- Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC
- Published Date: 1997
- Original Publish Year: 1819/1820
- Audio Disks: 3
- ISBN: 978-1-4025-5119-2
- Author: Washington Irving
- Read By: George Guidall
Rip Van Winkle/The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving are classic American folklore. Originally published in the early 19th century, these stories have been told and retold for over two centuries now. I am fairly certain that I have read both of these before, but since they have been told again and again in everything from Disney animation to Tim Burton adaptations, it was good to go back to the original texts.
Rip Van Winkle is the tale of a man who goes out into the woods as much to get away from his shrewish wife as to actually hunt for game. He comes across a strange little man hauling a cask into the mountains and helps him with his load. They go to a hollow in the mountain where a group of these odd men play nine-pins and the echoes ring across the area like thunder. Rip steals a sip, and then another and another from the cask. He wakes up in the woods and eventually discovers twenty years have passed.
Ichabod Crane is a school master who wants to woo the daughter of a wealthy landowner. He is prone to believing in witchcraft and other supernatural beings. One night on his way home from a party, he is set upon by the legendary “Headless Horseman” of Sleepy Hollow. This Hessian (German mercenary for the British army) was killed when a cannonball removed his head and he has been searching the hollow for it ever since.
It would be hard not to know both of these tales already, but I do recommend you go back and read the originals. There is a sense of history in the stories, from the settings just before and after the War of Independence to the description of the foods and clothing. These are often classed as ‘children’s tales’ but there is something here for the adult reader as well. I enjoyed the audiobook that I borrowed from my local library, but both these stories are in the public domain. You should be able to find a free version of the text online with a quick google search.
Revisiting these old classics makes me want to see what else I’ve missed in the last few hundred years.
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Plastivore by Matt Truxaw
