The mysterious event caused much speculation at the church on the following Sunday. Knots of gazers and gossips were collected in the churchyard, at the bridge, and at the spot where the hat and pumpkin had been found. The stories of Brouwer, of 5 Bones, and a whole budget of others, were called to mind; and when they had diligently considered them all, and compared them with the symptoms of the present case, they shook their heads, and came to the conclusion that Ichabod had been carried off by the Galloping Hessian. As he was a bachelor, and in 10 nobody's debt, nobody troubled his head any more about him. The school was removed to a different quarter of the Hollow, and another pedagogue reigned in his stead. It is true, an old farmer, who had been down to New York, on a visit several years after, and from whom this account of the 15 ghostly adventure was received, brought home the intelligence that Ichabod Crane was still alive; that he had left the neighborhood, partly through fear of the goblin and Hans Van Ripper, and partly in mortification at having been suddenly dismissed by the heiress; that he had changed his quarters to a distant part 20 of the country; had kept school and studied law at the same time, had been admitted to the bar, turned politician, electioneered, written for the newspapers, and finally had been made a justice of the Ten Pound Court. Brom Bones, too, who shortly after his rival's disappearance conducted the blooming Katrina in triumph 25 to the altar, was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related, and always burst into a hearty laugh at the mention of the pumpkin, which led some to suspect that he knew more about the matter than he chose to tell. The old country wives, however, who are the best judges of 30 these matters, maintain to this day that Ichabod was spirited away by supernatural means; and it is a favorite story often told about the neighborhood round the winter evening fire. The bridge became more than ever an object of superstitious awe, and that may be the reason why the road has been altered of late 35 years, so as to approach the church by the border of the mill pond. The schoolhouse being deserted soon fell to decay, and was reported to be haunted by the ghost of the unfortunate pedagogue; and the plowboy, loitering homeward of a still summer evening, has often fancied his voice at a distance, chanting a 5 melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil solitudes of Sleepy Hollow. NOTES AND QUESTIONS Biography. Washington Irving (1783-1859) was born in the city of New York, in the very year in which the Treaty of Peace that ended the Revolutionary War was signed. He was destined to do for American literature what the war had already done for the American government and people—make it respected among all nations. Irving's mother said, "Washington's great work is done; let us name our boy Washington," little dreaming when thus naming him after the "Father of His Country" that he should one day come to be called the "Father of American Letters" (literature). On April 30, 1789, when this little boy was six years old, his father took him to Federal Hall in Wall Street, to witness Washington's inauguration as the first president of the United States. It is told that President Washington laid his hand kindly on the head of his little namesake and gave him his blessing. Young Washington Irving led a happy life, rambling in his boyhood about every nook and corner of the city and the adjacent woods, which at that time were not very far to seek, idling about the busy wharves, making occasional trips up the lordly Hudson, roaming, gun in hand, along its banks and over the neighboring Kaatskills, listening to the tales of old Dutch landlords and gossipy old Dutch housewives. When he became a young man he wove these old tales, scenes, experiences, and much more that his imagination and his merry humor added, into some of the most rollicking, mirthful stories that had been read in many a day. The first of these was a humorous History of New York (1809), which Irving pretended he had found among the papers of an old Dutchman by the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker. This work made its author instantly famous, and showed to Americans as well as to foreigners what wealth of literary material this new country already possessed in its local legends and history. Ten years later Irving published The Sketch Book, containing the matchless "Rip Van Winkle" and the delightful "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." This may be said to mark the real beginning of American literature. A visit to Spain resulted in The Alhambra and The Life of Colum bus, descriptive and historical works in which Irving won as great success as he had attained with his humorous tales. His genial, cheerful nature shines through all his works and makes him still, as his friend Thackeray said of him in his lifetime, "beloved of all the world." Discussion. 1. What was the situation of Sleepy Hollow? 2. Make a list of all the names Irving applies to this valley. 3. What impression do these names help to give? 4. What effect upon the inhabitants had the situation of the valley? 5. In describing this effect, what comparison does Irving use? 6. Why does Irving exaggerate Ichabod's peculiarities? Find examples of exaggeration. 7. What stories did Ichabod enjoy? 8. What effect did these have upon him? 9. For what is the author preparing the reader when he tells this? 10. How do you account for Ichabod's disappearance? 11. Make a list of all the hints throughout the story that helped you to come to this conclusion. 12. Find lines that show Irving's humor. 13. In what ways does he create humor? 14. Find lines that show Irving's power to describe Nature. 15. Which description do you think is the finest? 16. In what humorous way does Irving account for the prevalence of ghosts in a community like Sleepy Hollow? 17. On page 296 you read that legend and history help to acquaint us with our country; how does this story help you to understand America? 18. This story gives you a picture of the farmland country of New York after the Revolutionary War; compare this picture to the poverty of country life in early New England, as shown in The Courtship of Miles Standish. 19. Why is it good for a country to have its citizens familiar with "scenes and legends,” such as you find in this group of selections? 20. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: legend; tranquillity; rustic; superstition (pp. 365-366); architect; urchin; revenue; budget; goblin (pp. 368372); hardihood; decision (p. 377); despotic; refugee (pp. 380-387). 21. Pronounce: inapplicable; patron; elm (pp. 368-374); Herculean; alternative (pp. 377-380); horizon; hospitable (pp. 384-386). Phrases for Study inveterate propensity, 365, 10 nine fold, 366, 25 Hessian trooper, 366, 30 great torrent of migration, 367, 25 comforts of the cupboard, 369, 27 dilating powers of an anaconda, 369, 31 worldly effects, 369, 36 carried away the palm, 370, 21 knight-errant of yore, 376, 26 labyrinth of whims, 376, 35 roistering blade, 377, 7 enter the lists against him, 380, 3 obstinately pacific system, 380, 7 petty embassies, 381, 13 it is meet I should, 382, 1 oppressive opulence, 383, 20 Class Reading. Description of Ichabod Crane, page 368, lines 1 to 20; description of the Van Tassel farm and mansion, page 373, line 34, to page 376, line 21; Brom Bones, page 377, line 7, to page 378, line 8; the quilting frolic, page 384, line 15, to page 386, line 28; the headless horseman, page 392, line 5, to page 394, line 35. Outline for Testing Silent Reading. Make an outline for the story, using the topic-headings found in the text. Library Reading. Another story from The Sketch Book, Irving; a story from Tales of a Traveller or from The Alhambra, Irving. Suggestions for Theme Topics. 1. My favorite story by Washington Irving. 2. A description of "Sunnyside" from personal observation or from pictures. 3. A dialogue that you imagine might have taken place between Ichabod and the old farmer who had been to New York. 4. A comparison of an American school of long ago with my school. THE GREAT STONE FACE* NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE One afternoon, when the sun was going down, a mother and her little boy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the Great Stone Face. They had but to lift their eyes, and there it was plainly to be seen, though miles away, with the sunshine bright5 ening all its features. And what was the Great Stone Face? Embosomed amongst a family of lofty mountains, there was a valley so spacious that it contained many thousand inhabitants. Some of these good people dwelt in log-huts, with the black 10 forest all around them, on the steep and difficult hillsides. Others had their homes in comfortable farmhouses, and cultivated the rich soil on the gentle slopes or level surfaces of the valley. Others, again, were congregated into populous villages, where some wild, highland rivulet, tumbling down from its birthplace 15 in the upper mountain region, had been caught and tamed by human cunning, and compelled to turn the machinery of cottonfactories. The inhabitants of this valley, in short, were numerous, and of many modes of life. But all of them, grown people and children, had a kind of familiarity with the Great Stone 20 Face, although some possessed the gift of distinguishing this grand natural phenomenon more perfectly than many of their neighbors. 25 The Great Stone Face, then, was a work of Nature in her mood of majestic playfulness, formed on the perpendicular side of a mountain by some immense rocks which had been thrown together in such a position as, when viewed at a proper distance, precisely to resemble the features of the human countenance. It seemed as if an enormous giant, or a Titan, had sculptured his own likeness on the precipice. There was the broad arch of the 30 forehead, a hundred feet in height; the nose, with its long bridge; *See Silent and Oral Reading, page 40. |