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diff --git a/old/64636-0.txt b/old/64636-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index be06f98..0000000 --- a/old/64636-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1278 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Rip Van Winkle, by Washington Irving - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Rip Van Winkle - -Author: Washington Irving - -Illustrator: Frank T. Merrill - -Release Date: February 26, 2021 [eBook #64636] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Sue Clark and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by the Library of Congress) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIP VAN WINKLE *** - - - - -[Illustration] - - _This Edition is - limited to - Two Hundred and - Fifty Copies - for the - United Kingdom._ - No. 141 - - - - -RIP VAN WINKLE. - - - - -[Illustration: ~Washington Irving.~] - - - - - RIP - VAN WINKLE - - By - Washington Irving. - - [Illustration] - - Illustrated by FRANK T. MERRILL. - - Boston. U. S. A. - S. E. Cassino. - MDCCCLXXXVIII. - - - - - _Copyright by_ - SAMUEL E. CASSINO, - 1887. - - TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & CO., BOSTON. U. S. A. - - PRESSWORK BY BERWICK & SMITH, BOSTON. U. S. A. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - - PORTRAIT 4 - - Illustrated Title-Page 5 - - List of Illustrations 7 - - Diedrich Knickerbocker 9 - - Up the Hudson 11 - - “He was a descendant of the Van Winkles” 12 - - “He assisted at their sports” facing 12 - - “A termagant wife” 13 - - “Fish all day without a murmur” 14 - - “Used to employ him to run their errands” 15 - - “He would carry a fowling-piece” 17 - - “His cow among the cabbages” 18 - - “Trooping like a colt at its mother’s heels” 18 - - “How solemnly they would listen” facing 18 - - “He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, and cast up his eyes” 19 - - “Yelping precipitation” 20 - - “He would share the contents of his wallet” facing 20 - - Nicholas Vedder 21 - - “The brow of a precipice” 23 - - “He heard a voice” 26 - - “A strange figure” 27 - - “Rip and his companion labored on in silence” 29 - - “A company of odd-looking personages” facing 29 - - “One who seemed to be the commander” 30 - - “They quaffed the liquor in profound silence” facing 30 - - “I have not slept here all night” 31 - - “Wanting in his usual activity” 32 - - “He called again and whistled after his dog” facing 32 - - “Stroked their chins” 33 - - “A troop of strange children ran at his heels” facing 34 - - “He found the house gone to decay” 35 - - “He recognized on the sign” 37 - - “They crowded round him” facing 38 - - “A lean, bilious-looking fellow” 39 - - “He was killed at the storming of Stony Point” 41 - - “A great militia-general” 42 - - “That is Rip Van Winkle, yonder” 43 - - “A fresh, comely woman” 44 - - “What is your name, my good woman?” facing 44 - - Peter Vanderdonk 45 - - “Friends among the rising generation” 46 - - “Once more on the bench at the inn door” facing 46 - - “He used to tell his story to every stranger” 48 - - - - -RIP VAN WINKLE. - -A POSTHUMOUS WRITING OF DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER. - - - By Woden, God of Saxons, - From whence comes Wensday, that is Wodensday. - Truth is a thing that ever I will keep - Unto thylke day in which I creep into - My sepulchre---- CARTWRIGHT. - -[Illustration: Diedrich Knickerbocker] - -[The following Tale was found among the papers of the late Diedrich -Knickerbocker, an old gentleman of New York, who was very curious in the -Dutch history of the province, and the manners of the descendants from -its primitive settlers. His historical researches, however, did not lie -so much among books as among men; for the former are lamentably scanty -on his favorite topics; whereas he found the old burghers, and still -more their wives, rich in that legendary lore so invaluable to true -history. Whenever, therefore, he happened upon a genuine Dutch family, -snugly shut up in its low-roofed farmhouse, under a spreading sycamore, -he looked upon it as a little clasped volume of black-letter, and -studied it with the zeal of a book-worm. - -The result of all these researches was a history of the province during -the reign of the Dutch governors, which he published some years since. -There have been various opinions as to the literary character of his -work, and, to tell the truth, it is not a whit better than it should be. -Its chief merit is its scrupulous accuracy, which indeed was a little -questioned on its first appearance, but has since been completely -established; and it is now admitted into all historical collections as a -book of unquestionable authority. - -The old gentleman died shortly after the publication of his work; and -now that he is dead and gone, it cannot do much harm to his memory to -say that his time might have been much better employed in weightier -labors. He, however, was apt to ride his hobby his own way; and though -it did now and then kick up the dust a little in the eyes of his -neighbors, and grieve the spirit of some friends, for whom he felt the -truest deference and affection, yet his errors and follies are -remembered “more in sorrow than in anger,” and it begins to be suspected -that he never intended to injure or offend. But however his memory may -be appreciated by critics, it is still held dear by many folk whose good -opinion is well worth having; particularly by certain biscuit-bakers, -who have gone so far as to imprint his likeness on their New-Year cakes; -and have thus given him a chance for immortality, almost equal to the -being stamped on a Waterloo Medal, or a Queen Anne’s Farthing.] - - - - -[Illustration: Up the Hudson] - -Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill -mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian -family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a -noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change -of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, -produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, -and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect -barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in -blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; -but sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will -gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last -rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory. - -At the foot of these fairy mountains, the voyager may have descried the -light smoke curling up from a village, whose shingle roofs gleam among -the trees, just where the blue tints of the upland melt away into the -fresh green of the nearer landscape. It is a little village of great -antiquity, having been founded by some of the Dutch colonists in the -early times of the province, just about the beginning of the government -of the good Peter Stuyvesant (may he rest in peace!) and there were some -of the houses of the original settlers standing within a few years, -built of small yellow bricks brought from Holland, having latticed -windows and gable fronts, surmounted with weathercocks. - -[Illustration: “He was a descendant of the Van Winkles”] - -In that same village, and in one of these very houses (which, to tell -the precise truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived -many years since, while the country was yet a province of Great Britain, -a simple, good-natured fellow, of the name of Rip Van Winkle. He was a -descendant of the Van Winkles who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous -days of Peter Stuyvesant, and accompanied him to the siege of Fort -Christina. He inherited, however, but little of the martial character of -his ancestors. I have observed that he was a simple, good-natured man; -he was, moreover, a kind neighbor, and an obedient, hen-pecked husband. -Indeed, to the latter circumstance might be owing that meekness of -spirit which gained him such universal popularity; for those men are -most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad who are under the -discipline of shrews at home. Their tempers, doubtless, are rendered -pliant and malleable in the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation, and a -curtain-lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the -virtues of patience and long-suffering. A termagant wife may, therefore, -in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing; and if so, Rip Van -Winkle was thrice blessed. - -[Illustration: “He assisted at their sports”] - -[Illustration: “A termagant wife”] - -Certain it is, that he was a great favorite among all the good wives of -the village, who, as usual with the amiable sex, took his part in all -family squabbles, and never failed, whenever they talked those matters -over in their evening gossipings, to lay all the blame on Dame Van -Winkle. The children of the village, too, would shout with joy whenever -he approached. He assisted at their sports, made their playthings, -taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories -of ghosts, witches, and Indians. Whenever he went dodging about the -village, he was surrounded by a troop of them, hanging on his skirts, -clambering on his back, and playing a thousand tricks on him with -impunity; and not a dog would bark at him throughout the neighborhood. - -[Illustration: “Fish all day without a murmur”] - -The great error in Rip’s composition was an insuperable aversion to -all kinds of profitable labor. It could not be from the want of -assiduity or perseverance; for he would sit on a wet rock, with a rod as -long and heavy as a Tartar’s lance, and fish all day without a murmur, -even though he should not be encouraged by a single nibble. He would -carry a fowling-piece on his shoulder for hours together, trudging -through woods and swamps, and up hill and down dale, to shoot a few -squirrels or wild pigeons. He would never refuse to assist a neighbor -even in the roughest toil, and was a foremost man at all country frolics -for husking Indian corn, or building stone fences; the women of the -village, too, used to employ him to run their errands, and to do such -little odd jobs as their less obliging husbands would not do for them. -In a word, Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own; -but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it -impossible. - -[Illustration: “Used to employ him to run their errands”] - -In fact, he declared it was of no use to work on his farm; it was the -most pestilent little piece of ground in the whole country; everything -about it went wrong, and would go wrong in spite of him. His fences were -continually falling to pieces; his cow would either go astray, or get -among the cabbages; weeds were sure to grow quicker in his fields than -anywhere else; the rain always made a point of setting in just as he had -some out-door work to do; so that though his patrimonial estate had -dwindled away under his management, acre by acre, until there was little -more left than a mere patch of Indian corn and potatoes, yet it was the -worst conditioned farm in the neighborhood. - -[Illustration: “He would carry a fowling-piece”] - -His children, too, were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to -nobody. His son Rip, an urchin begotten in his own likeness, promised to -inherit the habits, with the old clothes of his father. He was generally -seen trooping like a colt at his mother’s heels, equipped in a pair of -his father’s cast-off galligaskins, which he had much ado to hold up -with one hand, as a fine lady does her train in bad weather. - -[Illustration: “Trooping like a colt at its mother’s heels”] - -Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, -well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or -brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would -rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he -would have whistled life away, in perfect contentment; but his wife kept -continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, -and the ruin he was bringing on his family. - -[Illustration: “Trooping like a colt at its mother’s heels”] - -Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and -everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household -eloquence. Rip had but one way of replying to all lectures of the kind, -and that, by frequent use, had grown into a habit. He shrugged his -shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing. This, -however, always provoked a fresh volley from his wife, so that he was -fain to draw off his forces, and take to the outside of the house--the -only side which, in truth, belongs to a hen-pecked husband. - -[Illustration: “How solemnly they would listen”] - -Rip’s sole domestic adherent was his dog Wolf, who was as much henpecked -as his master; for Dame Van Winkle regarded them as companions in -idleness, and even looked upon Wolf with an evil eye, as the cause of -his master’s going so often astray. True it is, in all points of spirit -befitting an honorable dog, he was as courageous an animal as ever -scoured the woods--but what courage can withstand the ever-during and -all-besetting terrors of a woman’s tongue? The moment Wolf entered the -house, his crest fell, his tail drooped to the ground, or curled between -his legs, he sneaked about with a gallows air, casting many a sidelong -glance at Dame Van Winkle, and at the least flourish of a broomstick or -ladle, he would fly to the door with yelping precipitation. - -[Illustration: “He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, and cast up -his eyes”] - -Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony -rolled on: a tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is -the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use. For a long while -he used to console himself, when driven from home, by frequenting a kind -of perpetual club of the sages, philosophers, and other idle personages -of the village, which held its sessions on a bench before a small inn, -designated by a rubicund portrait of his majesty George the Third. Here -they used to sit in the shade of a long lazy summer’s day, talking -listlessly over village gossip, or telling endless sleepy stories about -nothing. But it would have been worth any statesman’s money to have -heard the profound discussions which sometimes took place, when by -chance an old newspaper fell into their hands, from some passing -traveller. How solemnly they would listen to the contents, as drawled -out by Derrick Van Bummel, the schoolmaster, a dapper learned little -man, who was not to be daunted by the most gigantic word in the -dictionary; and how sagely they would deliberate upon public events some -months after they had taken place. - -[Illustration: “Yelping precipitation”] - -The opinions of this junto were completely controlled by Nicholas -Vedder, a patriarch of the village, and landlord of the inn, at the door -of which he took his seat from morning till night, just moving -sufficiently to avoid the sun, and keep in the shade of a large tree; so -that the neighbors could tell the hour by his movements, as accurately -as by a sun-dial. It is true, he was rarely heard to speak, but smoked -his pipe incessantly. His adherents, however (for every great man has -his adherents), perfectly understood him, and knew how to gather his -opinions. When anything that was read or related displeased him, he was -observed to smoke his pipe vehemently, and to send forth short, -frequent, and angry puffs; but when pleased, he would inhale the smoke -slowly and tranquilly, and emit it in light and placid clouds, and -sometimes taking the pipe from his mouth, and letting the fragrant vapor -curl about his nose, would gravely nod his head in token of perfect -approbation. - -[Illustration: “He would share the contents of his wallet”] - -[Illustration: Nicholas Vedder] - -From even this stronghold the unlucky Rip was at length routed by his -termagant wife, who would suddenly break in upon the tranquillity of the -assemblage, and call the members all to nought; nor was that august -personage, Nicholas Vedder himself, sacred from the daring tongue of -this terrible virago, who charged him outright with encouraging her -husband in habits of idleness. - -Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair, and his only -alternative to escape from the labor of the farm and the clamor of his -wife, was to take gun in hand, and stroll away into the woods. Here he -would sometimes seat himself at the foot of a tree, and share the -contents of his wallet with Wolf, with whom he sympathized as a -fellow-sufferer in persecution. “Poor Wolf,” he would say, “thy mistress -leads thee a dog’s life of it; but never mind, my lad, whilst I live -thou shalt never want a friend to stand by thee!” Wolf would wag his -tail, look wistfully in his master’s face, and if dogs can feel pity, I -verily believe he reciprocated the sentiment with all his heart. - -In a long ramble of the kind, on a fine autumnal day, Rip had -unconsciously scrambled to one of the highest parts of the Kaatskill -mountains. He was after his favorite sport of squirrel-shooting, and the -still solitudes had echoed and re-echoed with the reports of his gun. -Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in the afternoon, on a -green knoll covered with mountain herbage, that crowned the brow of a -precipice. From an opening between the trees, he could overlook all the -lower country for many a mile of rich woodland. He saw at a distance the -lordly Hudson, far, far below him, moving on its silent but majestic -course, with the reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging -bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom, and at last losing -itself in the blue highlands. - -On the other side he looked down into a deep mountain glen, wild, -lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments from the impending -cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting sun. -For some time Rip lay musing on this scene; evening was gradually -advancing; the mountains began to throw their long blue shadows over the -valleys; he saw that it would be dark long before he could reach the -village; and he heaved a heavy sigh when he thought of encountering the -terrors of Dame Van Winkle. - -As he was about to descend he heard a voice from a distance -hallooing, “Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!” He looked around, but could -see nothing but a crow winging its solitary flight across the mountain. -He thought his fancy must have deceived him, and turned again to -descend, when he heard the same cry ring through the still evening air, -“Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!”--at the same time Wolf bristled up his -back, and giving a low growl, skulked to his master’s side, looking -fearfully down into the glen. Rip now felt a vague apprehension stealing -over him; he looked anxiously in the same direction, and perceived a -strange figure slowly toiling up the rocks, and bending under the weight -of something he carried on his back. He was surprised to see any human -being in this lonely and unfrequented place, but supposing it to be some -one of the neighborhood in need of his assistance, he hastened down to -yield it. - -[Illustration: “The brow of a precipice”] - -On nearer approach, he was still more surprised at the singularity of -the stranger’s appearance. He was a short, square-built old fellow, with -thick bushy hair, and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the antique -Dutch fashion--a cloth jerkin strapped round the waist--several pair of -breeches, the outer one of ample volume, decorated with rows of buttons -down the sides, and bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulders a -stout keg, that seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to -approach and assist him with the load. Though rather shy and distrustful -of this new acquaintance, Rip complied with his usual alacrity, and -mutually relieving each other, they clambered up a narrow gully, -apparently the dry bed of a mountain torrent. As they ascended, Rip -every now and then heard long rolling peals, like distant thunder, that -seemed to issue out of a deep ravine, or rather cleft between lofty -rocks, toward which their rugged path conducted. He paused for an -instant, but supposing it to be the muttering of one of those transient -thunder-showers which often take place in the mountain heights, he -proceeded. Passing through the ravine, they came to a hollow, like a -small amphitheatre, surrounded by perpendicular precipices, over the -brinks of which, impending trees shot their branches, so that you only -caught glimpses of the azure sky and the bright evening cloud. During -the whole time, Rip and his companion had labored on in silence; for -though the former marvelled greatly what could be the object of carrying -a keg of liquor up this wild mountain, yet there was something strange -and incomprehensible about the unknown, that inspired awe, and checked -familiarity. - -[Illustration: “He heard a voice”] - -On entering the amphitheatre, new objects of wonder presented -themselves. On a level spot in the centre was a company of odd-looking -personages playing at nine-pins. They were dressed in a quaint -outlandish fashion: some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long -knives in their belts, and most of them had enormous breeches, of -similar style with that of the guide’s. Their visages too, were -peculiar: one had a large head, broad face, and small piggish eyes; the -face of another seemed to consist entirely of nose, and was surmounted -by a white sugar-loaf hat, set off with a little red cock’s tail. They -all had beards, of various shapes and colors. There was one who seemed -to be the commander. He was a stout old gentleman, with a weather-beaten -countenance; he wore a laced doublet, broad belt and hanger, -high-crowned hat and feather, red stockings, and high-heeled shoes, with -roses in them. The whole group reminded Rip of the figures in an old -Flemish painting, in the parlor of Domine Van Schaick, the village -parson, and which had been brought over from Holland at the time of the -settlement. - -[Illustration: “A strange figure”] - -[Illustration: “Rip and his companion labored on in silence”] - -[Illustration: “A company of odd-looking personages”] - -What seemed particularly odd to Rip was, that though these folks were -evidently amusing themselves, yet they maintained the gravest faces, the -most mysterious silence, and were, withal, the most melancholy party of -pleasure he had ever witnessed. Nothing interrupted the stillness of the -scene but the noise of the balls, which, whenever they were rolled, -echoed along the mountains like rumbling peals of thunder. - -As Rip and his companion approached them, they suddenly desisted from -their play, and stared at him with such a fixed statue-like gaze, and -such strange, uncouth, lack-lustre countenances, that his heart turned -within him, and his knees smote together. His companion now emptied the -contents of the keg into large flagons, and made signs to him to wait -upon the company. He obeyed with fear and trembling; they quaffed the -liquor in profound silence, and then returned to their game. - -By degrees, Rip’s awe and apprehension subsided. He even ventured, when -no eye was fixed upon him, to taste the beverage, which he found had -much of the flavor of excellent Hollands. He was naturally a thirsty -soul, and was soon tempted to repeat the draught. One taste provoked -another, and he reiterated his visits to the flagon so often, that at -length his senses were overpowered, his eyes swam in his head, his head -gradually declined, and he fell into a deep sleep. - -[Illustration: “One who seemed to be the commander”] - -On waking, he found himself on the green knoll from whence he had -first seen the old man of the glen. He rubbed his eyes--it was a bright -sunny morning. The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, -and the eagle was wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain -breeze. “Surely,” thought Rip, “I have not slept here all night.” He -recalled the occurrences before he fell asleep. The strange man with the -keg of liquor--the mountain ravine--the wild retreat among the -rocks--the woe-begone party at nine-pins--the flagon--“Oh! that wicked -flagon!” thought Rip--“what excuse shall I make to Dame Van Winkle?” - -[Illustration: “They quaffed the liquor in profound silence”] - -[Illustration: “I have not slept here all night”] - -He looked round for his gun, but in place of the clean well-oiled -fowling-piece, he found an old firelock lying by him, the barrel -encrusted with rust, the lock falling off, and the stock worm-eaten. He -now suspected that the grave roysters of the mountain had put a trick -upon him, and having dosed him with liquor, had robbed him of his gun. -Wolf, too, had disappeared, but he might have strayed away after a -squirrel or partridge. He whistled after him and shouted his name, but -all in vain; the echoes repeated his whistle and shout, but no dog was -to be seen. - -He determined to revisit the scene of the last evening’s gambol, and if -he met with any of the party, to demand his dog and gun. As he rose to -walk, he found himself stiff in the joints, and wanting in his usual -activity. “These mountain beds do not agree with me,” thought Rip, “and -if this frolic should lay me up with a fit of the rheumatism, I shall -have a blessed time with Dame Van Winkle.” With some difficulty he got -down into the glen; he found the gully up which he and his companion had -ascended the preceding evening; but to his astonishment a mountain -stream was now foaming down it, leaping from rock to rock, and filling -the glen with babbling murmurs. He, however, made shift to scramble up -its sides, working his toilsome way through thickets of birch, -sassafras, and witch-hazel; and sometimes tripped up or entangled by the -wild grape vines that twisted their coils and tendrils from tree to -tree, and spread a kind of network in his path. - -[Illustration: “Wanting in his usual activity”] - -At length he reached to where the ravine had opened through the -cliffs to the amphitheatre; but no traces of such opening remained. The -rocks presented a high impenetrable wall, over which the torrent came -tumbling in a sheet of feathery foam, and fell into a broad deep basin, -black from the shadows of the surrounding forest. Here, then, poor Rip -was brought to a stand. He again called and whistled after his dog; he -was only answered by the cawing of a flock of idle crows, sporting high -in the air about a dry tree that overhung a sunny precipice; and who, -secure in their elevation, seemed to look down and scoff at the poor -man’s perplexities. What was to be done? The morning was passing away, -and Rip felt famished for want of his breakfast. He grieved to give up -his dog and gun; he dreaded to meet his wife; but it would not do to -starve among the mountains. He shook his head, shouldered the rusty -firelock, and, with a heart full of trouble and anxiety, turned his -steps homeward. - -[Illustration: “He called again and whistled after his dog”] - -[Illustration: “Stroked their chins”] - -As he approached the village, he met a number of people, but none whom -he knew, which somewhat surprised him, for he had thought himself -acquainted with every one in the country round. Their dress, too, was of -a different fashion from that to which he was accustomed. They all -stared at him with equal marks of surprise, and whenever they cast eyes -upon him, invariably stroked their chins. The constant recurrence of -this gesture induced Rip, involuntarily, to do the same, when, to his -astonishment, he found his beard had grown a foot long! - -He had now entered the skirts of the village. A troop of strange -children ran at his heels, hooting after him, and pointing at his gray -beard. The dogs, too, not one of which he recognized for an old -acquaintance, barked at him as he passed. The very village was altered: -it was larger and more populous. There were rows of houses which he had -never seen before, and those which had been his familiar haunts had -disappeared. Strange names were over the doors--strange faces at the -windows--everything was strange. His mind now misgave him; he began to -doubt whether both he and the world around him were not bewitched. -Surely this was his native village, which he had left but a day before. -There stood the Kaatskill mountains--there ran the silver Hudson at a -distance--there was every hill and dale precisely as it had always -been--Rip was sorely perplexed--“That flagon last night,” thought he, -“has addled my poor head sadly!” - -It was with some difficulty that he found the way to his own house, -which he approached with silent awe, expecting every moment to hear the -shrill voice of Dame Van Winkle. He found the house gone to decay--the -roof fallen in, the windows shattered, and the doors off the hinges. A -half-starved dog, that looked like Wolf, was skulking about it. Rip -called him by name, but the cur snarled, showed his teeth, and passed -on. This was an unkind cut indeed.--“My very dog,” sighed poor Rip, “has -forgotten me!” - -He entered the house, which, to tell the truth, Dame Van Winkle had -always kept in neat order. It was empty, forlorn, and apparently -abandoned. This desolateness overcame all his connubial fears--he called -loudly for his wife and children--the lonely chambers rang for a moment -with his voice, and then all again was silence. - -[Illustration: “A troop of strange children ran at his heels”] - -[Illustration: “He found the house gone to decay”] - -[Illustration: “He recognized on the sign”] - -He now hurried forth, and hastened to his old resort, the village -inn--but it too was gone. A large rickety wooden building stood in its -place, with great gaping windows, some of them broken, and mended with -old hats and petticoats, and over the door was painted, “The Union -Hotel, by Jonathan Doolittle.” Instead of the great tree that used to -shelter the quiet little Dutch inn of yore, there now was reared a tall -naked pole, with something on the top that looked like a red night-cap, -and from it was fluttering a flag, on which was a singular assemblage of -stars and stripes--all this was strange and incomprehensible. He -recognized on the sign, however, the ruby face of King George, under -which he had smoked so many a peaceful pipe, but even this was -singularly metamorphosed. The red coat was changed for one of blue and -buff, a sword was held in the hand instead of a sceptre, the head was -decorated with a cocked hat, and underneath was painted in large -characters, GENERAL WASHINGTON. - -[Illustration: “They crowded round him”] - -There was, as usual, a crowd of folk about the door, but none that Rip -recollected. The very character of the people seemed changed. There was -a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed -phlegm and drowsy tranquillity. He looked in vain for the sage Nicholas -Vedder, with his broad face, double chin, and fair long pipe, uttering -clouds of tobacco smoke, instead of idle speeches; or Van Bummel, the -schoolmaster, doling forth the contents of an ancient newspaper. -In place of these, a lean bilious-looking fellow, with his pockets -full of handbills, was haranguing vehemently about rights of -citizens--election--members of Congress--liberty--Bunker’s hill--heroes -of seventy-six--and other words, that were a perfect Babylonish jargon -to the bewildered Van Winkle. - -[Illustration: “A lean, bilious-looking fellow”] - -The appearance of Rip, with his long, grizzled beard, his rusty -fowling-piece, his uncouth dress, and the army of women and children -that had gathered at his heels, soon attracted the attention of the -tavern politicians. They crowded round him, eyeing him from head to -foot, with great curiosity. The orator bustled up to him, and drawing -him partly aside, inquired, “on which side he voted?” Rip stared in -vacant stupidity. Another short but busy little fellow pulled him by the -arm, and rising on tiptoe, inquired in his ear, “whether he was Federal -or Democrat.” Rip was equally at a loss to comprehend the question; when -a knowing, self-important old gentleman, in a sharp cocked hat, made his -way through the crowd, putting them to the right and left with his -elbows as he passed, and planting himself before Van Winkle, with one -arm a-kimbo, the other resting on his cane, his keen eyes and sharp hat -penetrating, as it were, into his very soul, demanded in an austere -tone, “what brought him to the election with a gun on his shoulder, and -a mob at his heels, and whether he meant to breed a riot in the -village?” - -[Illustration: “He was killed at the storming of Stony Point”] - -“Alas! gentlemen,” cried Rip, somewhat dismayed, “I am a poor, quiet -man, a native of the place, and a loyal subject of the King, God bless -him!” - -Here a general shout burst from the bystanders--“a tory! a tory! a spy! -a refugee! hustle him! away with him!” - -It was with great difficulty that the self-important man in the cocked -hat restored order; and having assumed a tenfold austerity of brow, -demanded again of the unknown culprit, what he came there for, and whom -he was seeking. The poor man humbly assured him that he meant no harm, -but merely came there in search of some of his neighbors, who used to -keep about the tavern. - -“Well--who are they?--name them.” - -Rip bethought himself a moment, and inquired, “Where’s Nicholas Vedder?” - -[Illustration: “A great militia-general”] - -There was a silence for a little while, when an old man replied, in a -thin, piping voice, “Nicholas Vedder? why, he is dead and gone these -eighteen years! There was a wooden tomb-stone in the church-yard that -used to tell all about him, but that’s rotten and gone too.” - -“Where’s Brom Dutcher?” - -“Oh, he went off to the army in the beginning of the war; some say he -was killed at the storming of Stony-Point--others say he was drowned in -the squall, at the foot of Antony’s Nose. I don’t know--he never came -back again.” - -“Where’s Van Bummel, the schoolmaster?” - -“He went off to the wars, too; was a great militia general, and is now -in Congress.” - -Rip’s heart died away, at hearing of these sad changes in his home and -friends, and finding himself thus alone in the world. Every answer -puzzled him, too, by treating of such enormous lapses of time, and of -matters which he could not understand: war--Congress--Stony-Point!--he -had no courage to ask after any more friends, but cried out in despair, -“Does nobody here know Rip Van Winkle?” - -“Oh, Rip Van Winkle!” exclaimed two or three. “Oh, to be sure! that’s -Rip Van Winkle yonder, leaning against the tree.” - -Rip looked, and beheld a precise counterpart of himself as he went up -the mountain; apparently as lazy, and certainly as ragged. The poor -fellow was now completely confounded. He doubted his own identity, and -whether he was himself or another man. In the midst of his bewilderment, -the man in the cocked hat demanded who he was, and what was his name? - -[Illustration: “That is Rip Van Winkle, yonder”] - -“God knows,” exclaimed he at his wit’s end; “I’m not myself--I’m -somebody else--that’s me yonder--no--that’s somebody else, got into my -shoes--I was myself last night, but I fell asleep on the mountain, and -they’ve changed my gun, and everything’s changed, and I’m changed, and I -can’t tell what’s my name, or who I am!” - -The by-standers began now to look at each other, nod, wink -significantly, and tap their fingers against their foreheads. There was -a whisper, also, about securing the gun, and keeping the old fellow from -doing mischief; at the very suggestion of which, the self-important man -with the cocked hat retired with some precipitation. At this critical -moment a fresh comely woman passed through the throng to get a peep at -the gray-bearded man. She had a chubby child in her arms, which, -frightened at his looks, began to cry. “Hush, Rip,” cried she, “hush, -you little fool; the old man won’t hurt you.” The name of the child, the -air of the mother, the tone of her voice, all awakened a train of -recollections in his mind. - -[Illustration: “A fresh, comely woman”] - -“What is your name, my good woman?” asked he. - -“Judith Gardenier.” - -“And your father’s name?” - -“Ah, poor man, his name was Rip Van Winkle; it’s twenty years since he -went away from home with his gun, and never has been heard of since--his -dog came home without him; but whether he shot himself, or was carried -away by the Indians, nobody can tell. I was then but a little girl.” - -Rip had but one question more to ask; but he put it with a faltering -voice: - -“Where’s your mother?” - -[Illustration: “What is your name, my good woman?”] - -Oh, she too had died but a short time since: she broke a blood-vessel in -a fit of passion at a New-England pedler. - -There was a drop of comfort, at least, in this intelligence. The honest -man could contain himself no longer. He caught his daughter and her -child in his arms. “I am your father!” cried he--“Young Rip Van Winkle -once--old Rip Van Winkle now--Does nobody know poor Rip Van Winkle!” - -All stood amazed, until an old woman, tottering out from among the -crowd, put her hand to her brow, and peering under it in his face for a -moment, exclaimed, “Sure enough! it is Rip Van Winkle--it is himself. -Welcome home again, old neighbor--Why, where have you been these twenty -long years?” - -[Illustration: Peter Vanderdonk] - -Rip’s story was soon told, for the whole twenty years had been to him -but as one night. The neighbors stared when they heard it; some were -seen to wink at each other, and put their tongues in their cheeks; and -the self-important man in the cocked hat, who, when the alarm was over, -had returned to the field, screwed down the corners of his mouth, and -shook his head--upon which there was a general shaking of the head -throughout the assemblage. - -[Illustration: “Friends among the rising generation”] - -It was determined, however, to take the opinion of old Peter -Vanderdonk, who was seen slowly advancing up the road. He was a -descendant of the historian of that name, who wrote one of the earliest -accounts of the province. Peter was the most ancient inhabitant of the -village, and well versed in all the wonderful events and traditions of -the neighborhood. He recollected Rip at once, and corroborated his story -in the most satisfactory manner. He assured the company that it was a -fact, handed down from his ancestor the historian, that the Kaatskill -mountains had always been haunted by strange beings. That it was -affirmed that the great Hendrick Hudson, the first discoverer of the -river and country, kept a kind of vigil there every twenty years, with -his crew of the Halfmoon, being permitted in this way to revisit the -scenes of his enterprise, and keep a guardian eye upon the river and the -great city called by his name. That his father had once seen them in -their old Dutch dresses playing at nine-pins in the hollow of the -mountain; and that he himself had heard, one summer afternoon, the sound -of their balls, like distant peals of thunder. - -[Illustration: “Once more on the bench at the inn door”] - -To make a long story short, the company broke up, and returned to the -more important concerns of the election. Rip’s daughter took him home to -live with her; she had a snug, well-furnished house, and a stout cheery -farmer for a husband, whom Rip recollected for one of the urchins that -used to climb upon his back. As to Rip’s son and heir, who was the ditto -of himself, seen leaning against the tree, he was employed to work on -the farm; but evinced a hereditary disposition to attend to anything -else but his business. - -Rip now resumed his old walks and habits; he soon found many of his -former cronies, though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of -time; and preferred making friends among the rising generation, with -whom he soon grew into great favor. - -Having nothing to do at home, and being arrived at that happy age when -a man can do nothing with impunity, he took his place once more on the -bench, at the inn door, and was reverenced as one of the patriarchs of -the village, and a chronicle of the old times “before the war.” It was -some time before he could get into the regular track of gossip, or could -be made to comprehend the strange events that had taken place during his -torpor. How that there had been a revolutionary war--that the country -had thrown off the yoke of old England--and that, instead of being a -subject of his majesty George the Third, he was now a free citizen of -the United States. Rip, in fact, was no politician; the changes of -states and empires made but little impression on him; but there was one -species of despotism under which he had long groaned, and that -was--petticoat government. Happily, that was at an end; he had got his -neck out of the yoke of matrimony, and could go in and out whenever he -pleased, without dreading the tyranny of Dame Van Winkle. Whenever her -name was mentioned, however, he shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, -and cast up his eyes; which might pass either for an expression of -resignation to his fate, or joy at his deliverance. - -[Illustration: “He used to tell his story to every stranger”] - -He used to tell his story to every stranger that arrived at Mr. -Doolittle’s hotel. He was observed, at first, to vary on some points -every time he told it, which was doubtless owing to his having so -recently awaked. It at last settled down precisely to the tale I have -related, and not a man, woman, or child in the neighborhood, but knew it -by heart. Some always pretended to doubt the reality of it, and insisted -that Rip had been out of his head, and that this was one point on which -he always remained flighty. The old Dutch inhabitants, however, almost -universally gave it full credit. Even to this day, they never hear a -thunder-storm of a summer afternoon about the Kaatskill, but they say -Hendrick Hudson and his crew are at their game of nine-pins; and it is a -common wish of all henpecked husbands in the neighborhood, when life -hangs heavy on their hands, that they might have a quieting draught out -of Rip Van Winkle’s flagon. - - NOTE.--The foregoing tale, one would suspect, had been suggested - to Mr. Knickerbocker by a little German superstition about the - Emperor Frederick _der Rothbart_ and the Kypphauser mountain; - the subjoined note, however, which he had appended to the tale, - shows that it is an absolute fact, narrated with his usual - fidelity. - - “The story of Rip Van Winkle may seem incredible to many, but - nevertheless I give it my full belief, for I know the vicinity - of our old Dutch settlements to have been very subject to - marvellous events and appearances. Indeed, I have heard many - stranger stories than this, in the villages along the Hudson; - all of which were too well authenticated to admit of a doubt. I - have even talked with Rip Van Winkle myself, who, when last I - saw him, was a very venerable old man, and so perfectly rational - and consistent on every other point, that I think no - conscientious person could refuse to take this into the bargain; - nay, I have seen a certificate on the subject taken before a - country justice, and signed with a cross, in the justice’s own - handwriting. The story, therefore, is beyond the possibility of - doubt.” - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: - -The order of illustrations has been retained as published in the -original publication. - -The following changes were made: - - On the title page - S. E Cassino _changed to_ S. E. Cassino - - In the List of Illustrations - personages” facing 26 _changed to_ facing 29 - - Page 38 - intead of the _changed to_ instead of the - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIP VAN WINKLE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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