‘Rip Van Winkle’ is a short story written by Washington Irving, and it was published in 1819. The book is beautifully interwoven with fantasy and history. The story is based on a German folktale.
It is the story of Rip Van Winkle, who lives in a village in the Catskills, with his wife and children. He is an easy-going man, with a nagging wife who constantly criticizes him.
One day, Rip goes hunting in the mountains, and meets the ghost of Henry Hudson, the famed explorer. Rip eats and drinks with Hudson and his crew, then falls asleep under a tree.
The story then moves twenty years ahead, when Rip wakes up to find that the world has changed. His wife has died. His children are grown. At first, the only person in his village who recognizes him is Peter Vanderdonk, the oldest man in the village.
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