<span style="color:grey">A POStING OF DIEDRICh KNICKERBOCKER.
<span style="color:grey">From w is odensday,
[tale e Diedricleman of Nes from its primitive settlers. orical researc lie so mucably scanty on e topics; legendary lore, so invaluable to true ory.
c up in its lotle clasped volume of black-letter, and studied it he zeal of a bookworm.
t of all tory of tco terary cer of o tell trut is not a ter t ss c is its scrupulous accuracy, ioned on its ?rst appearance, but ely establis is noted into all orical collections, as a book of unquestionable auty.
tleman died sly after tion of cannot do muco o say t ime migter employed in o ride did no a little in t of some friends, for ruest deference and affection, yet ;more in sorro; and it begins to be suspected, t ended to injure or offend. But ed by critics, it is still icularly by certain biscuit-bakers, ality, almost equal to tamped on a aterloo medal, or a Queen Annes fart remember tskill mountains. t Appalaco t of to a noble , and lording it over try. Every cains; and t barometers. tled, t tlines on t sometimes, ts, ting sun, up like a crown of glory.
At t of tains, t smoke curling up from a Village, s of t ao t is a little village of great antiquity, cs, in times of t about t of ter Stuyvesant (may in peace!), and ttlers standing of small yelloiced s, surmounted hercocks.
In t same village, and in one of to tell trutime-en), try a province of Great Britain, a simple, good-natured fello of tly in ter Stuyvesant, and accompanied o t Cina.
ed, little of tial cer of ors. I ured man; o tter circumstance mig meekness of spirit to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, less, are rendered pliant and malleable in tic tribulation, and a curtain-lecture is eacues of patience and long-suffering. A termagant s, be considered a tolerable blessing, and if so, Rip Van inkle hrice blessed.
Certain it is, t favorite among all took in all family squabbles, and never failed, ters over in to lay all too, ed at ts, made taugo ?y kites and s marbles, and told tories of gs, c dodging about troop of ts, clambering on ricks on y; and not a dog the neighborhood.
t error in Rips composition o all kinds of pro?table labor. It could not be for of assiduity or perseverance; for on a rock, artars lance, and ?s a murmur, even t be encouraged by a single nibble. ogetrudging to s a fe a neig toil, and man in all country frolics for one fences; too, used to employ o run to do suctle odd jobs as t do for to attend to anybodys business but as to doing family duty, and keeping impossible.
In fact, o pestilent little piece of ground in try; everyt it e of inually falling to pieces; ray, or get among to groting in just as -door o do; so t trimonial estate , acre by acre, until ttle more left tcatoes, yet it -conditioned farm in the neighborhood.
oo, o nobody. ten in o in ts, rooping like a colt at -off galligaskins, her.
Rip Van inkle, als, of foolisions, t or trouble, and arve on a penny t to led life a contentment; but continually dinning in , ongue ly going, and every to produce a torrent of one o all lectures of t, by frequent use, o a . up said not o drao tside of truto a henpecked husband.
Rips sole domestic ad ers going so often astray. true it is, in all points of spirit be?tting in and tting terrors of a ongue? t olf entered t fell, ail drooped to ting many a sidelong glance at Dame Van inkle, and at t ?ourisick or ladle, o tation.
times grerimony rolled on; a tart temper never melloongue is tool t groant use. For a long ual club of ts sessions on a benced by a rubicund portrait of y George to sit in talking listlessly over village gossip, or telling endless, sleepy stories about not it esmans money to imes took place, raveller. en to tents, as dra by Derrick Van Bummel, ter, a dapper learned little man, o be daunted by t gigantic ionary; and e upon public events some monter taken place.
to ely controlled by Nicriarc took from morning till nig moving suf?ciently to avoid tree; so t tell ts as accurately as by a sun-dial. It is true, o speak, but smoked ly. s, man s), perfectly understood o gather his opinions.
ed displeased o smoke ly, and to send fort, and angry puffs; but it in ligimes, taking tting t vapor curl about oken of perfect approbation.
From even trong lengted by ermagant y of to noug august personage, Nicongue of terrible virago, wrigs of idleness.
Poor Rip last reduced almost to despair; and ernative, to escape from to take gun in roll ao times seat t of a tree, and sents of ion. quot;Poor olf,quot;
;tress leads t; but never mind, my lad, never a friend to stand by t; olf fully in ers face, and if dogs can feel pity, I verily believe ed timent .
In a long ramble of tumnal day, Rip o one of t parts of tskill mountains. er e sport of squirrel-sing, and till solitudes s of ing and fatigued, e in ternoon, on a green knoll, covered ain crorees, ry for many a mile of ric a distance ts silent but majestic course, ion of a purple cloud, or ts glassy bosom and at last losing itself in the blue highlands.
On to a deep mountain glen, om ?lled s from ted by ted rays of tting sun. For some time Rip lay musing on tains began to t it ering terrors of Dame Van inkle.
As to descend, ance ;Rip Van inkle! Rip Van inkle!quot; could see not a cros solitary ?igain. urned again to descend, ;Rip Van inkle! Rip Van inkle!quot;--at time olf bristled up o ers side, looking fearfully doo t a vague appreealing over ion, and perceived a strange ?gure slooiling up t of someto see any ed place, but supposing it to be some one of tance, ened doo yield it.
On nearer approacill more surprised at ty of trangers appearance. , square-built old felloique Dutcrapped round t--several pairs of breecer one of ample volume, decorated tons do tout keg, t seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to approac rustful of tance, Rip complied y; and mutually relieving eacly tain torrent. As tant t seemed to issue out of a deep ravine, or rat bety rocks, to, but supposing it to be ttering of one of transient ten take place in tain s, o a re, surrounded by perpendicular precipices, over trees s t you only caug evening cloud. During time Rip and ly of carrying a keg of liquor up tain, yet trange and incompre t inspired awe, and cy.
On entering tre, nes of ed t in tre ninepins. t outlandis doublets, ots, and most of tyle of the guides.
too, entirely of nose, and ed by a off tle red cocks tail. to be tout old gentleman, en countenance; , broad belt and and featockings, and ing, in t over from time of ttlement.
seemed particularly odd to Rip tly amusing t tained t faces, t mysterious silence, and melancy of pleasure nessed. Noterrupted tillness of t tains like rumbling peals of thunder.
As Rip and ed from tared at atue-like gaze, and sucrange uncoutre countenances, t turned e togetied tents of to large ?agons, and made signs to o upon trembling; turned to their game.
By degrees, Rips aaste t urally a ty soul, and empted to repeat t. One taste provoked anoterated s to ten, t at lengto a deep sleep.
On tering among t, and breasting tain breeze. quot;Surely,quot; t Rip, quot;I slept .quot; range man ain ravine--treat among ty at ninepins--t;O ?agon! t ;
t Rip--quot;;
in place of ted , tock en. ed t terers of tains a trick upon oo, rayed aer a squirrel or partridge. led after ed all in vain; ted le and s, but no dog o be seen.
ermined to revisit t evenings gambol, and if y, to demand his dog and gun.
As o s, and ing in ivity. quot;tain beds do not agree ; t Rip, quot;and if t of tism, I sime ; ity doo t to onis a mountain stream , leaping from rock to rock, and ?lling t to scramble up its sides, s of birccimes tripped up or entangled by t ted tendrils from tree to tree, and spread a kind of network in h.
At lengto re; but no traces of suced a rable came tumbling in a s of feato a broad deep basin, black from t. to a stand.
led after ing a dry tree t overion, seemed to look do ties. o be done? t famis of . o give up o meet it do to starve among tains. y ?relock, and, full of trouble and anxiety, turned eps homeward.
As a number of people, but none ry round. too, fas to ared at eyes upon roked tant recurrence of ture, induced Rip, involuntarily, to do, to onis, long!
ered ts of troop of strange c ing after ing at oo, not one of ered: it s range names range faces at trange. o doubt cive village, a day before. tood tskill mountains--t a distance--t ;t ?agon last nig;
t ;;
It y t o aing every moment to o decay--ttered, and tarved dog, t looked like olf, it. Rip called teet indeed.--quot;My very dog,quot; sig;ten me!quot;
ered to tell trut in neat order. It y, forlorn, and apparently abandoned. teness overcame all hen all again was silence.
ened to , t it too y ood in its place, gaping s and petticoats, and over ted, quot;tel, by Jonattle.quot; Instead of t tree t used to ser t little Dutcall naked pole, op t looked like a red nig tering a ?ag, on ripes--all trange and incompre even tamorp re, ted , and underneated in large cers, quot;GENERAL ASON.quot;
t t none t Rip recollected. ter of tling, disputatious tone about it, instead of tomed pranquillity. tering clouds of tobacco-smoke, instead of idle speecer, doling fortents of an ancient newspaper.
In place of ts full of ly about rigizens-elections--members of Congress--liberty--Bunkers y-six-and ot Babyloniso the bewildered Van inkle.
ty foracted ttention of tavern politicians. to foot, curiosity. tor bustled up to ly aside, inquired, quot;on ; Rip stared in vacant stupidity. Anot but busy little fellooe, inquired in ;; Rip a loss to compreion; old gentleman, in a s, made ting to t and left ing ing on penetrating, as it o ere tone, quot; brougo tion to breed a riot in t;
quot;Alas! gentlemen,quot; cried Rip, some;I am a poor, quiet man, a native of t of the King, God bless him!
burst from tanders-quot;a tory! a tory! a spy! a refugee! le ; It dif?culty t tant man in t restored order; and enfold austerity of bro, o keep about tavern.
quot;ell--w;
Rip bet , and inquired, heres Nicholas Vedder?
ttle ombstone in t used to tell all about ts rotten and gone too.quot;
quot;c;
quot;O off to t torming of Stony-Point--ot t of Antonys Nose. I dont know --;
quot;er?quot;
quot; off to too; militia general, and is no;
Rips died a he world.
Every ansreating of sucime, and of matters and:
ony-Point;--o ask after any more friends, but cried out in despair, quot;Does nobody ;
quot;O; exclaimed t;Oo be sure!
ts Rip Van inkle yonder, leaning against tree.quot;
Rip looked, and beerpart of up tain; apparently as lazy, and certainly as ragged. tely confounded. ed ity, and demanded w was his name?
quot;God kno; exclaimed s end; quot;Im not myself--Im somebody else--ts me yonder-no--ts somebody else, got into my s nig I fell asleep on tain, and t tell ws my name, or w;
tanders began noo look at eacly, and tap t their foreheads.
t securing t tion of man retired ation. At tical moment a freso get a peep at the gray-bearded man.
Sened at o cry. quot;; cried s;tle fool; t you.quot; tone of rain of recollections in his mind.
quot; is your name, my good ; asked he.
quot;Judit;
quot;And your fat;
quot;A its ty years since a a little girl.quot;
Rip one more question to ask; but it ering voice:
quot;;
Ooo a s time since; s of passion at a New-England pedler.
t, at least, in telligence. t man could contain er and ;I am your fat; cried ;Young Rip Van inkle once-old Rip Van inkle no;
All stood amazed, until an old ottering out from among t o in exclaimed, quot;sure enoug is Rip Van inkle--it is y long years?quot;
Rips story old, for ty years o as one nigared o eac tongues in tant man in t, o t the assemblage.
It ermined, o take ter Vanderdonk, orian of t name, accounts of ter ancient inant of ts and traditions of ted Rip at once, and corroborated ory in t satisfactory manner.
it , or, torian, t tskill mountains ed by strange beings. t it t discoverer of try, kept a kind of vigil ty years, ted in to revisit terprise, and keep a guardian eye upon t city called by c ninepins in tain; and t ernoon, tant peals of thunder.
to make a long story s, turned to tant concerns of tion. Rips daugook o live out ced for one of t used to climb upon o Rips son and to of tree, o evinced an ary disposition to attend to any t his business.
Rip noime; and preferred making friends among tion, o great favor.
o do at t y, ook triarcimes quot;before t; It ime before into track of gossip, or could be made to comprerange events t aken place during orpor. tionary try , instead of being a subject to y George tizen of ted States. Rip, in fact, ician; tates and empires made but little impression on tism under ticoat government. an end; of trimony, and could go in and out yranny of Dame Van inkle. ioned, up pass eition to e, or joy at his deliverance.
o tell ory to every stranger t arrived at Mr.
Doolittles el. ?rst, to vary on some points every time old it, o ly a at last settled doo tale I ed, and not a man, by . Some alended to doubt ty of it, and insisted t Rip of t on cants, universally gave it full credit. Even to torm of a summer afternoon about tskill, but t t is a common ing draug of Rip Van inkles ?agon.
NOtE.
tale, one , ed to Mr.
Knickerbocker by a little German superstition about t and tain; te, o tale, s it is an absolute fact, narrated y.
quot;tory of Rip Van inkle may seem incredible to many, but nevert my full belief, for I knoy of our old Dutctlements to to marvellous events and appearances. Indeed, I ranger stories too icated to admit of a doubt. I alked I saional and consistent on every ot, t I tious person could refuse to take to ti?cate on t taken before a country justice, and signed ices oory, ty of doubt.
quot;D. K.quot;
<span style="color:grey">travelling notes from a memorandum-book of Mr.Knickerbocker:
<span style="color:grey">tsberg or Catskill mountains s, , said to be t on t peak of tskills, and to open and s t t up to stars. In times of drougiated, s summer clouds out of cob of tain, ?ake after ?ake, like ?akes of carded cotton, to ?oat in til, dissolved by t of tle so spring, ts to ripen, and to groing in t of ttle-bellied spider in t of its he valleys!
<span style="color:grey">In old times, say traditions, tou or Spirit, t recesses of tskill mountains, and took a miscions upon times er a s and among ragged rocks, and t on tling precipice or raging torrent.
<span style="color:grey">te abode of tou is still s is a rock or cliff on t port of tains, and, from t it, and ts neig of it is a small lake, t of tary bittern, er-snakes basking in t a t er pursue s precincts. Once upon a time, er ed to tcrees. One of t, but in treat it fall among t stream gus o pieces, and tream made its o tinues to ?oo t day, being tical stream knoerskill.