +NICHOLAS VEDDER " Anderson " Stephens +(friend to Rip) +CLAUSEN ---- " Leak +RORY VANCLUMP (a " Price " Boynton +Landlord) +GUSTAFFE Miss Wood " Kent +DAME VAN WINKLE Mrs. Bellamy Miss Wells +ALICE " Sylvester Mrs. C. Henri +LORRENNA Miss Henry La Petite Sarah +SWAGGRINO } Mr. Lamy Mr. Henri +Spirits of the +{ +GAUDERKIN } ---- " McAuley +Catskills { +ICKEN } ---- " Ferris +{ + +ACT II.--1783.--_A lapse of twenty years is supposed to occur between_ + _the First and Second Acts._ + +RIP VAN WINKLE Mr. Hackett Mr. F. S. Chanfrau +(the dreamer) +HERMAN VAN SLAUS " Warwick " Ferrell +SETH SLOUGH " Whiting " Stephens +KNICKERBOCKER " Norton " B.G. Rogers +THE JUDGE ---- " Spackman +GUSTAFFE " Levere " Kent +RIP VAN WINKLE, " Ryder " McAuley +JR. +FIRST VILLAGER " Brown " Ferris +SECOND VILLAGER " Hoffman " Judson +ALICE Mrs. Sylvester Mrs. C. Henri +KNICKERBOCKER +LORRENNA " Allen Miss Tyson + + + + +COSTUME + + +RIP--_First dress:_--A deerskin coat and belt, full brown breeches, deerskin +gaiters, cap. _Second dress:_--Same, but much worn and ragged. + +KNICKERBOCKER--_First dress:_--Brown square cut coat, vest and breeches, +shoes and buckles. _Second dress:_--Black coat, breeches, hose, &c. + +DERRIC VAN SLAUS--Square cut coat, full breeches, black silk hose, shoes +and buckles--_powder_. + +HERMAN--_First dress:_--Ibid. _Second dress:_--Black frock coat, tight pants, +boots and tassels. + +VEDDER } +CLAUSEN } Dark square cut coats, vests, breeches, &c. +RORY } + +GUSTAFFE--Blue jacket, white pants, shoes. + +SETH SLOUGH--Gray coat, striped vest, large gray pants. + +JUDGE--Full suit of black. + +YOUNG RIP--A dress similar to Rip's first dress. + +DAME--Short gown and quilted petticoat, cap. + +ALICE--_First dress:_--Bodice, with half skirt, figured petticoat. _Second +dress:_--Brown satin bodice and skirt, &c. + +LORRENNA, Act 1--A child. + +LORRENNA, Act 2--White muslin dress, black ribbon belt, &c. + + + + + RIP VAN WINKLE + + + + ACT I. + + +SCENE I. + + +_A Village.--House, with a sign of_ "George III."--_Two or three +tables._--VILLAGERS _discovered, smoking_. VEDDER, KNICKERBOCKER, RORY, +CLAUSEN _at table. Chorus at rise of curtain._ + + CHORUS. + + In our native land, where flows the Rhine, + In infancy we culled the vine: + Although we toiled with patient care, + But poor and scanty was our fare. + + SOLO. + + Till tempting waves, with anxious toil, + We landed on Columbia's soil; + Now plenty, all our cares repay, + So laugh and dance the hours away. + + CHORUS. + + Now plenty, all our cares repay, + So laugh and dance the hours away; + Ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha! + So laugh, ha, ha! and dance the hours away. + +VEDDER. + + Neighbour Clausen, on your way hither, saw you anything of our friend, + Rip Van Winkle? Where there's a cup of good liquor to be shared, he's + sure to be on hand--a thirsty soul. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Truly, the man that turns up his nose at good liquor is a fool, as we + Dutchmen have it; but cut no jokes on Rip; remember, I'm soon to be a + member of his family: and any insult offered to him, I shall resent in + the singular number, and satisfaction must follow, as the Frenchmen have + it. + +VEDDER. + + So, Knickerbocker, you are really determined to marry Rip's sister, the + pretty Alice? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Yes, determined to be a prisoner in Hymen's chains, as the lovers have + it. I've got Rip's consent, I've got Alice's consent, and I've got my + own consent. + +CLAUSEN. + + But have you got the dame's consent, eh? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + There I'm dished and done up brown; would you believe it? she calls me a + long, scraggy, outlandish animal, and that I look like two deal boards + glued together! + +RORY. + + Here comes Alice, and with her, Rip's daughter. + + _Enter_ ALICE, _with_ LORRENNA. [LOWENA](1) + +ALICE. + + Come along, loiterer! Woe betide us when we get home, for having tarried + so long! What will the dame say? + +LORRENNA. + + Well, it's not my fault, for you have been up and down the lane a dozen + times, looking for the schoolmaster, Knickerbocker. + +ALICE. + + Hold your tongue, Miss, it's no such thing. + +LORRENNA. + + You know you love him. + +ALICE. + + How do you know that, Miss Pert? + +LORRENNA. + + I can see it; and seeing is believing, they say. Oh, you're monstrous + jealous of him, you know you are. + + KNICKERBOCKER _advances._ + +ALICE. + + Jealous! I, jealous of him? No, indeed, I never wish to see his ugly + face again. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Say not so, sweet blossom of the valley, for in that case I shall shoot + myself in despair. + +ALICE. + + Oh, don't think of such a thing, for then your ghost might haunt me. + +LORRENNA. + + And I'm sure you would rather have him than his ghost, wouldn't you, + Alice? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + That's a very smart child. But Alice, sweet Alice, can't I drop in this + evening, when the old folks are out of the way? + +ALICE. + + Not for the world; if the dame were to find you in the house, I don't + know what would happen. + +LORRENNA. + + Don't you know, Alice, mammy always goes out for an hour in the evening, + to see her neighbour, Dame Wrigrim; now, if you [_To_ KNICKERBOCKER.] + come at eight o'clock, and throw some gravel at the window, there's no + knowing but you might see Alice. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + That's an uncommon clever girl; but, Alice, I'm determined to turn over + a new leaf with Dame Van Winkle; the next time I see her, I'll pluck up + [my] courage and say to her-- + +DAME. + + [_Without._] Alice! Alice! odds bodikins and pins, but I'll give it you + when I catch you. + + _The_ VILLAGERS _exit._ + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Run, Alice, run! + + [ALICE, LORRENNA _and_ KNICKERBOCKER _run to right._ + +DAME. + + [_Without._] Alice! + + [ALICE, LORENNA _and_ KNICKERBOCKER _exeunt hastily_. + +RORY. + + Egad! the dame's tongue is a perfect scarecrow! + +VEDDER. + + The sound of her voice sets them running just as if she were one of the + mountain spirits, of whom we hear so much talk. [But where the deuce can + Rip be all this while? [RIP _sings without._] But talk of the devil and + his imps appear.](2) + + _Enter_ RIP VAN WINKLE, _with gun, game-bag, &c._ + +RIP. + + Rip, Rip, wass is dis for a business. You are a mix nootze unt dat is a + fact. Now, I started for de mountains dis mornin', determined to fill my + bag mit game, but I met Von Brunt, de one-eyed sergeant--[comma see hah, + unt brandy-wine hapben my neiber friend];(3) well, I couldn't refuse to + take a glass mit him, unt den I tooks anoder glass, unt den I took so + much as a dozen, [do](4) I drink no more as a bottle; he drink no more + as I--he got so top heavy, I rolled him in de hedge to sleep a leetle, + for his one eye got so crooked, he never could have seed his way + straight; den I goes to de mountain, [do](5) I see double, [d----d](6) a + bird could I shooted. But I stops now, I drinks no more; if anybody ask + me to drink, I'll say to dem--[VEDDER _comes down, and offers cup to + him._]--here is your [go-to-hell],(7) and your family's [go-to-hell], and + may you all live long and [prosper].(8) [_Drinks._ + +VEDDER. + + Why, neighbour Rip, where have you been all day? We feared some of the + [Elfin](9) goblins of the Catskill had caught you. + +RIP. + + Ha, ha! I never see no ghosts, though I've fought mit _spirits_ in my + time, ha, ha! + +VEDDER. + + And they always throw you, eh? ha, ha! + +RIP. + + Dat's a fact! Ha, ha, ha! + +VEDDER. + + But, Rip, where have you been? + +RIP. + + Oh, very hard at work(10)--very busy; dere is nothing slipped [fun my + fingers as was come at abe.](11) + +RORY. + + They appear to have slipped through your game bag though, for it's full + of emptiness.--Ha, ha, ha! + +RIP. + + Ho, ho, ho! cut no jokes at my _bag_ or I'll gib you de sack. + +VEDDER. + + Come, Rip, sit down, take a pipe and a glass and make yourself + comfortable. + +RIP. + + [Nine, nine--ech con neiched--](12) it behoves a man to look after his + interest unt not drink all de while, I shall den be able to manage-- + +VEDDER. + + Your wife, Rip? + +RIP. + + Manage mine [frow](13)? Can you fly to de moon on a [paper](14) kite? + Can you drink all de beer and brandy-wine at one gulp? when you can do + dat, mine goot [im himmel](15) you can manage mine [frow]. [_All + laugh._(16) + +RORY. + + Take one glass, Rip.(17) + +RIP. + + No, I won't touch him. + +VEDDER. + + Come, come, lay hold. + +RIP. + + Now I'll be [d----d fun](18) I does. + +VEDDER. + + Well, if you won't. [_All go to table but_ RIP. + +RIP. + + Dere is [a](19) drinks, dere is [a] drinks; I have [conquered](20) + temptation at last. Bravo resolution! bravo resolution; resolution, you + shall have one glass for dat.(21) [_Goes to table._ + +OMNES. + + Ha, ha, ha! + +RORY. + + Here, Rip, here's a glass at your service, and as for the contents I'll + warrant it genuine and no mistake. [_Gives_ RIP_ a cup._ + +RIP. + + Rory, here is your [go-to-hell],(22) unt your family's [go-to-hell], un + may you all live long unt [prosper].(23) + +RORY. + + Come, Rip, give us a stave. + +VEDDER. + + Yes, yes, Rip, a stave, for the old dame will be after you soon and then + we will all have to make a clearance. + +RIP. + + Oh, tunner wasser! [won't](24) my old woman skin me when I get home. + +VEDDER AND RORY. + + Ha, ha, ha! come, the song, the song. + +RIP. + + Well, here is Rip Van Winkle's warning to all single fellows. + + SONG.--RIP. + + List, my friends, to caution's voice, + Ere de marriage knot you tie; + It is [the devil],(25) mit shrews to splice, + Dat nobody can deny, deny, + Dat nobody can deny. + + _Chorus._--That nobody can deny, &c. + + When a wife to rule once wishes, + Mit poor spouse 'tis all my eye, + I'm [d----d](26) if she don't wear de breeches, + Dat nobody can deny, deny, + Dat nobody can deny. + + _Chorus._--That nobody can deny, &c. + + Yet dere is a charm about dem, + Do dere voices are so high + We can't do mit'em, [_Pause._ + Nor we can't do mit-out 'em, + Dat nobody can deny, deny, + Dat nobody can deny. + + _Chorus._--That nobody can deny, &c.(27) + +DAME. + + [_Without._] Rip, Rip! I'll stretch your ears when I get hold of them. + +RIP. + + [Mine goot im himmel],(28) dere is my frow. + +DAME. + + [_Without._] Rip! you lazy varmint! Rip! + +RIP. + + [_Gets under the table with bottle._] Look out, boys! de wild cat's + coming. + +_Music._--VEDDER, RORY _and_ CLAUSEN, _at table._--_Enter_ DAME, _with a +stick._ + +DAME. + + Where is this wicked husband of mine! odds bodikins and pins! I heard + his voice; you've hid him somewhere! you ought to be ashamed of + yourselves to inveigle a husband from a tender, loving spouse; but I'm + put upon by all, because they know the mildness of my temper.--[_They + laugh._]--Odds bodikins and curling irons, but some of you shall laugh + the other sides of your mouths--I'll pull your pates for you.(29) + +_Music._--_Chases them round table; they exit._--DAME _upsets table and +discovers_ RIP. + +DAME. + + Oh, you Rip of all rips! what have you to say for yourself? + +RIP. + + Here is your [go-to-hell],(30) unt your family's, unt may you all live + long and [prosper]. + +DAME. + + [_Pulling him down the stage by the ear._] I'm cool--that is to say not + very hot: but the mildest temper in the world would be in a passion at + such treatment. Get home, you drunken monster, or I sha'n't be able to + keep my hands off you. Tell me, sir, what have you been about all day? + +RIP. + + Hard at work, my dumpsy dumpsy; de first ting I see dis morning was a + fine fat rabbit. + +DAME. + + A rabbit? Oh, I do like rabbits in a stew; I like everything in a stew. + +RIP. + + I be [d----d](31) but dat is a fact. + +DAME. + + Well, well, the rabbit? + +RIP. + + I was going to tell you, well, dere was de rabbit feeding in de grass. + +DAME. + + Well, well, Rip? + +RIP. + + I [puts](32) my gun to my shoulder-- + +DAME. + + Yes,-- + +RIP. + + I takes goot aim mit him. + +DAME. + + Yes,-- + +RIP. + + I [pulls](33) my trigger, unt-- + +DAME. + + Bang went the gun and down the rabbit fell. + +RIP. + + Eh? snap went [de](34) gun and off de rabbit run. Ha, ha, ha! + +DAME. + + No! + +RIP. + + I be [d----d fun](35) dat is a fact. + +DAME. + + And you shot nothing? + +RIP. + + Not dat time; but de next time, I picks me my flint, unt I [creeps](36) + up to de little [pond](37) by de old field, unt dere--what do you + [tink](38) I see? + +DAME. + + Ducks? + +RIP. + + More as fifty black ducks--ducks as big as [a goose](39)--well, I hauls up + again. + +DAME. + + And so will I [_Raising stick._] if you miss fire this time. + +RIP. + + Bang! + +DAME. + + How many down? + +RIP. + + [One!](40) + +DAME. + + Not more than one duck out of fifty? + +RIP. + + Yes, a great deal more as [one] duck. + +DAME. + + Then you shot more than one? + +RIP. + + Yes, more as one duck,--I shot one old bull. + +DAME. + + What? + +RIP. + + I'm [d----d fun] dat is a fact! dat was one down, and [my goot im + himmel](41) how he did roar and bellow, unt lash his tail, unt snort and + sneeze, unt sniff! Well, de bull puts right after me, unt I puts right + away fun de bull: well, de bull comes up mit me just as I was climbing + de fence, unt he catch me mit his horns fun de [seat](42) of my + breeches, unt sent me flying more as a mile high.--Well, by-and-bye + directly, I come down aready in a big tree, unt dere I sticks fast, unt + den-- + +DAME. + + You went fast asleep for the rest of the day. + +RIP. + + Dat's a fact. How(43) you know dat? you must be a witch. + +DAME. + + [_Catching him by the collar._] Home, sir, home! you lazy scamp. + [_Beating him._ + +RIP. + + But, mine lublicka frow-- + +DAME. + + Home! [_Beating him._ + +RIP. + + [Nine! nine!--](44) + +DAME. + + Home! [_Beats him._ + +RIP. + + [Mine goot im himmel.](45) [_Music._--DAME _beats him off._ + +*Footnotes* + + 1 So spelled in the Kerr version. + + 2 Assigned to CLAUSEN in the Kerr version. Preceding this bracket, + + CLAUSEN. Well, she is a tartar, there's no denying that. + VEDDER. Not but if she were my wife instead of Rip's. I warrant I'd + soon tame her. + CLAUSEN. Not you! But where the deuce ... + + 3 Not in the Kerr version. + + 4 "but" in K. + + 5 "but as" in K. + + 6 "not a" in K. + + 7 "Goot-hell" in K. + + 8 "brosber" in K. In this speech, there is a variation in dialect as + "v" for "w" in such words as "was," and "v" for "o" in such a word + as "one." + + 9 Not in K. + + 10 "vork" in K. + + 11 "froo my fingers as vas comeatable," in K. + + 12 "Nein, nein" in K. + + 13 "frau" in K. + + 14 "baber" in K. + + 15 "freund, den" in K. + + 16 Here is given in Kerr, the following: + + VEDDER. I wish she was my wife, I'd manage her. + RIP. And I wish she vas your vife too, or anybody's vife, so long as + she vasn't mine vife. + + 17 RORY'S speech, in K., begins with "Come." + + 18 "stewed vhen" in K. + + 19 "der" in K. + + 20 "gonguered" in K. + + 21 In K., variation only in dialect form. + + 22 "goot-hell" in K. + + 23 "brosber" in K. + + 24 "vont" in K. The present edition does not attempt to indicate such + slight variations and differences. + + 25 "der tyfil" in K. + + 26 "stewed" in K. + + 27 In this song, "v" takes the place of "w" in K. + + 28 "Der tyfil" in K. + + 29 In K. there follows: + + VEDDER. Oh. I wish I was your husband, Dame Winkle. [_Exit._ + DAME. You, my husband, you! [_To the others._] Out of my sight, + reprobates. + + 30 "goot-hell" in K. + + 31 "stewed" in K. + + 32 "buts" in K. + + 33 "bulls" in K. + + 34 "der" in K. + + 35 "stewed but" in K. + + 36 "creebs" in K. + + 37 "bond" in K. + + 38 "think" in K. + + 39 "gooses" in K. + + 40 "von" in K. + + 41 "den" in K. + + 42 "back" in K. + + 43 "do" follows "how" in K. + + 44 "Nein, nein" in K. + + 45 In K., Rip's speech is "Ter tyfill but I have cotch him dis time!" + + +SCENE II. + + +_A Plain Chamber._ + + _Enter_ DERRIC VAN SLAUS.(46) + +DERRIC. + + Should the present application fail, I am a ruined man; all my + speculations will be frustrated, and my duplicity exposed; yes, the + dissipation of my son must inevitably prove his ruin as well as mine. To + supply his wants, the public money has been employed; and, if unable to + replace it, heaven knows what may be the consequence. But my son is now + placed with an able advocate in New York, and should he pursue the right + path, there may be still hopes of his reformation. + +HERMAN. + + [_Without._] My father, you say, is this way? + +DERRIC. + + What voice is that; my son? What can have recalled him thus suddenly? + Some new misadventure.--Oh, my forboding thoughts! + + _Enter_ HERMAN. + +DERRIC. + + Herman, what brings you back? Are all my cautions thus lightly regarded, + that they can take no hold upon your conduct? + +HERMAN. + + You have good cause for warmth, sir, but learn the reason of my + disobedience, ere you condemn. Business of importance has urged me + hither--such as concerns us both most intimately. + +DERRIC. + + Some fresh extravagance, no doubt, to drain my little left, and set a + host of creditors loose upon me. + +HERMAN. + + Not so, sir, but the reverse. List! you know our neighbour, Rip Van + Winkle? + +DERRIC. + + Know him? Aye, his idleness is proverbial; you have good cause to + recollect him too, since 'twas by his courage your life was preserved, + when attacked by the famished wolf. + +HERMAN. + + He has a daughter scarcely seven years old; now, the attorney whom I + serve has been employed to draw up the will and settle the affairs of + this girl's aunt, who, for some slight offered by Van Winkle, has long + since discarded the family. At her death, the whole of her immense + wealth, in cash and land, is the inheritance of the girl, who is, at + this moment, the richest presumptive heiress in the land. + +DERRIC. + + What connection can Van Winkle's fortune have with ours? + +HERMAN. + + Listen! Were it possible to procure his signature to a contract that his + daughter, when of age, should be married to me, on this security money + might be raised by us to any amount. Now, my good father, am I + comprehensible? + +DERRIC. + + Truly, this seems no visionary dream, like those in which, with fatal + pertinacity, you have so oft indulged; and, on recollection, the rent of + his tenement is in arrears; 'twill offer favourable opportunity for my + calling and sounding him; the contract must be your care. + +HERMAN. + + 'Tis already prepared and lacks only his signature.--[_Presenting it._] + Lawyers, who would do justice to their clients, must not pause at + conscience; 'tis entirely out of the question when their own interest is + concerned. + +DERRIC. + + Herman, I like not this black-leg manner of proceeding: yet it augurs + thou wilt be no pettifogger. I'll to Van Winkle straight and, though not + legalized to act, yet in this case I can do work which honest lawyers + would scorn. [_Exit._ + +HERMAN. + + [_Solus._] True; the honest lawyer lives by his reputation, and + therefore pauses to undertake a cause he knows unjust: but how easily + are some duped. Can my father for a moment suppose that the rank weeds + of youth are so easily uprooted? No! what is to be done, good father of + mine, but to serve myself? young men of the present generation cannot + live without the means of entering into life's varieties and this supply + will henceforth enable me to do so, to the fullest extent of my + ambitious wishes. [_Exit._ + +*Footnotes* + + 46 "_and_ HERMAN" in K. The scene, which is different, runs as follows: + + HERMAN. Lecture me as much as you will, father, if at the close of + your sermon you are prepared to supply me with the money + that I need. + DERRIC. Money! that is eternally your cry. Your extravagances have + almost ruined and soon will dishonour me. Oh! I am but + justly punished for my mad indulgence of a son who was + born only to be my bane and curse. + HERMAN. If you could but invent some fresh terms for my reproach! + such frequent repetition becomes, I assure you, very + wearisome. + DERRIC. You have caused me to plunge into debt, and I am now pursued + by a host of creditors. + HERMAN. We must find a way to quiet them. And for the money I now + require-- + DERRIC. Not another dollar do you obtain from me. Already, to supply + your cravings, I have misappropriated some of the public + money, and I must replace it soon if I would avert the + shame and degradation with which I now am threatened. + HERMAN. And from which I will save you. + DERRIC. You? + HERMAN. Yes. I! Rip van Winkle, your tenant-- + DERRIC. What has that idle, dissipated fellow to do with the present + matter? + HERMAN. Much, as I will show you, and his daughter more. + DERRIC. His daughter? + HERMAN. Now scarcely seven years old, I believe. This girl has an + aunt residing in New York, who has long since, in + consequence of an affront received from Van Winkle, + discarded the whole family. But I have discovered that, + of which they have no notion. + DERRIC. What do you mean? + HERMAN. Why, that the whole of this aunt's fortune, and she is + immensely rich, must of necessity, at the old lady's + death, become the inheritance of the little Lowena. + DERRIC. And in what way can that affect us? + HERMAN. You shall hear. I have already caused a contract to be + prepared, and to which you must obtain Rip Van Winkle's + signature. + DERRIC. What is that contract? + HERMAN. You shall read it presently. Van Winkle is an easy soul, and + at present, I believe, your debtor. + DERRIC. Yes, considerably in arrears with the rent of the tenement, + which he holds from me. + HERMAN. Obtain his signature to the contract I am about to give you, + and 'twill be a security on which money may be raised to + any amount. + DERRIC. You amaze me, I-- + HERMAN. You must have cash, father, to relieve you from your + unpleasant difficulties, and I, for those delights of + youth without which there is no advantage in being + young. [_Exeunt._] + + +SCENE III. + + +RIP'S _Cottage.--Door.--Window in flat.--A closet in flat, with dishes, +shelves, &c.--Clothes-basket, with clothes.--Table, chairs, arm-chair, with +cloak over it.--Broom on stage._ + + KNICKERBOCKER _enters cautiously._ + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Zooks! I'm venturing into a tiger's den in quest of a lamb. All's clear, + however; and, could I but pop on little Alice, how we would bill and + coo. She comes! lie still, my fluttering heart. + + _Enter_ ALICE.(47) + +ALICE. + + [_Without observing_ KNICKERBOCKER.] There, there, go to sleep. Ah! + Knickerbocker, how I love you, [spite of all the strange ways that you + pursue.](48) + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + [_Aside._] Sensible, susceptible soul! [But merit ever meets its + recompense.](49) + +ALICE. + + No wonder I am fascinated; [his figure is so elegant, and then his + education! I never see him, but I am ready to jump into his loving arms. + [_Turning, she is caught in the embrace of_ KNICKERBOCKER.](50) + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + This is too much for human nature to support; [this declaration is a + banquet that gods might prize.(51)] Beauteous angel! hear me, whilst I + proclaim-- + + [_Kneeling._ + +DAME. + + [_Without._] Go along, you drunken brute. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + The devil! 'tis Dame Van Winkle! [what's to become of me? + +ALICE. + + If you're found here I'm ruined! you must conceal yourself--but where? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + That's the important question; oh,](52) I'll hop into the cupboard. + +ALICE. + + Not for the world! she is sure to want something out of it. Here, here, + get into this clothes-basket, and let me cover you over with the foul + linen. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + It's a very foul piece of business altogether but I must stomach it + whether I will or no. + +_Music.--She puts him into the basket and covers him with linen._ + + DAME _enters, dragging in_ RIP. + +DAME. + + And now, sir, I've got you home, what have you to say for yourself, I + should like to know? + +RIP. + + Nothing, [my](53) darling, de least said is soonest mended, and so you + shall have all de talk to yourself.--Now ain't dat liberal? + +DAME. + + Where's all the game you were to bring home? + +RIP. + + On de wing still: wouldn't venture to come mitin fire; for though dey + missed mine gun, dere's one ting for certain, I never miss your blowing + up. + +DAME. + + My blowing up! Odds bodikins and pins! I shall never be able to contain + myself! Where's the money to pay the rent, you oaf? + +RIP. + + I don't know.--Do you? + +DAME. + + You'll go to prison, and that'll be the end on't. + +RIP. + + Come, no more quarrelling to-night. [We'll](54) see about de rent money + to-morrow morning. + +DAME. + + To-morrow! it's always to-morrow with you. So, Alice, you are sitting + and idling as usual, just like your brother, a precious pair of soft + pates. + +RIP. + + Soft [pate](55)--pretty hard I guess, or it would have been + [fructured](56) long since and dat's a fact. + +DAME. + + And now, Alice, come with me that I may satisfy myself how you have + disposed of the children, for in these matters you are just such a + crawler as that vagrum there, [_Is retiring._] that terrapin! + +RIP. + + Terrapin! Ah, dame, I leaves you to go the whole hog, but hark'ee, my + lovey, before you go, won't you return de leetle bottle which you manage + to get from me [last night]?(57) + +DAME. + + Odds bodikins, and pins! A man already drunk, and asking for more + liquor! You sha'n't have a drop, you sot, that you shall not. The bottle + indeed! not you, eh! faith! + + [_Exit with_ ALICE. + +RIP. + + [Tunder](58) take me if I don't [think](59) but what she has + [finished](60) it herself, and dat's de fact. My nose always sniffs like + a terrier's; 'tis in de cupboard, her Hollands;--so, here goes to nibble. + +_Music_.--RIP _opens the closet door cautiously, and is rummaging for a +bottle, when he treads on_ KNICKERBOCKER, _who roars out lustily_. RIP, +_in his sudden alarm, upsets the [porcelain and glass];_(_61_)_ and, +falling, rolls into the middle of the chamber, quaking in every limb, and +vociferating loudly._ + +RIP. + + Help! murder! fire! thieves! + +KNICKERBOCKER, [_in the interim_](62), _darts out of the closet, and, +[beyond the consciousness of future proceeding]_(_63_)_, throws himself +into the arm-chair_.--ALICE, _entering hastily, throws a cloak over him, +which hides him from observation_.--DAME _enters, alarmed._ + +DAME. + + Odds bodikins and pins! what's the matter, now? + +RIP. + + [_Raising his head cautiously._] Matter, indeed! [the devil's](64) in + the cupboard! Oh, la! I'll be swammed. + +DAME. + + In the cupboard!--[_Going there, sees china broken; squalling._]--All my + fine porcelain destroyed! monster! vile, rapacious monster! A devil, + indeed, has been in the cupboard, and that's you. The china, presented + to me by my grand relations, which I set such store on, smashed into a + thousand pieces; 'tis too much for my weak nerves. I shall swoon! I + shall faint! [_She sinks in the arm-chair, but immediately starts up, + and, squalling, falls into _RIP'S _arms._--KNICKERBOCKER _regains the + closet, unobserved by all, save_ ALICE. + +DAME. + + Heaven have mercy on us! there was somebody in the chair! somebody in + the chair! + +RIP. + + Phoo! there's nothing in de chair, save your old cloak, [_Tossing it + aside._] dat's all. + +DAME. + + I'm so alarmed--so agitated, that--Alice, put your hand into my pocket and + you'll find a bottle. [ALICE_ produces a bottle._ + +RIP. + + [_Aside._] A leetle bottle! Oh, dat's de [private](65) cupboard. Alice, + let me hold de leetle bottle, whilst you fetch a glass for the old + woman. [ALICE, _hastening off, brings a wine-glass, which_ RIP _fills + and gives to_ DAME. + +RIP. + + Here's your [go-to-hell],(66) and your family's and may you live long + and [prosper](67). [_Drinks from the bottle_; ALICE, _in the interim, + proceeds to the closet and brings_ KNICKERBOCKER _out, who is making for + the door, when, hearing some one approach, he again escapes to his + retreat._ + +ALICE. + + [_At door._] Oh, aunt! aunt! here's the burgomaster coming up the + garden. + +DAME. + + Odds bodikins and pins! the burgomaster! what's to be done now? Coming + for the rent! What's to be done now, I say? + +RIP. + + I'll go to bed and [think](68). + + [_Crosses._ + +DAME. + + You sha'n't go to bed! you must make some fresh excuse;--you're famous at + them to me;--you have got into the nobble and must get out of it as well + as you can; I shall go and consult my friend, Dame Wrigrim; and Alice, + should the pedlar woman come, desire her not to leave any more of her + rubbish here. + +_As_ DAME _retires, she meets_ DERRIC(69) _to whom she curtseys._ + +DERRIC. + + Good evening, Dame. + +DAME. + + Your honour's servant. [_Exit_ DAME. + +RIP. + + [_Aside._] La! what a stew I'm in. Alice take yourself off, 'tis full + time. Wish I was off too, mit all my heart and soul. + +ALICE. + + [_Aside._] Dear, dear! what will become of my poor Knickerbocker. + [_Exit._ + +DERRIC. + + Well, honest Rip, how wags the world with you? + +RIP. + + Bad enough, sir, for though [labouring](70) from morn to night, I can + make no advance in de world, though my industry is proverbial, and dat's + a fact. + +DERRIC. + + Why, where the bottle is concerned, few, I believe, can boast so much + industry. + +RIP. + + Dat is a fact; but I suppose you have called concerning de rent. + [_Aside._] How my heart [goes and comes!](71) [_Aloud._] Now if your + honour will be so [good](72) enough to-- + +DERRIC. + + To write the receipt: certainly. + +RIP. + + Nine, nine! [_Aside._] I'm stewed alive mit [perspiration.](73) + +DERRIC. + + We'll talk of the rent at a future period! There is another affair on + which I wish to consult you. + +RIP. + + Take a chair, your honour.--[_Aside, rubbing his hands together._]--It's + all right, by de hookey.--[_Aloud._]--Take a glass mit me. + [_They take chairs._ + +DERRIC. + + You know my only son, [whose life you preserved?](74) + +RIP. + + Yes; and a [wild](75) harum-scarum [dog](76) he is. [_Drinks._ + +DERRIC. + + He [is now stationed in New York, studying the law, and](77) has become + a staid, sober, prudent youth; and [now](78), 'tis my wish that he + should settle in this, his native place, and [that he](79) marry some + honest girl, who is altogether unacquainted with the frivolities of + cities; and I have been thinking that in a few years your daughter will + be grown up, and would make a suitable match for him. True, there will + be some disparity in their ages, but as the years are on the side of the + husband, so 'twill be all the better for the wife, in having a matured + preceptor. + +RIP. + + Beg [pardon],(80) sir; but it strikes me you are only carrying on your + rigs mit me. + +DERRIC. + + No, on my honour; and, to convince you that I'm in earnest, I have + brought with me a contract, by which our offspring, when of age, are + bound to intermarry, or forfeit their several fortunes. I shall settle + all mine on Herman, and I shall expect you to do the same for your + daughter. + +RIP. + + Yah! yah! [ech woll](81); I'll give her all [I got](82); all my money; + but she must be [d----d](83) smart if she can find ['em.](84) Take a + drink, [Mr.](85) Burgomaster. [_Drinks._ + +DERRIC. + + Well, here are the two contracts, both binding and legally drawn. + +RIP. + + Yah! yah! [_Drinks._--DERRIC _gives him the pen._] What you want me to do + mit dis? + +DERRIC. + + Merely sign your name. + +RIP. + + Me, [put](86) my name to dat [paper], mitout my old woman knowing?--mine + goot [friend],(87) she would skin me. [_Noise in closet._] [Schat! you + witch!](88) + +DERRIC. + + But I was about to propose, on condition of your signing the contract, + to let you live rent free, in future. + +RIP. + + Rent free! I'll sign! but [stop]!(89) my old woman [must] play [old + hob](90) mit me--so put down dat I can break dat contract, if I choose, + in twenty years and a day.--[_Noise._]--[Schat! you witch!](91) + +DERRIC. + + [_Writing._] As you please.(92) [_Noise._ + +RIP. + + Schat! you witch!(93) [_Drinks._ + +DERRIC. + + Is that a cat, friend Rip? [_Writing._ + +RIP. + + I don't know if it is a cat--but, if it is my dog [Snider],(94) I + wouldn't be in his skin when de old woman comes back. + +DERRIC. + + There, friend Rip, I have inserted, at your request, this codicil: + "Should the said Rip Van Winkle think fit to annul this contract, within + twenty years and a day, he shall be at full liberty to do so." + +RIP. + + Yah, yah! [dos] is recht--dat is goot. Now [Mr.](95) Burgomaster, what + you want me to do? + +DERRIC. + + Sign it! + +RIP. + + Wass? + +DERRIC. + + Sign! + +RIP. + + Give me de [paper](96).--[_Takes it._]--How my head turns + round.--[_Reading._]--"Should the said Rip Van Winkle"--yah, yah! dat is + me.--"Rip Van Winkle--twenty years and a day."--Oh, dat is all + recht.--[_Writing._]--R-i-p V-a-n--[_Noise._]--Schat! you witch! + W-i-n-k-l-e--now, dere he is. + +DERRIC. + + And there is the counterpart. [_Gives it._ + +RIP. + + Dis is for me, eh? I'll put him in my breast [pocket](97)--yah, yah. + +DERRIC. + + Now, Rip, I must bid you good evening. + +RIP. + + Stop! Take some more liquor. Why, de bottle is empty. Here! Alice! + Alice! get some more schnapps for de burgomaster. + +DERRIC. + + No, not to-night. [_Rising._] But, should you want any you will always + find a bottle for you at your old friend Rory's; so, good-night. + +RIP. + + Stop, [Mr.](98) Burgomaster! I will go and get dat bottle + now.--[_Rising._]--Alice, Alice! [comma see hah!](99) + + _Enter_ ALICE. + +RIP. + + Alice, give me mine hat. [_Alice gives it._] Now, take care of de house + till I comes back: if de old woman comes before I gets home, tell her I + am gone out mit de burgomaster on [par--par--tick--partickler](100) + business.(101) [_Exit, with_ DERRIC. + +ALICE _advances, and brings on_ KNICKERBOCKER _from the closet._ + +ALICE. + + So, Mr. Knickerbocker, you are still here. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Yes, all that's left of me! and, now that the coast is clear, I'll give + them leg bail, as the lawyers have it; and if ever they catch me here + again--[_He goes towards the door, and returns in sudden alarm._] Oh + dear! oh dear! here's mother Van Winkle coming back. I shall never get + out of this mess. + +ALICE. + + It's all your own fault! Why would you come to-night! + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + I shall never be able to come again--the cross vixen will take care of + that if she catches me here. + +ALICE. + + [There is but one method of avoiding her wrath:](102) slip on the + clothes the old pedlar woman brought for sale, and I'll warrant you'll + soon be tumbled out of the house. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + With a good thrashing to boot, I suppose. [No matter, if I can but slip + out of the house, I don't care what I slip into.](103) [KNICKERBOCKER + _sits in arm-chair, and is attired by_ ALICE _in a woman's dress: on + rising, the petticoats but reach his knees._] Confound the lower + garments! they're too short [by half.](104) + +ALICE. + + 'Tis your legs are too long [by half!](105); stoop down; [say as little + as possible, and you'll not be discovered.](106) [_He again sits._ + + DAME _enters._ + +DAME. + + [Well, I've got back and I see Mr. Van Slaus is gone! but](107) where's + that varlet, Rip; out again? Oh, that Rip! that Rip! I'll certainly be + the death of him; or he will of me, which is most likely. Alice, who + have you in the chair? + +ALICE. + + The pedlar woman, aunt, who has come for the things she left. + +DAME. + + The pedlar woman--hark'ee gossip: bring no more of your rubbish here. + Take yourself off, and let me have a clear house. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + [_Aside._] 'Gad, I wish I was safely cleared out of it. [KNICKERBOCKER + _rises, hobbles forward; but, forgetting the shortness of the + petticoats, in curtseying, is discovered by the_ DAME, _from the + exposure of his legs._ + +DAME. + + Odds bodikins and pins! who have we here! an imposter! but you shall pay + for it; this is a pedlar woman, indeed, with such lanky shanks. [_She + rushes up to door and, locks it--then, with a broom pursues him round; he + flings bonnet in her face._ + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Needs must, when the devil drives--so here goes. + +_He jumps through the window [which is dashed to pieces]_(_108_)_--and +disappears._--DAME _rushes up, with broom, towards window._--ALICE _laughs._ + +DAME. + + What! laugh at his misconduct, hussey. One's just as bad as the other. + All born to plague me. Get you to bed--to bed, I say. [DAME _drives_ + ALICE _off, and follows._ + +*Footnotes* + + 47 "_speaking off, to the child,_" in K. + + 48 Not in K. + + 49 Not in K. + + 50 Not in K. Instead, "he is so handsome, his figure is so elegant." + + 51 Not in K. + + 52 Not in K. + + 53 "mein" in K. + + 54 "Ve'll" in K. + + 55 "bate" in K. + + 56 "broken" in K. Also add "by your knocks." + + 57 Not in K. + + 58 "Tonner" in K. + + 59 "tink" in K. + + 60 "finish" in K. + + 61 "crockery" in K. + + 62 Not in K. + + 63 Not in K. + + 64 "der tyfil's" in K. + + 65 "brivate" in K. + + 66 "goot-hell" in K. + + 67 "brosber" in K. + + 68 "tink" in K. + + 69 "entering" inserted, in K. + + 70 "I vork" in K. + + 71 "bit-and-bat" in K. + + 72 "goot" in K. + + 73 "bersbiration" in K. + + 74 Not in K. + + 75 "vild" and "tog" in K. + + 76 Not in K. + + 77 Not in K. + + 78 Not in K. + + 79 Not in K. + + 80 "bardon" in K. + + 81 Not in K. + + 82 Not in K. + + 83 "uncommon" in K. + + 84 "him" in K. + + 85 "Mynheer" in K. + + 86 "boot" and "baber" in K. + + 87 "freund" in K. + + 88 In K. "S--ss cat! be quiet wid you!". + + 89 "Stob" and "vould" in K. + + 90 "der tyfil" in K. + + 91 In K. "S--s cat! you be quiet, or I will skin you as my vife skins + me." + + 92 K. adds, "I will take care to get him so completely in my power that + he shall not dare, however he might desire it, to avail himself of + the power which that addition to the contract will give him." + + 93 In K., the line reads. "S--s cat! I vill cut off your tail." + + 94 "Schneider" in K. + + 95 "dat ist" in K; also "Mynheer." + + 96 "baber" in K. + + 97 "bocket" in K. + + 98 "Mynheer" in K. + + 99 Not in K. + + 100 "bar-bar-tick-bartickler" in K. + + 101 K. has also: + + ALICE. She wont believe it. + RIP. Tell her--I'll be stewed fun it's a fact. + + 102 Not in K. + + 103 In K, only "But, never mind." + + 104 Not in K. + + 105 Not in K. + + 106 Not in K. + + 107 Not in K. + + 108 Not in K. + + +SCENE IV. + + +_Half dark.--A front wood.--The report of a gun is heard; shortly after_, +RIP _enters, with his fowling piece._ + +RIP. + + [Whip-poor-Will! egad, I think they'll whip poor Rip.](109)--[ _Takes aim + at bird; it flashes in the pan._]--Another miss! Oh, curse the misses and + the missusses! hang me if I can get a single shot at the sky-flyers. + [Wish](110) I had one of de German guns which Knickerbocker talks so + much about--one dat fires round(111) corners: la! how I'd bring dem down! + bring dem down! were I to wing as many daily as would fill a dearborn, + Dame wouldn't be satisfied--not that she's avaricious--but den she must + have something or somebody to snarl at, and I'm the unlucky dog at whom + she always lets fly. Now, she got at me mit de broomstick so soon as I + got back again; if I go home again, she will break my back. Tunner + wasser! how sleepy I am--I can't go home, she will break my back--so I + will sleep in de mountain to-night, and to-morrow I turn over a new leaf + and drink no more liquor.(112) + +VOICE. + + [_Outside:_] Rip Van Winkle. + +_A dead pause ensues.--Suddenly a noise like the rolling of cannonballs is +heard--then a discordant shout of laughter._--RIP _wakes and sits up +astonished._ + +RIP. + + What [the deuce](113) is that? [my wife] at mine elbow? Oh, no, nothing + of the kind: I must have been dreaming; so I'll contrive to nap, since + I'm far enough from her din. [_Reclines and sleeps._(114) + +VOICE + + [_Outside._] Rip Van Winkle. [_The laugh being repeated_, RIP _again + awakes._(115) + +RIP. + + I can't be mistaken dis time. Plague on't, I've got among the spirits of + the mountains, metinks, and haven't a drop of spirits left to keep them + off. + +SWAGGRINO. + + (116)[_Without._] Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle. + +RIP. + + Rip Van Winkle! that's me to a certainty. + +_Music._--[SWAGGRINO, _the grotesque dwarf, enters_],(117) _bending beneath +the weight of a large cask which he bears on his shoulder.--He pauses, +examines _RIP, _then invites him to assist him in placing the cask on the +ground, which _RIP _complies with._ + +RIP. + + Hang me, if he hasn't brought my heart up into my mouth: what an + outlandish being, [a sea snake,](118) by dunder! + +_Music._--[SWAGGRINO,](119) _pointing to the cask, [entreats_] RIP'S +_assistance in bearing it up the mountains._ + +RIP. + + Want me to help you up mit it? Why not say so at first, my old codger? + What a queer old chap, to be sure; but I can't let him toil up the + mountain with such a heavy load as dat, no, no, and so, old [broad](120) + chops, I'll help you. + +_Music_.--[DWARF](121) _assists in placing cask on_ RIP'S _shoulder. A loud +laugh is heard;_ RIP _is alarmed, but_ [DWARF] _signs him to proceed and +be of good courage--leads way up rocks. Another peal of laughter, and_ RIP +_hastily follows him._ + +*Footnotes* + + 109 Not in K. + + 110 "I vishes" in K. No attempt is being made to indicate small + differences ofdialect. + + 111 "der" inserted in K. + + 112 In K., stage direction, "[_Lies down._]". + + 113 "der debil" in K.; also "mein frau." + + 114 In K., the stage directions are: [_Lies down to sleep._ + + 115 In K., the speech takes this form: + VOICE. [_Without._] Rip Van Winkle! + + 116 No name in K., only "VOICE." + + 117 In K., read. "_One of the_ SPECTRE CREW _enters._" + + 118 Not in K. + + 119 "_The_ IMP" in K.; also "asks." + + 120 "pale" in K. + + 121 "IMP" in K. + + +SCENE V. + + +_Dark.--The Sleepy Hollow, in the bosom of the mountains, occupying the +extreme extent of the stage--stunted trees, fragments of rock in various +parts.--Moon in the horizon; __ the entrance to this wild recess being by +an opening from the abyss in the rear of the glen._ + +_Music_.--GROTESQUE DUTCH FIGURES _with [enormous]_(_122_)_ masked heads +and lofty tapering hats, discovered playing_ [_at cards in various +places--others at Dutch pins--battledores and shuttlecocks--the majority +seated on a rock drinking and smoking._](123) + +GAUDERKIN. + + Since on earth this only day, + In fifty years we're given to stray, + We'll keep it as a holiday! + So brothers, let's be jolly and gay. + +ICKEN. + + But question, where's that lazy [wight,](124) + Who, soon as sun withdrew it's light, + Was for the earth's rich beverage sent, + And has such time in absence spent. + +GAUDERKIN. + + Perhaps [with some](125) misfortune he's been doomed to meet, + Cross'd, no doubt, on the road by mortal feet. + +ICKEN. + + And what the punishment that you decree + On him, who on our mysteries makes free? + +GAUDERKIN. + + Twenty years in slumber's chain, + Is the fate that we ordain: + Yet, if merry wight he prove, + Pleasing dreams his sleep shall move. + +ICKEN. + + Our brother comes, and up the rugged steep, + A mortal, see, Swaggrino's presence keep. + +OMNES. + + Twenty years in slumber's chain, + Is the fate that we ordain. + He comes! he comes! let silence reign!-- + Let silence reign! let silence reign! + +_The_ SPIRITS _retire up and station themselves in motionless attitudes_. + +_Music_.--[SWAGGRINO](126) _ascends by the opening in the rear followed by_ +RIP, _with the keg_.--RIP _advances on the left, and, with the assistance +of his conductor, places the cask on the rock.--_ + +_The_ SPIRITS _remain immovable._ + +RIP. + + I'm a dead man, to a certainty. Into what strange company have I + tumbled! crikey, what will become of me? Dear, dear! would I were home + again, even though along with [Dame](127) Van Winkle. + +_Music.--The_ FIGURES _severally advance, and stare at him, then resume +their game._ SWAGGRINO _taps the cask; motions the astonished_ RIP _to +assist him in distributing its contents into various flagons; an +injunction with which he complies._--SWAGGRINO _helps his companions._ + +RIP. + + After all, they seem a harmless set, and there can be no argument with + them, for they appear to be all dumbies.--[Lord were my wife](128) as + silent. They're a deadly, lively, jolly set; but I wonder what kind of + spirits dese spirits are [drinking!](129) Surely, dere can be no harm + in taking a drop along mit dem.--[_Fills a flagon._]--Here + goes!--Gentlemen, here's your [go-to-hells,](130) and your [broad + chopped](131) family's, and may you all live long and prosper. + [_Drinks._] + +OMNES. + + Ha, ha, ha! + +_Music.--A grotesque dance ensues, during which_ RIP _continues to supply +himself from the keg.--He at length joins in the dance, and becomes so +exhausted, that he reels forward and sinks in front. The dancing ceases, +the_ SPIRITS _utter three "ho, ho, ho's!"--[Some of them sink.]_(132) + +END OF ACT I. + +*Footnotes* + + 122 Not in K. + + 123 In K., reads, "_at Dutch pins--the majority seated on a rock drinking + and smoking--thunder reverberates each time a bowl is delivered_." + + 124 "ICHEN" in K.; also "sprite." + + 125 Not in K. + + 126 "_The_ IMP" in K. + + 127 "Frau" in K. + + 128 In K., "if mein wife vere" + + 129 "trinking" in K. + + 130 "goot-hells" in K. + + 131 Not in K. Instead, "Your family's goot-hells." + + 132 In K., the stage directions end, "_Moon very bright. Tableau._" + + + + ACT II. + + +SCENE I. + + +_The last of the First Act repeated; but the distance now presents a +richly cultivated country.--The bramble is grown into a lofty tree, and all +that remains of_ RIP'S _gun is its rusty barrel, which is at the foot of +the tree._ + +_Bird Music._--RIP _discovered extended on the ground, asleep; his hair +grey, and beard grown to an unusual length.--The hour of __ the scene is +gray dawn and birds from sky and hill are chirping._(133) + +RIP. + + [_Speaking in his sleep._] Mother Van Winkle! [Dame](134) Van Winkle! + what are you arter? Don't be always badgering; will you never allow poor + Rip a moment's quiet? Curse it! don't throw de hot water about so, + you'll scald one's eyes, and so you will, and no mistake; and so you + have. [_He awakens in sudden emotion._] Eh! by dunder! what's all + dis,--where am I--in the name of goodness where am I? [_Gazing around._] + On the Catskill Mountains, by all that's miraculous! Egad! my rib will + play the very devil with me for stopping out all night. There will be a + fine peal sounded when I get home. [_Rises._](135) How confoundedly + stiff and sore my joints do feel; surely I must have been sleeping for a + pretty long time! Asleep! [no;](136) I was awake and enjoying myself + with as jolly a rum set of codgers as ever helped to toom out a keg of + Hollands. I danced, and egad, drank with them, till I was pretty blue, + and dat's no mistake;--but confound it, they shouldn't have caught me + napping, for 'tis plain they have taken themselves off [like an + unceremonious pack of--pack of--give an eye tooth to know who they + were.(137) [_Looking around._] Where is my gun? I left it on a little + bush. [_On examining he finds the rusty barrel of his gun._] Hillo! + [come up, here's a grab!](138) the unmannerly set of sharpers! stolen + one of the best fowling-pieces that ever made a crack; and left this + [worthless,](139) rusty barrel, by way of exchange! What will Dame Van + Winkle say to this! By the hookey! but she'll comb my hair finely! Now, + I went to sleep beneath that hickory;--'twas a mere bush. Can I be + dreaming still? Is there any one who will be [good](140) enough to tell + me whether it is so or not? Be blowed if I can make head or tail + [o'nt.](141) One course only now remains,--to pluck up resolution, go + back to Dame Van Winkle, and by dunder! she'll soon let me know whether + I'm awake or not!(142) + + [_Music.--Exit._ + +*Footnotes* + + 133 In K., the scene opens thus: + + _The_ AERIAL SPIRITS _in Tableau._--_Dance of the_ SPIRITS _to the + gleams of the rising sun._--_Tableau._ + + SPIRIT OF THE MOUNTAIN. [_Speaks._] + + Wake, sleeper, wake, rouse from thy slumbers. + The rosy cheeked dawn is beginning to break, + The dream-spell no longer thy spirit encumbers. + Gone is its power, then wake, sleeper, wake. + + The Spirits of Night can no longer enchain thee, + The breeze of the morn now is striving to shake + Sweet dewdrops like gems from the copsewood and forest + tree. + All nature is smiling, then wake, sleeper, wake. + + _Tableau.--They disappear as the clouds gradually pass away + and a full burst of bright sunshine illumines the scene._] + + 134 "Frau" in K. + + 135 In K., stage direction reads,"_Rises with difficulty._" All through + this speech in K., the dialect is pronounced. + + 136 "nein" in K. + + 137 Not in K. + + 138 In K., "donner unt blitzen." + + 139 Not in K. + + 140 "goot" in K. + + 141 In K., "of him." + + 142 In K., speech ends, [_Moves painfully._] "My legs do seem as if they + vould not come after me." + + +SCENE II.(143) + + +_A well-furnished apartment in the house of_ KNICKERBOCKER. + + LORRENNA, _now a woman, enters._ + +LORRENNA. + + Alas, what a fate is mine! Left an orphan at an early age,--a relation's + bounty made me rich, but, to-day, this fatal day--poverty again awaits me + unless I bestow my hand without my heart! Oh, my poor father! little did + you know the misery you have entailed upon your child. + +KNICKERBOCKER _and_ ALICE _enter, arm in arm. They are much more corpulent +than when seen in Act I and dressed in modern attire_,--ALICE _in the +extreme of former fashion._ + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Decided that cause in the most judgematical like manner. White wasn't + black. Saw that in a twinkling; no one disputed my argument. [_Speaking + as entering._] Come along, spouse! Lauks! how you do waddle up and down, + side to side, like one of our butter-laden luggers in a squall, as the + Dutchmen have it. Ah, Lorrenna, you here? but you appear more depressed + than customary. Those saddened looks are by no means pleasing to those + who would ever wish to see you cheerful. What the dickens prevents your + being otherwise when all around are so anxious for your happiness! + +LORRENNA. + + Truly, am I beholden for your protection and ever grateful. But to place + a smile on the brow whilst sorrow lingers in the bosom is a deceptive + penance to the wearer--painful to those around who mark and must perceive + the vizard; to say that I am happy would be inconsistent with truth. The + persecutions of Herman Van Slaus-- + +ALICE. + + Ah! my dear Lorrenna, many a restless night have I had on that varlet's + account, as spouse knows. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + That's as true as there's ghosts in the Catskills, as Dutchmen have it; + for be darned if a single night passes that Alice suffers me to go to + sleep peaceably. + +ALICE. + + Well, well; cheer thee, my niece; there is bounteous intelligence in + store; nor think there is any idle fiction in this brain, as our divine + poets picture. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + There, there, Alice is getting into her romance again,--plain as my + fist--she has been moonified ever since she became a subscriber for books + at the new library! Planet struck, by gum, as philosophers have it, and-- + +ALICE. + + And you have said so little to the purpose, that I must now interpose. + My dear Lorrenna--Gustaffe--'tis your aunt who speaks-- + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + There, now, pops in her word before a magistrate. + +LORRENNA. + + My Gustaffe! ha! say!-- + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Would have told you in a brace of shakes, as gamblers have it, if she + hadn't thrown the dice first. Yes, my pretty chicky--Gustaffe's vessel is + now making up the Hudson; so, cheer thee! cheer thee, I say! your lover + is not far off. + +LORRENNA. + + Gustaffe so near? blessed intelligence! Oh, the happiest wishes of my + heart are gratified! But are you certain? Do not raise my hopes without + cause. Are you quite certain? speak, dear aunt; are you indeed assured, + Gustaffe's vessel has arrived? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Didn't think fit to break the news too suddenly, but you have it. + +ALICE. + + "The ship with wide-expanded canvas glides along and soon"--I forget the + remainder of the quotation; but 'tis in the delectable work, "Robinson + Crusoe"--soon will you hear him hail. [_A knock is heard._] My stars + foretell that this is either him-- + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Or somebody else, as I suppose. + + _Enter_ SOPHIA. + +SOPHIA. + + Oh, sir; Squire Knickerbocker, Herman, son of the late Derric Van Slaus, + is in the hall. + +ALICE. + + That's not the him whom I expected, at all events. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Son of the individual whom I succeeded as burgomaster? Talk of the + devil--now, I don't know how it is, but I'm always squalmish when in + company of these lawyers that's of his cast. _Qui Tam._ + +SOPHIA. + + He wishes to be introduced. What is your pleasure? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Let him be so, by all means. An honest man needn't fear the devil. + [_Exit_ SOPHIA. + +LORRENNA. + + Excuse my presence, uncle. To hear him repeat his claims, would but + afflict a heart already agonized: and with your leave, I will withdraw. + [_Exit._ + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Aye, aye; let me alone to manage him, as a barrister says to his client + when he cross-questions a witness. See Miss Lorrenna to her chamber, + Mrs. Knickerbocker. This Herman is a d----d rogue, as the English have it; + and he'll go to the dominions below, as the devil will have it, and as I + have had it for the last twenty years. + +ALICE. + + And I tell you, to your comfort, if you don't send the varlet quick off + with a flea in his ear, you shall have it. Yes, Squire Knickerbocker, + you shall have it, be assured. So says Mrs. Knickerbocker, you shall + have it. [_Exit._ + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Truly, I've had plenty of it from you for the last eighteen years. + + _Enter_ HERMAN. + +HERMAN. + + Sir, I wait upon you once more. The period is now expired when my just + claim, which you have so long protracted, can be vainly disputed. A vain + and idle dispute of justice. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Precious fine, indeed, sir,--but, my ward has a mighty strong reluctance + to part with her fortune, and much more so to make you her partner for + life. You are not exactly to her liking, nor to her in the world's + generally. + +HERMAN. + + One or the other she is compelled to. You are aware, sir, that the law + is on my side! the law, sir--the law, sir! + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Oh, yes! And, no doubt, every quibble that it offers will be twisted to + the best purpose for your interest. You're a dabster at chicane, or + you're preciously belied. + +HERMAN. + + You will not, I presume, dispute the signature of the individual who + formed the contract? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Oh, no! not dispute Rip's signature, but his error in judgement. I + happened to be a cabinet councillor at the very moment my deceased + relative, who was _non compos mentis_, at the time, clapped his pen to a + writing, artfully extracted from him by your defunct father, whose + memory is better forgotten than remembered. + +HERMAN. + + Sir, I came here, not to meet insult; I came hither, persuaded you would + acknowledge my right, and to prevent a publicity that may be painful to + both parties. You are inclined to dispute them; before a tribunal shall + they be arbitrated; and, knowing my claims, Mr. Knickerbocker, know well + that Lorrenna or her fortune must be mine. [_Exit._ + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + You go to Davy Jones, as the seamen have it. Lorrenna shall never be + yours, and if ever she wants a cent whilst I have one, my name isn't + Knickerbocker;--damme, as the dandies have it. + + LORRENNA _enters, with_ ALICE. + +LORRENNA. + + My dear guardian, you have got rid of Herman, I perceive. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + I wish I had, with all my soul; but he sticks to his rascally + undertaking like a crab to its shell; egad, there will be no dislodging + him unless he's clapped into a cauldron of boiling water, as fishmongers + have it. + +ALICE. + + And boiled to rags. But, husband! husband, I say! + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Mr. Knickerbocker, my dear, if you please. + +ALICE. + + Well, then, Mr. Knickerbocker, my dear, if you please, we have been + looking out at the window to ascertain who came and went, and have + discovered a fine, handsome fellow galloping towards the town, and I + shouldn't at all wonder if it wasn't-- + + GUSTAFFE _rushes in._ + +LORRENNA. + + [_Hurries to him._] My dear, dear Gustaffe! + +GUSTAFFE. + + [_Embracing her._] My tender, charming Lorrenna! + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Why, Gustaffe! Bless us! why, how the spark has grown. + +ALICE. + + Not quite so corpulent as you, spouse. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Spouse! Mr. Knickerbocker, if you please. Truly, wife, we have both + increased somewhat in corporal, as well as temporal substance, since + Gustaffe went to sea. But you know, Alice-- + +ALICE. + + Mrs. Knickerbocker, if you please. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Well, Mrs. Knickerbocker-- + +GUSTAFFE. + + Why, Knickerbocker, you have thriven well of late. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + I belong to the corporation, and we must support our corporation as well + as it. But not a word about the pig, as the butchers have it, when you + were a little boy, and Alice courting me. + +ALICE. + + I court you, sirrah? what mean you? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Sirrah! Mr. Knickerbocker, if you please. Why, then, deary--we didn't + like anyone to intrude on our society; do you take the hint? as the + gamblers have it. Come along, Alice--Mrs. Knickerbocker, I would say--let + us leave the lovers to themselves. + +ALICE. + + Again they meet, and sweet's the love that meets return. + +_Exeunt_ KNICKERBOCKER _and_ ALICE, _singing in concert_, "Again they +meet." + +GUSTAFFE. + + My dear Lorrenna, why this dejected look?--It is your own Gustaffe + enfolds you in his arms. + +LORRENNA. + + Alas! I am no longer worthy of your love,--your friendship. A fatal bond + extracted from my lamented father has severed us forever--I am devoid of + fortune. + +GUSTAFFE. + + Lorrenna, you have been the star that has guided my bark,--thee, my + compass--my north pole,--and when the magnet refuses its aid to the + seaman, then will he believe that you have foundered in affection, or + think that I would prove faithless from the loss of earthly pittance. + +LORRENNA. + + Shoals,--to speak in your nautical language--have long, on every side, + surrounded me; but, by my kind uncle's advice, must we be guided. + [_Exit._ + +*Footnotes* + + 143 Scene II, in K., reads as follows: + + SCENE SECOND.--_Chamber._ + + Enter NICHOLAS VEDDER and DAME VEDDER (_formerly_ DAME VAN WINKLE). + + DAME. 'Tis very hard for the poor girl. + VEDDER. Yes; but 'tis your fault. You shouldn't have had a fool and + a sot for your first husband. + DAME. [_Aside._] And I didn't ought to have had a bear for my + second. + VEDDER. What did you say? + DAME. Nothing--nothing. + VEDDER. Well, don't say it again. Because Lowena will have to be the + wife of Herman Van Slaus, that's settled! + DAME. But he's a most disreputable man, and my poor child detests + him. + VEDDER. Well, she won't be the first wife that has detested her + husband. + DAME. No; I should think not, indeed. + VEDDER. You should think not! What do you mean by that? + DAME. Nothing! + VEDDER. Well, don't mean it again. What, do you suppose that I'll + suffer my daughter-in-law to sacrifice her fortune--a + fortune of which we shall have our share?--Herman has + promised that. + DAME. Herman will promise anything; and you know that my poor girl + is doatingly fond of young Gustaffe. + VEDDER. Well, I can't help that; but I am not going to allow her to + make a beggar of herself and us too, for any nonsense + about the man of her heart. + DAME. Hers will break if she is compelled to-- + VEDDER. Nonsense--a woman's heart is about the toughest object in + creation. + DAME. You have given me plenty of proof that you think so. + VEDDER. What do you intend to imply by that? + DAME. Nothing! + VEDDER. Well, don't imply it again--don't, because-- + + _Enter_ Knickerbocker _and_ ALICE, _arm-in-arm--both grown stout._ + + KNICKERBOCKER. Halloa! what's going on--a matrimonial tiff? My wife + has just been giving me a few words, because I told her + that she waddles up and down, and rolls about like one + of our butter-laden luggers in a squall, as the Dutchmen + have it. + ALICE. You have no occasion to talk, Mr. Knickerbocker, for, I am + sure, your corporation-- + KNICKERBOCKER. Yes, I belong to the town corporation, and to look + respectable, am obliged to have one of my own. Master + Vedder, a word with you. [_Talks aside with him._ + ALICE. [_Going to_ DAME.] You wish now, that my poor brother Rip + hadn't died, don't you? + DAME. [_Sighing._] But I thought Nicholas Vedder would have been + just as easy to manage: he was as mild as a dove before + our marriage. + ALICE. You ought to have known that to be allowed to wear the + inexpressibles by two husbands was more than the most + deserving of our sex had any right to expect. + DAME. Oh, dear me! I never thought that I should live to be any + man's slave. + ALICE. Ah, we never know what we may come to! but your fate will be + a warning and example for me, if Mr. Knickerbocker + should take it into his head to leave me a widow. + VEDDER. Mrs. Vedder, what are you whispering about there? + DAME. Nothing! + VEDDER. Well, don't whisper it any more. + ALICE. [_Aside_, to DAME.] Come along with me. + VEDDER. Mrs. Vedder, take yourself out of the room. + ALICE. Mr. Knickerbocker, I shall expect you to follow me + immediately. + + [_Exeunt_ ALICE _and_ DAME. + + KNICKERBOCKER. And this is the last day of the term fixed on by the + agreement! + VEDDER. Yes; and Herman is resolute, and so am I. + KNICKERBOCKER. I am sorry for poor Lowena. + VEDDER. She shouldn't have had a fool for a father. + KNICKERBOCKER. It was unfortunate, but I can't exactly see that it + was her fault. [_Exeunt._ + + +SCENE III. + + +_The Town of_ RIP'S _nativity, instead of the Village as presented in +first scene of the drama.--It is now a populous and flourishing +settlement.--On the spot where_ RORY'S _tap-house formerly stood, is a +handsome hotel, and the sign of_ "George III" _is altered into that of_ +"George Washington." _A settee in front, with table.--The harbour is filled +with shipping.--Music at the opening of the scene._ + +SETH + + [SLOUGH,](144) _the landlord, enters from the Hotel.--Loud shouts._ + +SETH. + + Well, I reckon the election's about bustin' up. If that temperance + feller gets in I'm bound to sell out; for a rum-seller will stand no + more chance with him than a bob-tail cow in fly time.--[_Laugh._]--Hollo! + who is this outlandish critter? he looks as if he had been dead for + fifty years and was dug up to vote against the temperance ticket.-- + +_Music.--Enter_ MALE _and_ FEMALE VILLAGERS, _laughing._(_145_)_--Enter_ +RIP,--_they gather round him._ + +RIP. + + Where I was I wonder? my neiber frints, "knost you ty spricken?"(146) + +VILLAGERS. + + Ha, ha, ha! + +1ST VILLAGER. + + I say, old feller, you ain't seed nothing of no old butter firkin with + no kiver on, no place about here? + +RIP. + + No butter firkin mit no kiver no place, no I ain't seen him. + +VILLAGERS. + + Ha, ha, ha! + +1ST VILLAGER. + + Who's your barber?--[_Strokes his chin.--All laugh and exeunt._ + +RIP. + + I can't understand dis: everything seems changed.--[_Strokes his + chin._]--Why, I'm changed too; why, my beard's as long as a goat's. + +SETH. + + [_Coming down._] Look here, old sucker, I guess you had better go home + and get shaved. + +RIP. + + My old woman will shave me when I gets home! Home, where is my home? I + went to the place where it used to was, and it wasn't dere. Do you live + in Catskill? + +SETH. + + Well, I rather guess I dus-- + +RIP. + + Do you know where I live? + +SETH. + + Well, to look at you, I should think you didn't live nowhere in + particular, but stayed round in spots. + +RIP. + + You live in Catskill? + +SETH. + + Certain. + +RIP. + + You don't know dat I belong here? + +SETH. + + No, I'm darned if I do. I should say you belonged to Noah's ark--- + +RIP. + + Did you never hear in Catskill of one Rip Van Winkle? + +SETH. + + What, Rip Van Winkle, the greatest rum-sucker in the country? + +RIP. + + Dat is a fact--dat is him! ha! ha! now we shall see. + +SETH. + + Oh, yes, I've heard of him; the old coon's been dead these twenty years. + +RIP. + + Den I am dead and dat is a fact. Well, poor Rip is dead. I'm sorry for + dat.--Rip was a goot fellow. + +SETH. + + I wish there was a whole grist just like him in Catskill. Why, they say + he could drink rum enough in one day to swim in. + +RIP. + + Don't talk so much about rum; you makes me so dry as never was. + +SETH. + + Hold on a spell then, and I'll fetch you something to wet your whistle. + [_Exit into house._ + +RIP. + + Why, here is another change! dis was Rory's house last night, [SETH + _re-enters._] mit de sign of George the Third. + +SETH. + + [The alteration of my sign is no bad sign for the country, I + reckon.](147) + +RIP. + + [_Reading._] "George Washington,"--who is he? [I remember a shoot of dat + name, dat served under Braddock, before I went to sleep. + +SETH. + + [_Giving him jug._] Well, if you've been asleep I guess he ar'n't: his + enemies always found him wide awake and kicking; and that shoot, as you + call him, has planted the tree of liberty so everlasting tight in + Yankeeland, that all the kingdoms of the earth can't root it out.](148) + +RIP. + + Well, here is General Washington's goot health, and his family's goot + health, ant may dey all live long ant prosper. So poor Rip Van Winkle is + dead, eh? [Now comes de poser;](149) if Rip is dead, [what has become of + his old woman?](150) + +SETH. + + She busted a blood-vessel swearing at a Yankee pedlar, and has gone to + kingdom come long ago. + +RIP. + + De old woman dead too? den her clapper is stopped at last. [_Pause._] So + de old woman is dead; well, she led me a hard life--she was de wife of my + bosom, she was mine frow for all dat. [_Whimpering._] I'm dead too, unt + dat is a fact. Tell me my frient-- + +SETH. + + I can't stop any longer--the polls are almost closing, and I must spread + the game for the boys. Hurrah, for rum drinking and cheap licence for + the retailers! that's my ticket. [_Re-enter_ VILLAGERS, + _shouting._](151) Here, boys, see what you can make of this old + critter.--I give him up for the awfulest specimen of human nature in the + States. [_Exit into + house._ + +2D VILLAGER. + + Are you a Federal or a Democrat? + +RIP. + + Fiddle who? damn who's cat? + +2D VILLAGER. + + What's your politics? + +RIP. + + Oh, I am on de safe side dere; I am a faithful subject of King George! + +2D VILLAGER. + + He's a Tory! Kill him! Duck him! + +VILLAGERS. + + [To the horse pond! Duck him.](152) + +_Music.--They seize_ RIP _and are about hurrying him off when_ GUSTAFFE +_rushes in and throws them off._(153) + +GUSTAFFE. + + Stand back, [cowards.](154) + +OMNES. + + Cowards! + +GUSTAFFE. + + Yes, cowards! who but cowards would rush in numbers one grey-haired man? + +RIP. + + Yah, yah, dat's a fact! + +GUSTAFFE. + + Sheer off! you won't? then damme, here's at ye. [_Drives them off._] + Tell me, old man, what cause had you given them to attack you? + +RIP. + + I don't know; do you? + +GUSTAFFE. + + You appear bewildered: can I assist you? + +RIP. + + Just tell me where I live, dat's all I want to know. + +GUSTAFFE. + + And don't you know? + +RIP. + + I'm d----d fun I does. + +GUSTAFFE. + + What is your name? + +RIP. + + Why, I was Rip Van Winkle. + +GUSTAFFE. + + Rip Van Winkle? impossible! + +RIP. + + Well, I won't swear to it myself. + +GUSTAFFE. + + Stay,--you have a daughter? + +RIP. + + To be sure I has: a pretty little girl about so old--Lorrenna; and I have + a son too, a lublicka boy, but my daughter is a girl. + +GUSTAFFE. + + Do you remember entering into a contract, binding your daughter to marry + Herman Van Slaus? + +RIP. + + Oh! I remember, de burgomaster came to my house last night mit a paper, + and I wrote my name down on it, but I was drunk. + +GUSTAFFE. + + Last night! His brain wanders: yet it must be he; come, come with me, + old man. + +RIP. + + Where are you going to take me to? + +GUSTAFFE. + + Your daughter. + +RIP. + + Yes, yes, take me to my child. Stop, my gracious!--I am so + changed,--suppose she should forget me too; no, no, she can't forget her + poor father. Come, come! + [_Exeunt._ + +*Footnotes* + + 144 In K., "Kilderkin." + + 145 In K., "_and pointing at_ RIP, _who comes_ on." + + 146 In K., "Vhere I was I wonder? my kneiber freunds, sprechen sie + deutsch?" + + 147 Not in K. + + 148 Not in K. After "who is he," read, "I do not know him, but--" and + continue with next Rip speech. + + 149 "But, now, I'm going to ask a ticklish question" in K. This speech + is in dialect in K. + + 150 In K., "is his old voman dead too?" + SETH. No. She's alive and kicking. + RIP. Kicking--yes, she always vas dat. + SETH. And she's married agin. + RIP. She's done what agin? + SETH. She's got a second husband. + RIP. Second husband!--I pities the poor creetur. But there vas--vill + you tell me, my friend-- + SETH. I can't stop any longer, because-- + + 151 In K., the stage directions are, "VILLAGERS _hurry on, shouting._" + + 152 In K., read, "Duck him--duck him." + + 153 In K., read, "_Music. All are rushing on_ RIP.--GUSTAVE _enters._" + + 154 In K., read, are you not ashamed--a score of you to attack a + single man? + RIP. [_Aside._] Yes. I am a single man--now my vife is marry agin; + dat is a fact! + From this point, the two plays differ so that what remains in Kerr + is here reproduced. + GUSTAVE. And a poor old, gray-haired man. + RIP. Yes, I am poor, dat is a fact; but I know I'm not old, and I + can't be gray-haired. + GUSTAVE. Take yourselves off! What cause had you given them to + attack you? + VILLAGERS _sneak off._ + RIP. I don't know--do you? + GUSTAVE. [_Smiling._] How should I-- + RIP. I say--vhere do I live? + GUSTAVE. Don't you know? + RIP. I'm stewed fun I does. But, young man, you seems to know + somezing, so, perhaps you knows Rip Van Winkle? + GUSTAVE. Young Rip Van Winkle--I should think I do. + RIP. [_Aside._] Here is von vhat knows me! dat is goot! + GUSTAVE. I only wish his father hadn't gone away and died, twenty + years ago. + RIP. [_Aside._] His fader! Ah! he means my young Rip, and I'm dead + myself arter all--dat is a fact. + GUSTAVE. Poor old Rip Van Winkle--perhaps you know his daughter? + RIP. His daughter--yes, I tink I--and she is not dead, like her fader? + GUSTAVE. No, thank heaven! and she would have been my wife before + this but for-- + RIP. But for what, young man? + _Enter_ LOWENA. + LOWENA. Gustave. [_Moving to him._ + GUSTAVE. Ah! dear Lowena! + RIP. Lowena! Ah! dat is my daughter--and I have a son too, a lublicka + boy; but my daughter is a girl, and I always lub my + leetle girl so much, ven she vas only so big--and I must + not hug her now to my poor heart, because she--she has + got another fader--and I am dead--yes, dey all tell me dat + is a fact! I am dead to meinself and--and I am dead to my + leetle girl. + LOWENA. Oh, yes, Gustave, it is indeed a sad misfortune for us both, + that my father should have entered into a contract which + had for its object to coerce me into becoming the wife + of Herman Van Slaus. + RIP. [_Aside._] Yes, dat is a fact. I remember, de burgomaster come + to my house last night mit a paper, and I wrote my name + down on it; but I vas trunk. + GUSTAVE. And having loved you so long, is it now impossible that you + can become my wife? + LOWENA. No, not impossible; but--oh, my poor dear father, if you had + but survived to see this day! + RIP. [_Aside._] I wish what I had--but I am dead, dat is a fact. + _Enter_ HERMAN VAN SLAUS. + LOWENA. Oh, Gustave! see, protect me from that wicked man--I will be + thine, and only thine! + HERMAN. No, Lowena; you will be _mine_, for you will not be suffered + to resign into my hands that fortune of which I covet + the possession, but which would lose half its value to + me if you come not with it. + RIP. [_Aside._] Dat is young Slaus; and he is as big a tam rascal as + vas his resbectable fader. + HERMAN. Hereafter, Lowena, I will cause you to repent that you have + given a rival to the man to whom, from your very + childhood, you have been pledged and bound. + RIP. Herman Van Slaus, _you_ are bledged to old Nick, and vill never + be redeemed. + HERMAN. Who is this miserable old wretch? + GUSTAVE. I would kill you sooner than you should become the husband + of my heart's adored. + _Enter_ KNICKERBOCKER _and_ ALICE. + KNICKERBOCKER. So, there you are, Master Herman, sticking to your + rascally work like a crab to its shell, as fishmongers + have it. + ALICE. I should like to throw him into a saucepan of boiling water + till he was done to rags. + RIP. [_Aside._] Dat is my sister Alice--and dat is Knickerbocker--how + fat they both is got since last night! What great big + suppers they must have eat! + _Enter_ NICHOLAS VEDDER _and_ DAME VEDDER. + DAME. Oh, do try if you cannot save my poor girl! + RIP. [_Aside._] Tonner unt blitzen! dat is mein frau! + [_Retreating._] No, no! I forget--she not is mine frau + now! [_Chuckles._ + DAME. Let him take half the fortune and-- + VEDDER. What is that you observe? + DAME. Nothing--nothing! + VEDDER. Then don't observe it any more. + DAME. I--I only-- + VEDDER. [_Shouting._] Silence! + RIP. [_Aside._] Dat is goot! [_Laughing._] Mine frau have caught a + Tartar. De second one make her pay for de virst. Ha, ha, + ha! I'm stewed fun dat is a fact! + HERMAN. Nicholas Von Vedder, say--[_Producing paper._]--is this + contract to be fulfilled? + VEDDER. Certainly. Lowena, the time for trifling is past; you have + delayed until the very last hour, and must now at once + consent to become Herman's wife. + LOWENA. Never! Welcome poverty, if I may be wealthy only with that + man for my husband. Whatever privations I may be made to + endure, I shall not repine; for he whom I love will + share them with me. + RIP. [_Aside._] Dat is mine own girl, I vill swear to dat. + GUSTAVE. I am poor, Lowena, but my love will give me courage to toil + manfully, and heaven will smile upon my efforts and + enable me to replace that fortune which, for my sake, + you so readily sacrifice. + HERMAN. Well, be it as you will. This document gives me a claim + which may not be evaded. [_Reads._] "We, Deidrich Van + Slous, Burgomaster, and Rip Van Winkle, desirous of + providing for the prosperity of our offspring, do hereby + mutually agree that Herman Van Slous, and Lowena Van + Winkle, shall be united on the demand of either. + Whosoever of those contracted fails in fulfilling the + agreement shall forfeit their fortune to the party + complaining.--Rip Van Winkle--Deidrich Van Slous." + RIP. [_Aside._] Yes, dat is a fact--I remember dat baber, and I've + got him somevheres. [_Feels in his + pockets._ + VEDDER. Lowena, I command that you consent to become Herman's wife--I + will not suffer that your fortune be sacrificed to-- + HERMAN. And here is the now useless codicil. + RIP. [_Advancing, paper in hand._] Let me read it. [_All turn + amazedly towards him._] "Should the said Rip Van Winkle + tink fit to annul dis contract vithin twenty years and a + day, he shall be at full liberty to do so." + HERMAN. How came you by that document? + RIP. You see I've got it, and dat is a fact. + HERMAN. Who gave it to you? + RIP. Your old blackguard of a fader. + DAME. Oh, you are--you are-- + RIP. Yes, I am--I am Rip Van Winkle! [_All start._--DAME, _with a loud + scream, falls into_ Knickerbocker's _arms._] Dere! for + de first time in my life, I have doubled up my old + woman! + KNICKERBOCKER _carries off_ DAME. + LOWENA. Oh, it is my father--my dear, dear father! [_Runs into his + arms._ + RIP. Yes, and you are mein taughter, my darling dat I always was + love so! Oh, bless your heart, how you have grown since + last night as you was a little girl. + ALICE. [_Embracing him._] Oh, my poor dear brother. + RIP. Yes, I tink I am your broder 'cos you is my sister. + KNICKERBOCKER _returns._ + ALICE. And here is my husband. + RIP. He is a much deal uglier, dan he used to vas before. + KNICKERBOCKER. [_Embracing him._] My blessed brother-in-law. + VEDDER. Ah! and now you have come back, I suppose you want your + wife! + RIP. No, I'll be tam if I do! You've got her, and you keep her--I + von't never have her no more. + VEDDER. I sha'n't have her--I have done with her, and glad to be rid + of her. + [_Exit._ + RIP. Ha, ha! Then my poor frau is a vidder, with two husbands, an' + she ain't got none at all. + HERMAN. It is Rip Van Winkle, and alive! + RIP. Yes, and to the best of my belief, I have not never been dead + at all. + HERMAN. And I am left to poverty and despair. [_Exit._ + RIP. And serve you right too--I'm stewed fun dat is fact. [_Looking + round._] But I had a leetle boy, last night--vhere is my + young baby boy, my leetle Rip? + ALICE. I saw him just now--oh, here he is. + _Enter, young Rip Van Winkle, a very tall young man._ + RIP. Is dat my leetle baby boy? How he is grown since last night. + Come here, you young Rip. I am your fader. Vell, he is + much like me--he is a beautiful leetle boy. + KNICKERBOCKER. But tell us, Rip, where have you hid yourself for the + last twenty years? + RIP. Ech woll! ech woll! Vhen I take mine glass, I vill tell mine + strange story, and drink the health of mine friends--and, + ladies and gentlemen, I will drink to your good hells + and your future families, and may you all--and may Rip + Van Winkle too--live long and brosber. + _Curtain._ + + +SCENE IV. + + +KNICKERBOCKER'S _House as before._ + + KNICKERBOCKER, ALICE _and_ LORRENNA _enter._ + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Give me joy, dears; I'm elected unanimously--elected a member of the + Legislature. + +ALICE. + + Why, spouse! + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Mr. Knickerbocker, if you please, my dear; damme! I'm so happy I could + fly to the moon, jump over a steeple, dance a new fandango on stilts. + [_Dances._] Fal, lal, la. + + _Enter_ HERMAN. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Well, sir, what the devil do you want? + +HERMAN. + + I came to claim this lady's fortune or her hand. + +ALICE. + + Knock him down, spouse. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Mr. Knickerbocker, my dear. + +ALICE. + + Oh, bother! I know if he comes near my niece, woman as I am, I'll + scratch his eyes out. + +HERMAN. + + Mr. Knickerbocker. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + The honourable member from ---- County, if you please. + +HERMAN. + + The judge of the district will this day arrive and give judgement on my + appeal: my rights are definitive, and I question the whole world to + controvert them. We shall meet before the tribunal; then presume to + contend longer if you dare. + [_Exit._ + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + 'Twill be difficult, no doubt, but we'll have a wrangle for the bone, as + the dog's have it; there will be no curs found in our party, I'll be + sworn. [_Aside._] Hang me, but I'm really a little chop fallen and there + is a strange sense of dizziness in my head which almost overcomes me. + +LORRENNA. + + My dear uncle, what is to be done in this emergency? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Done! your fortune is done for: but if you ever want a cent whilst I + have one, may I be sent to the devil, that's all. + +GUSTAFFE. + + [_Entering._] Bravo! Nunkey Knickerbocker! you are no blind pilot. Awake + to breakers and quicksand, Knickerbocker. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Knickerbocker! the honourable Mr. Knickerbocker, if you please; I'm now + a member of the Legislature and, curse me, if I'd change my dignified + station as representative of an independent people, for that of the + proudest potentate who holds supremacy by corruption or the bayonet. + [_Exeunt._ + + +SCENE LAST. + + +_The Court House.--An arm-chair at the back, in front of which is a large +table, covered with baize.--On each side a gallery.--On the right of table +are chairs._ + +_Music.--The_ JUDGE _discovered, seated.--The galleries filled with +auditors_.--HERMAN.--KNICKERBOCKER. + +JUDGE. + + Mr. Knickerbocker, you will please to bring your client into court. + + KNICKERBOCKER _goes off, and returns with_ Lorrenna _and_ ALICE. + +JUDGE. + + Be pleased to let your ladies take seats. [LORRENNA _and_ ALICE _sit._ + +HERMAN. + + And now, sir, I presume 'tis time to enter on my cause. Twenty years + have elapsed since this contract, this bond was signed by the father of + that lady, by which she or her fortune were made mine. Be pleased to + peruse. [_Presenting the document to the_ JUDGE. + +JUDGE. + + [_Reading._] "We, Derric Van Slaus, Burgomaster, and Rip Van Winkle, + desirous of providing for the prosperity of our offspring, do hereby + mutually agree that Herman Van Slaus and Lorrenna Van Winkle shall be + united on the demand of either. Whosoever of those contracted, fails in + fulfilling this agreement, shall forfeit their fortune to the party + complaining. + + "Rip Van Winkle" + "Derric Van Slaus." + + But here's a codicil. "Should the said Rip Van Winkle think fit to annul + this contract within twenty years and a day, he shall be at full liberty + to do so. (Signed) Derric Van Slaus." The document is perfect in every + form. Rip Van Winkle, 'tis stated, is defunct. Is there any one present + to prove his signature? + +HERMAN. + + Mr. Knickerbocker, if he dare be honest, will attest it. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Dare be honest, sir! presume you to question my veracity? How was that + bond obtained? + +HERMAN. + + Why should you ask? The late Rip Van Winkle, anxious for the prosperity + of his offspring, though too indolent to provide for their subsistence, + persuaded my deceased father to form this alliance. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + It's a lie! Hum!-- + +JUDGE. + + Restrain this violence! a court of justice must not be swayed by such + proceedings. + +HERMAN. + + Behold! sir, a picture of their general effrontery. In a public tribunal + to threaten those, who, in pleading their own rights, but advocate the + cause of justice. + +LORRENNA. + + [_Comes down stage._] All my hopes vanish--bleak and dreary is the + perspective. + +HERMAN. + + [_Advances._] At last I triumph! Now, lady, your hand or your + inheritance. + +LORRENNA. + + My hand! never! Welcome were every privation to an union with one so + base. + +JUDGE. + + It appears, then, that this signature is not denied by the defendant, + and in that case the contract must stand in full force against her. + +LORRENNA. + + Oh, Alice, take me home: poverty, death, anything rather than wed the + man I cannot love. [_She is led off by_ + ALICE. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Why, damn it, Judge! + +JUDGE. + + Mr. Knickerbocker! + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + I beg pardon, I meant no disrespect to the court, but I had thought + after-- + +JUDGE. + + I have decided, Mr. Knickerbocker. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Oh! you have decided. Yes, and a damned pretty mess you've made of it. + But I sha'n't abide by your decision; I'll appeal to a higher court. I + am now a member of the Legislature, and if they allow such blocks as you + on the bench, I'll have a tax upon timber, sir--yes, sir, a tax upon + timber. [_Exit, in a rage._ + +JUDGE. + + Twenty years and a day is the period within which the contract could be + cancelled by the negature of Rip Van Winkle, and as he has rendered no + opposition during this lengthened time-- + +HERMAN. + + 'Tis not very probable, sir, that he will alter his intentions by + appearing to do so within the few brief hours that will complete the + day. Can the grave give up its inmates? No, no! Who dare pretend to + dispute my rights? The only one who could do so has been dead these + twenty years. + + _Enter_ GUSTAFFE _and_ RIP. + +GUSTAFFE. + + 'Tis false! Rip Van Winkle stands before you! + +OMNES. + + Rip Van Winkle! + +HERMAN. + + You, Rip Van Winkle! Van Winkle come back after such a lapse of time? + Impossible! + +RIP. + + Nothing at all impossible in anything Rip Van Winkle undertakes, and, + though all of you are in the same story, dat he has been gone so long, + he is nevertheless back soon enough, to your sorrow, my chap. + +HERMAN. + + If this, indeed, be Rip Van Winkle, where has he hid himself for twenty + years? + +JUDGE. + + What answer do you make to this? + +RIP. + + Why, dat I went up in de mountains last night, and got drunk mit some + jolly dogs, and when I come back dis morning I found myself dead for + twenty years. + +HERMAN. + + You hear him, sir. + +JUDGE. + + This is evidently an impostor; take him into custody. + +GUSTAFFE. + + Stay! delay your judgement one moment till I bring the best of + proofs--his child and sister. [_Exit._ + +HERMAN. + + If you are Rip Van Winkle, some one here would surely recognize you. + +RIP. + + To be sure dey will! every one knows me in Catskill. [_All gather round + him and shake their heads._] No, no, I don't know dese peoples--dey don't + know me neither, and yesterday dere was not a dog in the village but + would have wagged his tail at me; now dey bark. Dere's not a child but + would have scrambled on my knees--now dey run from me. Are we so soon + forgotten when we're gone? Already dere is no one wot knows poor Rip Van + Winkle. + +HERMAN. + + So, indeed, it seems. + +RIP. + + And have you forgot de time I saved your life? + +HERMAN. + + Why, I--I--I-- + +RIP. + + In course you have! a short memory is convenient for you, Herman. + +HERMAN. + + [_Aside_] Should this indeed be he! [_Aloud._] I demand judgement. + +JUDGE. + + Stay! If you be Rip Van Winkle you should have a counterpart of this + agreement. Have you such a paper? + +RIP. + + Paper! I don't know; de burgomaster gave me a paper last night. I put it + in my breast, but I must have loosed him. No, no--here he is! here is de + paper! [_Gives it to_ JUDGE, _who reads it._ + +JUDGE. + + 'Tis Rip Van Winkle! [_All gather round and shake hands with him._ + +RIP. + + Oh! everybody knows me now! + +HERMAN. + + Rip Van Winkle alive! then I am dead to fortune and to fame; the fiends + have marred my brightest prospects, and nought is left but poverty and + despair. [_Exit._ + +GUSTAFFE. + + [_Without._] Room there! who will keep a child from a long lost father's + arms? + + _Enter_ GUSTAFFE, _with_ LORRENNA, ALICE _and_ KNICKERBOCKER. + +LORRENNA. + + My father! [_Embraces_ RIP. + +RIP. + + Are you mine daughter? let's look at you. Oh, my child--but how you have + grown since you was a little gal. But who is dis? + +ALICE. + + Why, brother!-- + +RIP. + + Alice! give us a hug. Who is dat? + +ALICE. + + Why, my husband--Knickerbocker. + +RIP. + + Why Knick, [_Shakes hands._] Alice has grown as big round as a tub; she + hasn't been living on pumpkins. But where is young Rip, my baby? + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + Oh, he was in the court-house just now. Ah! here he comes! + + _Enter_ RIP VAN WINKLE, JR. + +RIP. + + Is dat my baby? come here, Rip, come here, you dog; I am your father. + What an interesting brat it is. + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + But tell us, Rip, where have you hid yourself for the last twenty years? + +RIP. + + Ech woll--ech woll. I will take mine glass and tell mine strange story + and drink the health of mine frients. Unt, ladies and gents, here is + your goot health and your future families and may you all live long and + prosper. + + THE END. + + + + + + +TRANSCRIBERS' NOTES + + +The following substitutions were applied to the text by Project Gutenberg +proofers and transcribers-- + +On page 43, Rory speaking: + + + +though, for its full of emptiness.--Ha, ha, ha! +though, for it's full of emptiness.--Ha, ha, ha! + + +In the long footnote on page 62, Dame speaking: + + + +Her's will break if she is compelled to-- +Hers will break if she is compelled to-- + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REPRESENTATIVE PLAYS BY AMERICAN DRAMATISTS: 1856-1911: RIP VAN WINKLE*** + + + +CREDITS + + +December 18, 2008 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by David Starner, Ralf Stephan, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + Page-images available at + <http://www.pgdp.net/projects/projectID4025f76b6c906/> + + + +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 27552.txt or 27552.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/5/5/27552/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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