James Baquet

In Washington Irving’s story, “Rip Van Winkle” lives in a small Dutch town along New York’s Hudson River around the time of the American Revolution. Everyone loves this lazy but genial soul, who is sadly beset by a nagging wife.

To escape her shrewishness, he spends more time than he should at the local tavern, the King George III. When his wife catches him there, he and his dog, Wolf, go squirrel hunting in the hills. One autumn evening, as they start for home, Rip hears someone calling his name. A short little man in antiquated Dutch clothing is calling for him to help carry a keg of liquor.

Going up the mountain, Rip hears noises like thunder. In a hollow, Rip sees the source of the sounds: A group of men dressed much like the first one, and with grizzled beards, are playing nine-pins.

No one speaks to Rip, who drinks some of their liquor and soon falls asleep. When he wakes, he discovers the men are all gone. Wolf does not answer when he calls; his gun has rusted almost to nothing; and his beard reaches past his chest!

Puzzled, he heads back down to his village, but he doesn’t recognize a soul. The town itself looks different, and the people are asking him how he has cast his ballot. Confused, he tells them he is a loyal subject of King George III, not realizing that the country has become independent while he slept.

His house is in ruins, and the inn has been renamed after George Washington. His old friends are all dead, or moved away. An old woman says he looks a lot like Rip Van Winkle, but everyone knows that Rip is a much younger man. This turns out to be his son. A young woman appears and says she is old Rip’s daughter, Judith; she tells the old man that her mother died many years ago. Rip at last identifies himself to his daughter.

Another man confirms his story about wandering away, and explains that the men Rip saw were the ghosts of the crew of Henry Hudson, the early explorer after whom the river is named. They appear every 20 years to drink and play nine-pins.

Rip moves in with his daughter and continues his indolent ways, hanging out at the inn and telling his story to anyone who will listen. To this day, when thunder rolls, the children of the area say Hudson’s men are rolling the ball again.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. friendly, agreeable

2. old-fashioned

3. lazy

4. confused

5. inn, public house

6. bad temper, nagging

7. mountain valley

8. a game like bowling

9. gray

10. voting paper