By: Washington Irving
Rip van Winkle is about a middle-aged man who lives at the base of the Kaatskill
Mountains in New York, in a village near the Hudson River. The area of New
York was founded by the Dutch, specifically Peter Stuyvesant in the mid 1600s.
Rip's wife, Dame Van Winkle, has been on his back nagging him and yelling
at him for many days, so Rip decides to head out into the woods to relieve
himself of her. He left to just take a long walk, but when the sun began to
set, he decided to head towards his home until he heard a voice calling his
name. Rip decides to follow the voice and it leads him to a cave area in the
Catskill Mountains.
To Rip, it looked like an amphitheater, and when he arrived, he saw a bunch
of men playing a game called ninepins. They were dressed in outlandish fashion,
like they were from earlier days. He was dying of thirst and saw that they
were drinking something, so he decides to taste the beverage. He takes a drink
not knowing what it was and he ends up passing out for 20 years. When he wakes
up, he finds himself back in the woods. He was sure that he wasn't sleeping
there all night. When he stood up, he noticed that his gun was rusted and
falling apart. He believed that some people have played a trick on him and
got him drunk in order to take his stuff.
He remembered the path in which he followed the unknown man, so he retraced
his steps. New landmarks had been created, such as a small mountain stream
through the Kaatskills. When he reached to where the amphitheater was, he
noticed that it wasn’t there. He tried whistling for his dog that he
had brought along, but no traces of him were found. He dreaded to meet his
wife, but he put his dog and gun aside and headed to the village. He walked
down into the village, and he noticed that their clothing was different. They
all made comments about his beard, which was one foot long.
He noticed new houses were built, and began to doubt that this was his village.
He arrived at his house and saw that it was decayed, as well as the inn that
was located in the village. Not knowing that the Revolutionary War took place,
he told one guy that he was a loyal subject to the king and they believed
then that he was a spy. He began to ask people about his former friends, and
they all replied with answers, either they were dead or went to war. He then
asked about himself, and someone said that Rip was standing up against the
tree, but it wasn't actually Rip over there, but actually someone who was
trying to be him.
At last, his own daughter walked up. Rip then asked for her name, her fathers
name, and what had happened to her mother. She said that she was Judith Gardenier,
her father was Rip Van Winkle, and her mother had died from a breakage of
a blood vessel, in which Rip was happy about. Rip then proclaimed to her that
he was her father, and she believed him, as did all the people of the village.
Judith decides to let her father live with her. After awhile, Rip is back
to his old ways and habits, like playing with the village kids. He told his
story to every person who arrived at the hotel in the village, and some of
them believe that Hendrick Hudson and his crew still play ninepins up in the
mountains to this day.
Banjobarry 2004!