Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-05-18
RIP VAN VINKLE.
By WASHINGTON IRVING.
4 rosrHuMous WRITING or pnDRlcn
KNlCKERBOCKER.

FROM whence comes wensday. that b wodeoAdAy.
Tus'h g thing that ever win keep
Ny scpulchre -Cartwr,eht.
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 1t 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, rs perfect barometers.
When tho 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
VIII gather hood of grave vapors about
their submits, which, in the last rays OF
the setting sun, will glow and light up
like crown of glory.
AT tho foot of these fairy mountains
the voyagcr may have described tho
Light smoke curling up from vi .ice
whose shmgle roofs CLEAN anon the
trees just where the blue tints of M.
laad melt away into the fresh green Of
The nearer landscape. 1t is little vii
Iage 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 peace0 and there were some of
the houses of the original settlers stand
mg within few years, built of small
yellow bricks brought from Holland
having latticed windows and gable fronts
surmounted with weathercocks.
In that same village, and in one Of
tbese very houses (Which, to tell the pre-
else truth. was sadly time worn and
weatherbeaten) there lived, many years
since, while the country was vet a prov.
lnce OF Great Britain, simple, good
natured fellow of the name Of Rip
Van Winkle. He was descend
ant of the Van Wrinkles who fig.
ured so gallantly in the chivalrous days
OF Peter Stuyvesant, and accompanied
nun TO the siege of Fort Christina. He
inherited. however, but little of the mar
tlal character OF his ancestors. have
observed that he was u simple, good
nannIed man; he was, moreover, n kind
neighhor, and an obedient, henpecked
husband. Indeed, to tho latter circum-
stance 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 slrews
at meme. Their tempers, doubtless, are
rendered plant and malleable in the
merry furnace of domestic tribulation,
and curtain lecture is worth all the
sermons in tho world for teaching the
virtues OF patience and long suffering.
a termsSant wife may, therefore, in
some respects, be considered q tolerable
b!ess!pg; and, if so, Rip Van Wrinkle
was thrice blessed.
Certain it is, that he was great favor
ite among all the good wives of tho vii.
hage, 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 gos-
sipings, TO lay all the blame on Dame
Van Winkle. The children of the village,
too, would shout with joy whenever he ap.
proached. He assisted at their spolts,
made their playthings, taught them to
fly kites and shoot marbles, and told
them long stories Of ghosts, witches and
Indians. Whenever he went lodging
about the village, he was surrounded by
troop of them, hanging on his skirts,
clambering on his back, and playing a
thousand tricks on him with impunity;
and not n dog would bark at him
throughout the neighborhood.
The great error in Rips composition
was an insuperable aversion to ali kinds
of profitable labor. 1t could not be from
want Of assiduity or perseverance, for he
would sit on a wet rock, with rod as
long and heavy as Tartar's lance, and
fish all day without murmur, even
though he should not be encouraged by
q single nibble. He would carry fowl
Ing piece on his shoulder for hours to
Sether, trudging through woods and
swamps, and up hill and down dale, tc
shoot a few squirrels or wild pigeons
He would never refuse TO assist q neigh
Dor, even in the toughest toll, and was {
foremost man at all country frolics fol
husking Indian corn or building stone
fences. The women of tho 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
doing family duty, and keeping his farm
In fact, he declared it was of no use &c
work on his farm; it was the most pesti
lent little piece Of ground In the whole
country; everything about it went wrong
and wouidgo wrong in spite of him. Hi!
fences were continually falling to pieces
his COW would either go astray or Ge
among the cabbages; weeds were sure Il
grow quicker in his fields than anywher,
else; the rain always made point of set
ting in just as he had some out door worl
10 do; GO that though his patrimonia
estate had dwindled away under his man
agement, acre by acre, until there wa.
little more left than mere patch of In
dian cord and potatoes, yet it was tn,
worst conditioned farm in the neighbor
hood.
His children, too, were as ragged and
wild as if they belonged to nobody. Hi
son Rip, fn urchin begotten in his owl
likeness, promised to inherit the habits
with the old clothes, of his father. HI
was generally seen trooping like colt al
his mothers heels, equipped in q pair o
his fathers cast off galligaskins, which
ho had much ado to hold up with on,
hand, MS fine lady does her train in baC
weather.
Rip Van Wrinkle, however, was ono o
those happy mortals, Of foolish, wei
oiled dispositions, who take the work
easy, eat whito bread or brown, which
ever can be got with the least thought O
trouble, and would rather starye on
penny than work for pound. If left t,
himself he would have whistled life ava,
in perfect contentment; but his wife KEEP
continually dinning in his ears abou
his idleness, his carelessness and the ruiz
he was bringing on his family.
Morning, noon and night, her tongu,
was incessantly going, and everything
he said or did was sure 10 produce tor
ent of household eloquence. Rip ha'
out one way of replying to all lectures @
the kind. and that, by frequent use, ha
grown into a habit. He shrugged hi