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Legend of Sleepy Hollow · Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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The legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, found among the papers of the
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late Dietrich Knickerbacker. A pleasing land of drowsy head. It was of dreams
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that wave before the half shot eye, and of gay castles in the clouds
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that pass forever flushing round a summer sky from castle of indolence in the bosom
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of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson.
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At that broad expansion of the river, denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the
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Tapanzee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of Saint
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Nicholas when they crossed. There lies a small market town or rural port,
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which by some is called Greensbury, but which is more generally and properly known
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by the name of Tarrytown. This name was given, we are told,
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in former days, by the good housewives of the adjacent country, from the
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inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days.
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Be that as it may. I do not vouch for the fact, but
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merely advert to it for the sake of being precise and authentic. Not far
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from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley,
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or rather lap of land among high hills, which is one of the quietest
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places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it with just murmur
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enough to lull one into repose, and the occasional whistle of a quail or
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tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the
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uniform tranquility. I recollect that when a stripling, my first exploit in squirrel
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shooting, was in a grove of tall walnut trees that shades one side of
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the valley. I had wandered into it at noontime, when all nature is
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peculiarly quiet, and was startled by the roar of my own gun as it
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broke the sabbath stillness around, and was prolonged and reverberated by the angry echoes.
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If ever I should wish for a retreat, whither I might steal from
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the world in its distractions, and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled
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life, I know of none more promising than this little valley. From the
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listless repose of the place and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are
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descendants from the original Dutch settlers. This sequestered glen has long been known by
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the name of Sleepy Hollow, and its rustic lads are called Sleepy Hollow Boys.
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Throughout all the neighbouring country, a drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang
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over the land and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place
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was bewitched by a high German doctor during the early days of the settlement.
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Others that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe,
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held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Henrik Hudson. Certain
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it is that the place still continues under the sway of some witching power that
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holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk
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in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs,
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are subject to trances and visions, and frequently see strange sights and hear music
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and voices in the air. The whole neighbourhood abounds with local tales, haunted
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spots and twilight superstitions. Stars shoot and meteors, glare oftener across the valley
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than in any other part of the country, and the Nightmare, with her
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whole ninefold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols. The
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dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be
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commander in chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of
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a figure on horseback without a head. It is said by some to be
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the ghost of a Hessian trooper whose head had been carried away by a cannonball
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in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever and anon
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seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if
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on the wings of the wind. His haunts are not confined to the valley,
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but extend at times to the adjacent roads, and especially to the vicinity
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of a church at no great distance. Indeed, Sir of the most authentic
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historians of these parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating
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facts concerning this specter, alleged that the body of the trooper, having been
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buried in the churchyard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in
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knightly quest of his head, and that The rushing speed with which he sometimes
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passes along the hollow like a midnight blast, is owing to his being belated
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and in a hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak. Such is
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the general purport of this legendary superstition, which has furnished materials for many a
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wild story in that region of shadows, and the specter is known at all
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the country firesides by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. It
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is remarkable that the visionary propensity I have mentioned is not confine to the native
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inhabitants of the valley, but is unconsciously imbibed by everyone who resides there for
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a time. However wide awake they may have been before they entered that sleepy
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region, they are sure in a little time to inhale the witching influence of
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the air and begin to grow imaginative, to dream dreams, to see apparitions.
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I mention this peaceful spot with all possible lawd for it is in such
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little retired Dutch valleys found here and there embosomed in the great state of New
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York, that population, manners, and customs remain fixed, while the great
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torrent of migration and improvement, which is making such incessant changes in other parts
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of this restless country, sweeps by them unobserved. They are like those little
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nooks of still water which border a rapid stream, where we may see the
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straw and bubble riding quietly at anchor, or slowly revolving in their mimic harbor,
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undisturbed by the rush of the passing current. Though many years have elapsed
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since I trod the drowsy shades of Sleepy Hollow, yet I question whether I
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should not still find the same trees and the same families vegetating in its sheltered
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bosom. In this by place of nature. There abode in a remote period
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of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a
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worthy white of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or as he
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expressed it, tarried in Sleepy Hollow for the purpose of instructing the children of
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the vicinity. He was a native of Connecticut, a state which supplies the
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Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for the forest, and since
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forth yearly its life legions of frontier woodmen and country schoolmasters. The cognomen of
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Crane was not inapplicable to his person. He was tall, but exceedingly lank,
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with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile
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out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his
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whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small and flat at top,
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with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose,
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so that it looked like a weathercock perched atop his spindle neck to tell
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which way the wind blew. To see him striding along the profile of a
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hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him,
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one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth,
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or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield. His schoolhouse was a low building of
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one large room, rudely constructed of logs, the windows partly glazed and partly
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patched with leaves of old copy books. It was most ingeniously secured at vacant
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hours by a wife twisted in the handle of the door, and stakes set
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against the window shutters, so that though a thief might get in with perfect
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ease, he would find some embarrassment in getting out an idea most probably borrowed
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by the architect Jost van Houten from the mystery of an eel pot. The
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school house stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation, just at the foot
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of a woody hill, with a brook running close by, and a formidable
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birch tree growing at one end of it. From hence, the low murmur
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of his pupil's voices conning over their lessons might be heard on a drowsy summer's
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day, like the hum of a beehive, interrupted now and then by the
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authoritative voice of the master in the tone of menace or command or peradventure,
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by the appalling sound of the birch as he urged some tardy loiterer along the
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flowery path of knowledge. Truth to say, he was a conscientious man,
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and ever bore in mind the golden maxim spare the rod and spoil the child.
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Ichabod Crane's scholars certainly were not spoiled. I would not have it imagined,
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however, that he was one of those cruel potentates of the school who
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joy in the smart of their subjects. On the contrary, he administered justice
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with discrimination rather than severity, taking the burden off the backs of the week
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and laying it on those of the strong. Your mere puny stripling that winced
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at the least flourish of the rod was passed by with indulgence, But the
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claims of justice were satisfied by inflicting a double portion on some little, tough,
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wrong headed, broad skirted Dutch urchin who sulked and swelled and grew dogged
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sullen beneath the birch. All this he called doing his duty by their parents.
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And he never inflicted a chastisement without following it by the assurance so consolatory
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to the smarting urchin that he would remember it and thank him for it.
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The longest day he had to live. When school hours were over, he
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was even the companion and playmate of the larger boys, and on holiday afternoons
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would convoy some of the smaller ones home, who happened to have pretty sisters
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or good housewives for mothers, noted for the comforts of their cupboard. Indeed,
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it behooved him to keep on good terms with his pupils. The revenue
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arising from his school was small and would have been scarcely sufficient to furnish him
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with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder, and though lank,
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he had the dilating powers of an anaconda. But to help out his maintenance
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he was, according to country custom in those parts, boarded and lodged at
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the houses of the farmers, whose children he instructed. With these he lived
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successively a week at a time, thus going the rounds of the neighborhood,
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with all his worldly effects tied up in a cotton handkerchief, that all this
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might not be too onerous on the purses of his rustic patrons, who are
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apt to consider the costs of schooling a grievous burden, and schoolmasters as mere
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drones. He had various ways of rendering himself both useful and agreeable. He
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assisted the farmers occasionally in the lighter labours of their farms. Helped to make
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hay, mended the fences, took the horses to water, drove the cows
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from pasture, and cut wood for the winter fire. He laid aside,
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too, all the dominant dignity and absolute sway with which he lorded it in
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his little empire the school, and became wonderfully gentle and ingratiating. He found
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favor in the eyes of the mothers by petting the children, particularly the youngest,
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and like the lion bold which will whom so magnanimously the lamb did hold,
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he would sit with a child upon one knee and rock a cradle with
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his foot for hours together. In addition to his other vocations, he was
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the singing master of the neighborhood, and picked up many bright shillings by instructing
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the young folks in psalmody. It was a matter of no little vanity to
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him on Sundays to take his station in front of the church gallery with a
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band of chosen singers, where in his own mind he completely carried away the
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palm from the parson. Certain it is his voice resounded far above all the
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rest of the congregation. And there are particular quavers still to be heard in
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that church, and which may even be heard half mile off, quite to
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the opposite side of the mill pond on a still Sunday morning, which which
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are said to be legitimately descended from the nose of Ichabod crane. Thus by
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divers little makeshifts, and in that ingenious way which is commonly denominated by hook
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and by crook, the worthy pedagogue, got on tolerably enough, and was
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thought by all who understood nothing of the labour of headwork to have a wonderfully
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easy life of it. The schoolmaster is generally a man of some importance in
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the female circle of a rural neighborhood, being considered a kind of idle gentlemanly
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personage, of vastly superior taste and accomplishments to the rough country swains, and
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indeed inferior in learning only to the parson. His appearance, therefore is apt
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to occasion some little stir at the tea table of a farmhouse, and the
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addition of a supernumerated dish of cakes or sweetmeats, or peradventure the parade of
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a silver teapot. Our man of letters, therefore was peculiarly happy in the
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smiles of all the country damsels. How he would figure among them in the
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churchyard between services on Sundays, gathering grapes for them in the wild vines that
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overran the surrounding trees, reciting for their amusement all the epitasts on the tombstones,
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or sauntering with the whole bevy of them along the banks of the adjacent
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mill pond, while the more bashful country bumpkins hung sheepishly back, envying his
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superior elegance and address from his half itinerant life. Also, he was a
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kind of traveling gazette, carrying the whole budget of local gossip from house to
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house, so that his appearance was always greeted with satisfaction. He was moreover
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esteemed by the women as a man of great erudition, for he had read
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several books quite through, and was the perfect master of Cotton Mather's History of
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New England Witchcraft, in which, by the way, he most firmly and
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potently believed, he was in fact an odd mixture of shrewdness and simple credulity.
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His appetite for the marvelous and his powers of digesting it were equally extraordinary,
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and both had been increased by his residence in this spellbound region. No
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tale was too gross or monstrous for this capricious swallow. It was often his
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delight, after his school was dismissed in the afternoon, to stretch himself on
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the rich bed of clover bordering the little brook that whimpered by his schoolhouse,
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and there caln over Old Mather's direful tales, until the gathering dusk of evening
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made the printed page a mere mist before his eyes. Then, as he
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wended his way by swamp and stream and awful woodland to the farm house where
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he happened to be quartered, every sound of nature at that witching hour fluttered
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and excited imagination. The moan of the whipper will from the hillside, the
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boding cry of the tree toad that harbinger of storm, the dreary hooting of
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the screech owl, or the sudden rustling in the thicket of birds frightened from
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their roost. The fireflies, too, which sparkled most vividly in the darkest
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place now and then startled him as one of uncommon brightness, would stream across
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his path. And if by chance a huge blockhead of a beetle came winging
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his blundering flight against him, the poor varlet was ready to give up the
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ghosts with the idea that he was struck with the witch's token. His only
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resource on such occasions, either to drown thought or drive away evil spirits,
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was to sing psalm tunes. And the good people of Sleepy Hollow, as
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they sat by their doors of an evening were often filled with awe at hearing
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his nasal melody in linked sweetness, long drawn out, floating from the distant
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hill or along the dusky road. Another of his sources of fearful pleasure was
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to pass long winter evenings with the old Dutch wives as they sat spinning by
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the fire with a row of apples roasting and spluttering along the hearth, and
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to listen to their marvelous tales of ghosts and goblins, and haunted fields and
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haunted brooks, and haunted bridges and haunted houses, and particularly of the headless
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horsemen, or galloping Hessian of the Hollow, as they sometimes called him.
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He would delight them equally by his anecdotes of witchcraft and of the direful omens
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and portentous sights and sounds in the air which prevented in the earlier times of
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Connecticut, and would frighten them woefully with speculations upon comets and shooting stars,
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and with the alarming fact that the world did absolutely turn around, and that
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they were half the time tops a turvy. But if there were a pleasure
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in all this, while snuggling cuddling in the chimney, corner of a chamber
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that was all of a ruddy glow from the crackling wood fire, and where
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of course no specter dared to show its face. It was dearly purchased by
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the terrors of his subsequent walk homeward. What fearful shapes and shadows beset this
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path amid the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night? With What wistful
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look did he eye every trembling ray of light streaming across the waste fields from
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some distant window. How often was he appalled by some shrub covered with snow,
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which, like a sheeted specter beset his very path. How often did
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he shrink with curdling awe at the sound of his own steps on the frosty
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crust beneath his feet, and dread to look over his shoulder lest he should
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behold some uncouth being tramping close behind him. And how often was he thrown
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into complete dismay by some rushing blast howling among the trees, in the idea
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that it was the galloping Hessian of one of his nightly scourlings. All these,
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however, were mere terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind that
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walk in darkness, And though he had seen many specters in his time,
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and had been more than once beset by Satan in divers shapes in his lonely
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perambulations, yet daylight put an end to all these evils, and he would
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have passed a pleasant life of it in spite of the devil and all his
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works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more
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perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches
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put together. And that was a woman among the musical disciples, who assembled
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one evening each week to receive his instructions in Psalmody. Was Katrina van Tassel,
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the daughter and only child of a substantial Dutch farmer. She was a
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blooming glass of fresh eighteen, plump as a partridge, ripe and melting and
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rosy cheeked as one of her father's speeches, and universally famed not merely for
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her beauty but her vast expectations. She was withal a little of a coquette,
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as might be perceived, even in her dress, which was a mixture
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of ancient and modern fashions, as most suited to set off her charms.
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She wore the ornaments of pure yellow gold, which her great great grandmother had
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brought over from Sardom, the tempting stomacher of the olden time, and withal
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a provokingly short petticoat to display the prettiest foot and ankle in the country.
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Round Ichabod Crane had a soft and foolish heart towards the sex, and it
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is not to be wondered that so tempting a morsel soon found favor in his
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eyes, more especially after he had visited her in her paternal mansion. Old
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Baltus von Tossel was a perfect picture of a thriving, contented, liberal hearted
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farmer. He seldom, it is true, sent either his eyes or his
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thoughts beyond the boundaries of his own farm, but within those everything was snug,
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happy and well conditioned. He was satisfied with his wealth, but not
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proud of it, and picked himself upon the hearty abundance rather than the style
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in which he lived. His stronghold was situated on the banks of the Hudson,
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in one of those green, sheltered, fertile nooks in which the Dutch
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farmers are so fond of nestling. A great elm tree had spread its broad
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branches over it, at the foot of which bubbled up a spring of the
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softest and sweetest water in a little well formed of a barrel, and then
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stole, sparkling away through the grass to a neighboring brook that babbled among the
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alders and dwarf willows. Hard by the farmhouse was a vast barn that might
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have served for a church, every window and crevice of which seemed bursting forth
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with the treasures of the farm. The flail was busily resounding within it from
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morning till night. Swallows and martins skimmed twittering about the eaves and rose of
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pigeons, some with one eye turned up as if watching the weather, some
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with their heads under their wings or buried in their bosoms, and others swelling
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and cooing and bowing about their dames were enjoying the sunshine. On the roof.
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Sleek, unwieldy porkers were grunting in the repose and abundance of their pens,
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from which sallied forth now and then troops of sucking pigs as if to
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snuff the air. A stately squadron of snowy geese were riding in an adjoining
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pond, convoying whole. Fleets of ducks, regiments of turkeys were gobbling through
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the farm yard, and guinea fowls fretting about it like ill tempered housewives with
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their peevish, discontented cry. Before the barn door, strutted the gallant cock
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that pattern of a husband, a warrior, and a fine gentleman, clapping
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his burnished wings and crowing in the pride and gladness of his heart, tearing
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up the earth with his feet, and then generously calling his ever hungry family
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of wives and children to enjoy the rich morsel which he had discovered. The
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pedagogue's mouth watered as he looked upon this sumptuous promise of luxurious winter fare.
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In his devouring mind's eye, he pictured to himself every roasting pig running about
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with a pudding in his belly and an apple in his mouth. The pigeons
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were slugly put to bed in a comfortable pie and tucked in with a coverlet
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of crust. The geese were swimming in their own gravy, and the ducks
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pearing cozily in dishes like snug married couples with a decent competency of onion sauce
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in the porkers he saw carved out the future's sleek side of bacon and juicy
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relishing ham. Not a turkey, but he beheld daintily trussed up, with
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its gizzard under its wing, and peradventure and necklace of savory sausages, and
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even bright Chanticlear himself lay sprawling on his back in a side dish, with
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uplifted claws, as if craving that quarter which his chivalrous spirit disdained to ask
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while living. As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and as he rolled
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his great green eyes over the fat meadow lands, the rich fields of wheat
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of wrythe buckwheat and Indian corn, and the orchards burdened with ruddy fruit which
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surrounded the warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart yearned after the damsel who
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was to inherit these domains, and his imagination expanded with the idea how they
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might be readily turned into cash, and the money invested in immense tracts of
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wild land and shingle palaces in the wilderness. Nay, his busy fancy already
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realized his hopes, and presented to him the blooming Katrina, with a whole
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family of children mounted on top of the wagon, loaded with household trumpery,
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with pots and kettles dangling beneath, and he beheld himself astride a pacing mare
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with a colt at her heels, setting out for Kentucky, Tennessee, or
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the Lord knows where. When he entered the house, the conquest of his
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heart was complete. It was one of those spacious farmhouses with high ridged but
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lowly sloping roofs built in the style handed down from the first Dutch settlers,
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the low projecting ebs forming a piazza along the front, capable of being closed
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up in bad weather. Under this were hung flails, harness, various utensils
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of husbandry, and nets for fishing in the neighboring river. Benches were build
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built along the sides for summer use, and a great spinning wheel at one
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end and a churn at the other showed the various uses to which this important
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porch might be devoted. From this piazza, the wondering Ichabod entered the hall,
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which formed the center of the mansion and the place of usual residence.
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Here, rows of brisplendent pewter ranged on a long dresser dazzled his eyes.
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In one corner hung a huge bag of wool ready to be spun. In
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another, a quantity of linsey wolsey just from the loom. Ears of Indian
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corn, and strings of dried apples and peaches hung in gay. The stoons
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along the walls mingled with the gaud of red peppers, and a door left
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Ajar gave him a peep into the best parlor, where the cloth footed chairs
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and dark mahogany tables shone like mirrors, and irons with their accompanying shovel and
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tongs glistened from their covert of asparagus tops. Mock oranges and cunk shells decorated
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the mantelpiece. Strings of various colored bird eggs were suspended above it. A
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great ostrich egg was hung from the center of the room, and a corner
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cupboard knowingly left open, displayed immense treasures of old silver and well mended china.
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From the moment Ichabod laid his eyes upon these regions of delight, the
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peace of his mind was at an end, and his only study was how
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to gain the affections of the peerless daughter of van Tassel. In this enterprise,
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however, he had more real difficulties than generally fell to the lot of
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a knight errant of yore, who seldom had anything but giants and chanters,
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fiery dragons and such like, easily conquered adversaries to contend with, and had
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to make his way merely through gates of iron and brass and walls of adamant
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to the castle keep, where the lady of his heart was confined, all
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of which he achieved as easily as a man would carve his way to the
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center of a Christmas pie, and then the lady gave him her hand.
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As a matter of course, kabad On the contrary, had to win his
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way to the heart of a country Coquette beset with a labyrinth of wims and
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caprices, which were forever presenting new difficulties and impediments, and he had to
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encounter a host of fearful adversaries of real flesh and blood, the numerous rustic
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admirers who beset every portal to her heart, keeping a watchful and angry eye
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upon each other, but ready to fly out in common cause against any new
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competitor. Among these, the most formidable was a burly, roaring, roistering
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blade of the name of Abraham, or according to the Dutch abbreviation Brahm van
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Brunt, the hero of the country round, which ranged with his feats of
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strength and hardihood. He was broad shouldered and double jointed, with short,
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curly black hair and a bluff but not unpleasant countenance, Having a mingled air
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of fun and arrogance. From his herculean frame and great powers of limb,
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he had received the nickname brom Bones, by which he was universally known.
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He was famed for great knowledge and skill in horsemanship, being as dextrous on
31:40
horseback as a tartar. He was foremost at all races and cock fights,
31:45
and with the ascendancy which bodily strength always acquires in rustic life, he was
31:51
the umpire in all disputes, setting his hat on one side and giving his
31:56
decisions with an air and tone that admitted to no gainsay or appeal. He
32:02
was always ready for either a fight or a frolic, but had more mischief
32:07
than ill will in his composition, and with all his overbearing roughness, there
32:13
was a strong dash of waggish good humor. At bottom, he had three
32:17
or four boon companions who regarded him as their model, and at the head
32:22
of whom he scoured the country, attending every scene of feud or merriment for
32:29
miles around in cold weather. He was distinguished by a fur cap surmounted with
32:35
a flaunting fox's tail, and when the folks and a country gathering descried this
32:40
well known crest at a distance whisking about among the squad of hard riders,
32:45
they always stood by for a squall. Sometimes his crew would be heard dashing
32:52
along past farm houses at midnight with whoop and halloo, like a troop of
32:55
don Cossacks, and the old dames started out of their sleep, would listen
33:00
for a moment till the hurry scurry had clattered by, and then exclaimed,
33:06
Aye, there goes brom Bones and his gang. The neighbors looked upon him
33:13
with a mixture of awe, admiration and good will, and when any mad
33:17
cap prank or rusting brawl occurred in the vicinity, they always shook their heads
33:22
and warranted brom Bones was at the bottom of it. This rantipole hero had
33:30
for some time singled out the blooming Katrina for the object of his uncouth gallantries.
33:36
And though his amorous toyings were something like the gentle caresses and endearments of
33:39
a bear, yet it was whispered that she did not altogether discourage his hopes.
33:46
Certain it is his advances were signals for rival candidates to retire, who
33:52
felt no inclination to cross a lion in his amours. Insomuch that when his
33:57
horse was seen tied to Vantaevsseles paling on a Sunday night, a sure sign
34:02
that his master was courting, or as it is termed sparking within, all
34:08
other suitors passed by in despair and carried the war to other quarters. Such
34:16
was the formidable rival with whom Ichabod Crane had to contend, And considering all
34:23
things, a stouter man than he would have shrunk from the competition, and
34:28
a wiser man would have despaired. He had, However, a happy mixture
34:32
of pliability and perseverance in his nature. He was in foreman's spirit like a
34:38
supple jack, yielding but tough. Though he bent, he never broke,
34:44
And though he bowed beneath the slightest pressure, yet the moment it was away
34:49
jerk. He was erect and carried his head as high as ever. To
34:53
have taken the field openly against his rival would have been madness, for he
34:59
was not a man to be thwarted in his amours any more than that stormy
35:04
lover Achilles. Ichabod therefore made his advances in a quiet and gently insinuating manner.
35:12
Under cover of his character of singing master. He made frequent visits at
35:15
the farmhouse, not that he had anything to apprehend from the meddlesome interference of
35:21
parents, which is so often the stumbling block in the path of lovers.
35:25
Balt van Tassel was an easy, indulgent soul. He loved his daughter better
35:30
than his pipe, and, like a reasonable man and an excellent father,
35:35
let her have her way in everything. His notable little wife, too,
35:39
had enough to do to attend to her housekeeping and manage her poultry, for,
35:44
as she sagely observed, ducks and geese are foolish things and must be
35:50
looked after. But girls can take care of themselves. Thus, while the
35:54
busy dame bustled about the house or applied her spinning wheel at the water end
36:00
of the piazza, honest vault would sit smoking his pipe at the other,
36:05
watching the achievements of a little wooden warrior, who, armed with a sword
36:08
in each hand, was most valiantly fighting in the wind in the pinnacle of
36:14
the barn. In the meantime, Ichabad would carry on his suit with the
36:19
daughter by the side of the spring under the great elm, or sauntering along
36:24
in the twilight that hour so favorable to the lover's eloquence. I profess not
36:32
to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me, they have
36:37
always been matters of riddle and admiration. Some seem to have but one vulnerable
36:43
point or door of access, while others have a thousand avenues and may be
36:47
captured in a thousand different ways. It is a great triumph of skill to
36:53
gain the former, but a still greater proof of generalship to maintain possession of
37:00
the latter. For a man must battle for his fortress at every door and
37:04
window. He who wins a thousand common hearts is therefore entitled to some renown.
37:12
But he who keeps undisputed sway over the heart of a coquette is indeed
37:17
a hero. Certain It is this was not the case with the redoubtable brom
37:23
Bones, and from the moment Ichabod Crane made his advances, the interests of
37:30
the former evidently declined. His horse was no longer seen tied to the palings
37:36
on Saturday nights, and a deadly feud gradually arose between him and the preceptor
37:45
of Sleepy Hollow. Brohm, who had a degree of rough chivalry in his
37:51
nature, would fain have carried matters to open warfare, and have settled their
37:54
pretensions to the lady according to the mode of those most concise and simple reasoners
38:00
the Knights Errant of Yore by single combat. But Ichabod was too conscious of
38:06
the superior might of his adversary to enter the lists against him. He had
38:10
overheard a boast of Bones that he would double the schoolmaster up and lay him
38:16
on a shelf of his own schoolhouse, and he was too wary to give
38:21
him an opportunity. There was something extremely provoking in this obstinately pacific system.
38:28
It left Brahm no alternative but to draw upon the funds of rustic waggery in
38:34
his disposition, and to play off boorish practical jokes upon his rival. Ichabod
38:40
became the object of whimsical persecution to Bones and his gang of rough riders.
38:46
They harried his hitherto peaceful domains, smoked out the singing school by stopping up
38:52
the chimney, broke into the schoolhouse at night in spite of its formidable fastenings
38:59
of wide and window stakes, and turned everything topsy turvy, so that the
39:04
poor schoolmaster began to think all the witches in the country held their meetings there.
39:10
But what was still more annoying, Brahm took all the opportunities of turning
39:15
him into ridicule in the presence of his mistress and a scoundrel dog, whom
39:22
he taught to whine in the most ludicrous manner, and introduced as a rival
39:27
of Ichabod's to instructor insalmody. In this way, matters went on for some
39:35
time without producing any material effect on the relative situations of the contending powers.
39:42
On a fine autumnal afternoon, Ichabod, in pensive mood, sat enthroned on
39:47
the lofty stool, from whence he usually watched all the concerns of his little
39:52
literary realm In his hand, he swayed a ferule that scepter of despotic power,
40:00
the birch of justice, reposed on three nails behind the throne, a
40:05
constant terror to evil doers. While on the desk before him might be seen
40:09
sundry contraband articles and prohibited weapons detected upon the persons of idle urchins, such
40:17
as half munched apples, pop guns, whirligigs, fly cages, and whole
40:23
legions of rampant little paper game cocks. Apparently there had been some appalling active
40:32
justice recently inflicted, for his scholars were all busily intent upon their books or
40:38
slyly whispering behind them with what eye kept on the master, and a kind
40:44
of buzzing stillness reigned throughout the school room. It was suddenly interrupted by the
40:50
appearance of a negro in a towcloth jacket and trousers, a round crowned fragment
40:55
of a hat like the cap of Mercury, and mounted on the back of
41:00
a ragged, wild, half broken colt, which he managed with a rope
41:04
by way of a halter. He came clattering up to the school with an
41:07
invitation to Acabad to attend a merry making or quilting frolic to be held that
41:15
afternoon at Mineer van Tossel's, and having delivered his message with that air of
41:21
importance and effort at fine language which a negro is apt to display on petty
41:27
embassies of the kind, he dashed over the brook and was seen scampering away
41:31
up the hollow, full of the importance and hurry of his mission. All
41:37
was now bustle and hubbub in the late quiet schoolroom. The scholars were hurried
41:43
through their lessons without stopping at trifles. Those who were dimbles skipped over half
41:47
with impunity, and those who were tardy had a smart application now and then
41:53
in the rear to quicken their speed or help them over a tall word.
41:59
Books were flung aside without being put away on the shelves, inkstands were overturned,
42:04
benures thrown down. That the whole school was turned loose an hour before
42:09
the usual time, bursting forth like a legion of young imps, yelping and
42:15
racketing about the green in joy at their early emancipation. The gallantic caapod now
42:22
spent at least an extra half hour at his toilet's brushing and furbishing up his
42:27
best and indeed only suit of rusty black, and arranging his locks by a
42:32
bit of broken looking glass that hung up in the schoolhouse, that he might
42:37
make his appearance before his mistress in the true style of a cavalier. He
42:43
borrowed a horse from the farmer with whom he was domocillated, a choleric old
42:47
Dutchman of the name of Hansband's Ripper, and thus gallantly mounted issued forth like
42:53
a knight errant in quest of adventures. But it is meat I should good
43:00
in the true spirit of romantic story, give some account of the looks and
43:04
equipments of my hero and his steed. The animal he bestrode was a broken
43:09
down plow horse that had outlived almost everything but its viciousness. He was gaunt
43:15
and shagged, with a ywe neck and a head like a hammer. His
43:20
rusty mane and tail were tangled and knotted with burrs. One eye had lost
43:24
its pupil and was glaring and spectral, but the other had the gleam of
43:30
a genuine devil in it. Still, he must have had fire and metal
43:35
in his day, if we may judge from the name he bore of gunpowder.
43:39
He had, in fact been a favorite steed of his masters, the
43:43
Coleric van Ripper, who was a furious rider and had infused very probably some
43:49
of his own spirit into the animal. For old and broken down as he
43:53
looked, there was more of the lurking devil in him than in any young
43:58
philly in the country. Acobad was a suitable figure for such a steed.
44:04
He rode with short stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up to the pommel
44:07
of his saddle, his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers. He carried his
44:13
whip perpendicularly in his hand like a scepter, and as his horse jogged on,
44:17
the motion of his arms was not unlike the flapping of a pair of
44:21
wings. A small wool hat rested at the top of his nose, for
44:27
so his scanty strip of forehead might be called, and the skirts of his
44:30
black coat fluttered out almost to the horse's tail. Such was the appearance of
44:37
Ichabod and his steed as they shambled out of the gate of Hans van Ripper.
44:42
And it was altogether such an apparition as is seldom to be met with
44:46
in broad daylight. It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal
44:52
day the sky was very clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and
44:58
golden livery which we owe always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests
45:04
had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer
45:08
kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant eyes of orange, purple,
45:15
and scarlet. Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance. High
45:21
in the air. The bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves
45:24
of beech and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals
45:30
from the neighboring stubble field. The small birds were taking their farewell banquets.
45:37
In the fullness of their revelry. They fluttered, chirping and frolicking from bush
45:42
to bush and tree to tree, capricious from the very profusion and variety around
45:47
them. There was the honest cock robin, the favored game of stripling sportsmen,
45:53
with its loud, querulous note, and the twittering blackbirds flying in sable
46:00
clouds. And the golden winged woodpecker with his crimson crest, his broad black
46:07
gorget and splendid plumage, and the cedar bird with its red tipped wings and
46:13
yellow tipped tail in its little montereiro cap of feathers, and the blue jay
46:19
that noisy cockscomb, in his gay light blue coat and white underclothes, screaming
46:24
and chattering, nodding and bobbing and bowing, and pretending to be on good
46:30
terms with every song stir of the grove. As Ichabod jogged slowly on his
46:37
way, his eye ever opened to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with
46:44
delight over the treasures of jolly autumn. On all sides he beheld vast store
46:51
of apples, some hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees, some gathered into
46:55
baskets and barrels for the market, others heaped up in rich piles for the
47:00
cider press. Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its
47:07
golden ears peeping from their leafy converts and holding out the promise of cakes and
47:14
hasty pudding, and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them, turning up their fair
47:20
round bellies to the sun and giving ample prospects of the most luxurious of pies
47:25
and anon. He passed the fragrant buckwheat fields, breathing the odor of the
47:30
beehive, and as he beheld them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of
47:37
dainty slapjacks, well buttered and garnished with honey or trickle by the delicate,
47:45
little dimpled hand of Ketterid of van Tassel, thus feeding his mind with many
47:53
sweet thoughts and sugared suppositions. He journeyed along the sides of a range of
48:00
hills which look out upon some of the goodliest scenes of the mighty Hudson.
48:06
The sun gradually wheeled his broad disk down. In the west, the wide
48:12
bosom of the Tapanzee lay motionless and glassy, excepting that here and there a
48:17
gentle undulation waved and prolonged the blue shadow. In the distant mountain. A
48:23
few amber clouds floated in the sky, without a breath of air to move
48:29
them. The horizon was of a fine golden tint, changing gradually into a
48:36
pure apple green, and from that into the deep blue of the mid heaven.
48:43
A slanting ray lingered on the woody crests of the precipices that overhung some
48:49
parts of the river, giving greater depth to the dark gray and purple of
48:53
their rocky sides. A sloop was loitering in the distance, dropping slowly down
49:00
with the tide, her sail hanging uselessly against the mast, and as the
49:06
reflection of the sky gleamed along the still water, it seemed as if the
49:10
vessel was suspended in air. It was toward evening that Ichabad arrived at the
49:20
castle of dher van Tassel, which he found thronged with the pride and flower
49:25
of the adjacent country. Old farmers, a spare, leathern faced race in
49:31
homespun coats and breeches, blue stockings, huge shoes, and magnificent pewter buckles.
49:38
Their brisk, withered little dames in close crimped caps, long waisted short
49:45
gowns, homespun petticoats with scissors and pincushions, and gay calico pockets hanging on
49:52
the outside buxom lasses almost as antiquated as their mothers, excepting where a straw
49:58
hat, a fine ri or perhaps a white frock gave symptoms of city innovasion.
50:04
The sons in short, square skirted coats with rows of stupendous brass buttons,
50:09
and their hair generally cued in the fashion of the times, especially if
50:15
they could procure an eel skin for the purpose, it being esteemed throughout the
50:20
country as a potent nourisher and strengthener of the hair. Brom bones. However,
50:28
was the hero of the scene, having come to the gathering on his
50:30
favorite steed, Daredevil, a creature like himself, full of metal and mischief,
50:37
and which no one but himself could manage. He was, in fact
50:43
noted for preferring vicious animals, given to all kinds of tricks, which kept
50:47
the rider in a constant risk of his neck, for he held a tractable,
50:52
well broken horse as unworthy of a lad of spirit. Fain would I
50:59
Paul to dwell upon the world of charms that burst upon the enraptured gaze of
51:05
my hero as he entered the state parlor of van Tassel's mansion. Not those
51:09
of the bevy of bucks and lasses, with their luxurious display of red and
51:15
white, but the ample charms of a genuine Dutch country tea table in the
51:21
sumptuous time of autumn. Such heaped up platters of cakes of various and almost
51:27
indescribable kinds known only to experienced Dutch housewives. There was the doughty doughnut,
51:35
the tender oly cook, and the crisp and crumbling, crueler sweet cakes and
51:42
short cakes, ginger cakes and honey cakes, and the whole family of cakes.
51:49
And then there were apple pies and peach pies and pumpkin pies, and
51:53
besides slices of ham and smoked beef, and moreover delectable dishes of the plums
52:00
and peaches and pears and quinces, not to mention broiled shads and roasted chickens,
52:06
together with bowls of milk and cream, all mingled higglety piggleley, pretty
52:10
much as I have enumerated them, With the motherly teapot sending up its clouds
52:15
of vapor from the mist heaven, bless the mark. I want breath and
52:21
time to discuss this banquet as it deserves, and am too eager to get
52:25
on with my story Happily. Ichabod Crane was not in so great a hurry
52:30
as his historian, but did ample justice to every dainty. He was a
52:37
kind and thankful creature, whose heart dilated in proportion as his skin was filled
52:43
with good cheer, and whose spirits rose with eating. As some men's do
52:47
with drink, he would not help too, rolling his large eyes about him
52:53
as he ate and chuckling with the possibility that he might one day be lord
52:59
of all this sea in almost unimaginable luxury and splendor. Then he thought,
53:04
how soon he'd turn his back upon the old schoolhouse, snap his fingers in
53:09
the face of Hans van Ripper and every other niggardly patron, and kick any
53:15
itinerant pedagogue out the doors that he should dare to call him. Comrade.
53:21
Old Baltus von Tossel moved about among his guests with a face dilated with content
53:27
and good humor, round and jolly as the harvest moon. His hospitable attentions
53:34
were brief but expressive, being confined to a shake of the hand, a
53:38
slap on the shoulder, a loud laugh, and a pressing invitation to fall
53:43
to and help themselves. And now the sound of the music from the common
53:49
room were haul summoned to the dance. The musician was an old, gray
53:53
headed negro who had bid the itinerant orchestra of the neighborhood for more than half
53:59
a century. His instrument was old and battered, as himself. The greater
54:05
part of the time he scraped on two or three strings, accompanying every movement
54:10
of the bow with a motion of his head, bowing almost to the ground,
54:15
and stamping with his foot whenever a fresh couple were to start. Iccabad
54:22
prided himself upon his dancing as much as upon his vocal powers. Not a
54:27
limb, not a fiber about him was idle, And to have seen his
54:30
loosely hung frame in full motion and clattering about the room, you would have
54:36
thought Saint Vitus himself, that blessed patron of the dance was figuring before you
54:42
in person. He was the admiration of all the negroes, who, having
54:46
gathered of all ages and sizes from the farm and the neighborhood, stood forming
54:52
a pyramid of shining black faces at every door and window, gazing with delight
54:59
at the scene, rolling their white eyeballs and showing grinning rows of ivory from
55:04
ear to ear. How could the flogger of urchins be otherwise than animated and
55:09
joyous. The lady of his heart was his partner in the dance, and
55:15
smiling graciously in reply to all his amorous oglings, while brom bones sorely smitten
55:22
with love and jealousy, sat brooding by himself in the corner. When the
55:29
dance was at an end, Acobad was attracted to a knot of the Sager
55:34
folks, who, with Old van Tassels, sat smoking at one end of
55:38
the piazza, gossiping over former times and drawing out the long stories about the
55:45
war. This neighborhood, at the time of which I am speaking, was
55:51
one of those highly favored places which abound with chronicle and great men. The
55:57
British and American line had run near it during the war, and it had
56:02
therefore been the scene of marauding and infested with refugees, cowboys, and all
56:08
kinds of border chivalry. Just sufficient time had elapsed to enable each storyteller to
56:15
dress up his tale with a little becoming fiction, and in the indistinctness of
56:22
his recollection, to make himself the hero of every exploit. There was the
56:28
story of Daufu Martling, a large blue bearded Dutchman who had nearly taken a
56:34
British frigate with an old iron nine pounder from a mud breastwork, only that
56:38
his gon burst at the sixth discharge. And there was an old gentleman,
56:44
who shall be nameless, being too rich a pioneer to be lightly mentioned,
56:50
who, in the Battle of White Plains, being an excellent master of defense,
56:53
parried a musket ball with a small sword, insomuch that he absolutely felt
56:59
it is round the blade and glance off the hilt, in proof of which
57:04
he was ready at any time to show the sword with the hilt a little
57:07
bent. There were several more that had been equally great in that field,
57:14
not one of whom but was persuaded that he had a considerable land in bringing
57:19
the war to a happy termination. But all these were nothing to the tales
57:25
of ghosts and apparitions that succeeded. The neighborhood was rich in legendary treasures of
57:34
the kind. Local tales and superstitions thrive best in these sheltered, long settled
57:39
retreats, but are trampled under foot by the shifting throng that forms the population
57:46
of most country places. Besides, there is no encouragement for ghosts in most
57:53
of our villages, for they have scarcely had time to finish their first nap
58:00
and turn themselves over in their graves before their surviving friends have traveled away from
58:05
the neighborhood, so that when they turn out at night to walk their rounds,
58:09
they have no acquaintance lept to call upon. This is perhaps the reason
58:15
why we so seldom hear of ghosts, except in our long established Dutch communities.
58:24
The immediate cause, however, of the prevalence of supernatural stories in these
58:29
parts, was doubtless owing to the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow. There was a
58:35
contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted region. It breathed forth
58:40
an atmosphere of dreams and fancies, infecting all the land. Several of the
58:46
Sleepy Hollow people were present at Van Tassel's, and as usual, were doling
58:52
out their wild and wonderful legends. Many dismal tales were told about funeral train
59:00
lanes and morning cries and wailings heard and seen about the Great Tree, where
59:06
the unfortunate Major Andre was taken, and which stood in the neighborhood. Some
59:12
mention was also given of the women in white that haunted the dark glen at
59:19
Raven Rock, and was often heard to shriek on winter nights before a storm,
59:24
having perished there in the snow. The chief part of the stories however,
59:30
turned about the favorite specter of Sleepy Hollow, the headless horseman, who
59:35
had been heard several times of late patrolling the country, and it was said,
59:42
tethered his horse nightly among the graves in the churchyard. The sequestered situation
59:50
of this church seems always to have made it a favorite haunt of troubled spirits.
59:55
It stands on a knoll, surrounded by locust trees and lofty elms,
1:00:00
from among which its decent, white washed walls shine modestly forth, like Christian
1:00:07
purity, beaming through the shades of retirement. A gentle slope descends from it
1:00:15
to a silver sheet of water, bordered by high trees, between which peeps
1:00:22
may be caught at the blue hills of the Hudson. To look upon its
1:00:27
grass grown yard, where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one would
1:00:32
think that there, at least the dead might rest in peace. On one
1:00:38
side of the church extends a wide, woody dell, along which raves of
1:00:44
a large brook, among broken rocks and trunks of fallen down trees. Over
1:00:50
a deep black part of the stream. Not far from the church was formerly
1:00:53
thrown a wooden bridge. The road that led to it, and the bridge
1:00:59
itself were thickly shaded by overhanging trees, which cast a gloom about it even
1:01:05
in the daytime, but occasioned a fearful darkness at night. Such was one
1:01:10
of the favorite haunts of the headless Horseman, and the place where he was
1:01:16
most frequently encountered. The tale was told of Old Broer, the most heredical
1:01:22
disbeliever in ghosts, of how he met the horseman returning from his foray into
1:01:28
Sleepy Hollow, and was obliged to get up behind him, and how they
1:01:32
galloped over bush and break over hill and swamp until they reached the bridge,
1:01:37
when the horseman suddenly turned into a skeleton, threw Old Broer into the brook
1:01:44
and sprang away over the tree tops with a clap of thunder. This story
1:01:50
was immediately matched by a thrice marvelous adventure of brom Bones, who made light
1:01:55
of the galloping Hessian as an errant jockey. He affirmed that on returning one
1:02:00
night from the neighboring village of Sing Sing, he had been overtaken by this
1:02:06
midnight trooper, that he had offered to race him for a bowl of punch,
1:02:10
and should have won it too, for daredevil beat that goblin horse all
1:02:14
hollow, but just as they came to the church bridge, the Hessian bolted
1:02:17
and vanished in a flash of fire. All these tales told in that drowsy
1:02:24
undertone with which men talk in the dark. The countenances of the listeners only
1:02:30
now and then, receiving a casual gleam from the glare of a pipe,
1:02:35
sank deep in the mind of Ichabod. He repaid them in kind with large
1:02:42
extracts from his invaluable author, cotton Mother, and added many marvelous events that
1:02:47
had taken place in his native state of Connecticut, and fearful sights which he
1:02:52
had seen in his nightly walks about Sleepy Hollow. The rebel now gradually broke
1:03:00
up. The old farmers gathered together their families in their wagons, and were
1:03:05
heard for some time rattling along the hollow roads and over the distant hills.
1:03:12
Some of the damsels mounted on pillions behind their favorite swains, and their light
1:03:17
hearted laughter, mingling with the clatter of hoofs, echoed through the dark,
1:03:23
silent woodlands, sounding fainter and fainter, until they gradually died away, and
1:03:30
the late scene of noise and frolic was all silent and deserted. Hiccabad only
1:03:38
lingered behind, according to the custom of country lovers, to have a tete
1:03:44
a tete with the heiress, fully convinced that he was now on the high
1:03:47
road to success. What passed at this interview I will not pretend to say,
1:03:53
for in fact I do not know. Something. However, I fear
1:03:58
me must have gone, for he certainly sallied forth after no very great interval,
1:04:03
with an air quite desolate. Had chapfallen? Oh? These women?
1:04:09
These women? Could that girl have been playing off any of her coquettish tricks.
1:04:15
Was her encouragement of the poor pedagogue all a mere sham to secure her
1:04:20
conquest of his rival? Heaven only knows not. I let it suffice to
1:04:26
say that Ichabod stole forth with the air of one who has been sacking a
1:04:31
hen roost rather than a fair lady's heart, without looking to either left or
1:04:38
right to notice the scene of rural wealth on which he had so often gloated.
1:04:44
He went straight to the stable, and with several hearty cuffs and kicks,
1:04:47
roused his steed most uncourteously from the comfortable quarters in which he was soundly
1:04:54
sleeping, dreaming of mountains of cord and Oats, and whole valleys of Timothy
1:05:00
and Clover. It was the very witching time of night that Ichabad, heavy
1:05:09
hearted and crestfallen, pursued his travels homewards along the sides of the lofty hills
1:05:15
which rise above Tarrytown, and which he had traversed so cheerily in the afternoon.
1:05:23
The hour was as dismal as himself. Far below, the Tapanzee spread
1:05:30
its dusky and indistinct waste of waters, with here and there the tall mast
1:05:35
of a snoop riding quietly at anchor under the land. In the dead hush
1:05:42
of midnight, he could even hear the barking of the watchdog from the opposite
1:05:46
shore of the Hudson, but it was so vague and faint as to only
1:05:53
give an idea of his distance from the faithful companion of man. Now and
1:05:59
then the long drawn out crowing of a cock accidentally awakened with sound far far
1:06:06
off from some farmhouse away from the hills, But it was like a dreaming
1:06:13
sound in his ear. No sounds of life occurred near him, but occasionally
1:06:17
the melancholy chirp of a cricket, or perhaps the guttural twang of a bullfrog
1:06:24
in its neighboring marsh, as if sleeping uncomfortably and turning suddenly in his bed.
1:06:32
All the stories of ghosts and goblins that he had heard in the afternoon
1:06:38
now came crowding upon his recollection. The night grew darker and darker, The
1:06:47
stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving clouds occasionally hid them
1:06:54
from his sight. He had never felt so lonely and dismal. He was
1:07:00
moreover approaching the very place where many of the scenes of the ghost stories had
1:07:05
been laid. In the center of the road stood an enormous tulip tree,
1:07:11
which towered like a giant above all the other trees of the neighborhood and formed
1:07:16
a kind of landmark. Its limbs were gnarled and fantastic, large enough to
1:07:23
form trunks for ordinary trees, twisting down almost to the earth and rising again
1:07:29
into the air. It was connected with the tragical story of the unfortunate Andre,
1:07:35
who had been taken prisoner hard by, and was universally known by the
1:07:41
name of Major Andre's Tree. The common people regarded it with a mixture of
1:07:46
respect and superstition, partly out of sympathy for the fate of its ill starred
1:07:51
namesake, and partly from the tales of strange sights and doleful lamentations told concerning
1:08:00
it. As Ichabod approached this fearful tree, he began to whistle. He
1:08:09
thought his whistle was answered, but it was but a blast, sweeping sharply
1:08:14
through the dry branches. As he approached a little nearer, he thought he
1:08:18
saw something white hanging in the midst of the trees. He paused and ceased
1:08:24
whistling, But on looking more narrowly, he perceived that it was a place
1:08:30
where the tree had been scathed by lightning, and the white wood laid bare.
1:08:36
Suddenly he heard a groan, His teeth chattered, his knees smote against
1:08:41
the saddle. It was but the rubbing of one huge bough upon another as
1:08:46
they were swayed about by the breeze. He passed the tree in safety,
1:08:54
but new perils lay before him. About a hundred yards from the tree,
1:09:00
a small brook crossed the road and ran into a marshy and thickly wooded glen
1:09:06
known by the name of Wiley's Swamp. A few rough logs laid side by
1:09:12
side served for a bridge over this stream. On that side of the road
1:09:16
where the brook entered the wood, a group of oaks and chestnuts, matted
1:09:23
dick with wild grape vines threw a cavernous gloom over it. To pass this
1:09:28
bridge was the severest trial. It was at this identical spot that the unfortunate
1:09:35
Andre was captured, and under the covert of these chestnuts and vines were the
1:09:42
sturdy yeoman concealed who surprised him. This has ever been considered a haunted stream,
1:09:49
and fearful are the feelings of the schoolboy who has to pass it alone
1:09:55
after dark. As he approached the stream, his heart began and to thump
1:10:00
he summoned up. However, all his resolution, gave his horse half a
1:10:04
score of kicks and the ribs, and attempted to dash briskly across the bridge.
1:10:11
But instead of starting forward, the perverse old animal made a lateral movement
1:10:15
and ran broadside against the fence. Acabad, whose spears increased with the delay,
1:10:21
jerked the reins on the other side, and kicked lustily with the contrary
1:10:26
foot. It was all in vain. His steed started, it is true,
1:10:30
but it was only to plunge to the opposite side of the road into
1:10:35
a new thicket of brambles and alder bushes. The schoolmaster now bestowed both whip
1:10:42
and heel upon the quivering ribs of old gunpowder, who dashed forward, snuffling
1:10:45
and snorting, but came to a stand just by the bridge with a suddenness
1:10:51
that had nearly sent his riders sprawling over his head. Just at this moment,
1:10:59
a plashy tramp by the side of the bridge caught the sensitive ear of
1:11:03
Ichabod. In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin of the
1:11:09
brook, he beheld something huge, misshapen and towering. It stirred not but
1:11:18
seemed gathered up by the gloom, like some gigantic monster, ready to spring
1:11:25
upon the traveler. The hair of the affrighted pedagogue rose upon his head with
1:11:30
terror. What was to be done? To turn and fly was now too
1:11:32
late, And besides, what chance was there of escaping a ghost or a
1:11:38
goblin, if such it was, which could ride upon the wings of the
1:11:42
wind. Summoning up there for show of courage, he demanded, in stammering
1:11:45
accents, who are you? He received no reply. He repeated his demand
1:11:55
in a still more agitated voice. Still there was no answer. Once more,
1:12:01
he cudgeled the sides of the inflexible Gunpowder, and, shutting his eyes,
1:12:05
broke forth with involuntary fervor into a psalm tune. Just then the shadowy
1:12:12
object of blom put itself in motion with a scramble, and a bound stood
1:12:15
at once in the middle of the road. Though the night was dark and
1:12:18
dismal, yet the form of the unknown might now in some degree be ascertained.
1:12:25
He appeared to be a horseman of large dimensions, and mounted on a
1:12:30
black horse a powerful frame. He made no offer of modestation or sociability,
1:12:35
but came aloof on one side of the road, jogging along on the blind
1:12:41
side of old Gunpowder, who had now got over his fright and waywardness.
1:12:45
Hikabad, who had no relish for this strange midnight companion, and bethought himself
1:12:50
of the adventure of brom Bones. With the galloping Hecchian now quickened his steed
1:12:55
in hopes of leaving him behind. The stranger, however, quickened his horse
1:13:00
to an equal pace. Iiccabad pulled up, fell into a walk, thinking
1:13:04
to lag behind, but the other did the same. His heart began to
1:13:10
sink within him. He endeavored to resume his psalm tone, but his parched
1:13:15
tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and he could not utter a
1:13:18
stave. There was something in the moody and dogged silence of this portentous companion
1:13:26
that was mysterious and appalling. It was soon fearfully accounted for. On ounting
1:13:32
a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow traveler and relief against
1:13:36
the sky. Gigantic in height and muffled in a cloak, Hiccobod was horror
1:13:42
struck on perceiving that he was headless. But his horror was still more increased
1:13:49
on observing that the head, which should have rested on his shoulders, was
1:13:56
carried before him on the pommel of his saddle. His terror rose to desperation.
1:14:00
He rained a shower of kicks and blows upon gunpowder, hoping by sudden
1:14:04
movement to give his companion the slip. But the specter started full jump with
1:14:11
him away. Then they dashed through the thick and thin stones, flying sparks
1:14:15
flashing at every bound Ichabod's flimsy garments fluttered in the air as he stretched his
1:14:19
long, lank body away over his horse's head in the eagerness of his flight.
1:14:26
They had now reached the road which turns off to Sleepy Hollow, but
1:14:30
Gunpowder, who seemed possessed with a demon, instead of keeping up it,
1:14:34
made an opposite turn and plunged headlong down hill to the left. This road
1:14:41
leads through a sandy hollow shaded by trees for about a quarter of a mile,
1:14:45
where it crosses the famous bridge of the Goblin Story, and just beyond
1:14:54
swells the green knoll, on which stands the whitewashed Church. As yet,
1:15:00
the panic of the steed had given his unskillful rider an apparent advantage in the
1:15:04
chase. But just as he had got half way through the hollow, the
1:15:09
girths of the saddle gave way, and he felt it slipping under him.
1:15:13
He seized it by the pommel and endeavored to hold it firm but in vain,
1:15:15
and he had just time to save himself by clasping old Gunpowder round the
1:15:20
neck when the saddle fell to the earth, and he heard it trampled under
1:15:24
foot by his pursuer. For a moment, the terror of Hans van Hipper's
1:15:28
wrath passed across his mind, for it was his Sunday's saddle. But this
1:15:32
was no time for petty fears. The goblin was hard on his haunches,
1:15:36
and unskillful rider that he was, he had much ado to maintain his seat,
1:15:41
sometimes slipping on one side and sometimes on another, and sometimes jolted on
1:15:45
the high ridge of his horses backbone. The violence that he verily feared would
1:15:48
cleave him asunder, and opening in the trees now cheered him with the hopes
1:15:54
that the church bridge was at hand. The wavering reflection of a silver star
1:15:59
and the bosom of the broke told him he was not mistaken. He saw
1:16:01
the walls of the church dimly glaring under the trees. Beyond he recollected the
1:16:06
place where Brombone's ghostly competitors disappeared. If I can't but reach that bridge,
1:16:12
thought a Gubad. I am safe. Just then he heard the black steed
1:16:15
panting and blowing close behind him, and even fancied that he felt its hot
1:16:19
breath. Another convulsive kick in the ribs, and old gunpowder sprang upon the
1:16:25
bridge. He thundered over the resounding planks. He gained the opposite side,
1:16:28
and now Ichabod cast a look behind to see if his pursuer should vanish according
1:16:34
to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone. Just then he saw
1:16:40
the goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of hurling his
1:16:45
head at him, Hikabad endeavored to dodge the horrible missile, but too late
1:16:50
it encountered his cranium with a tremendous crash. He was tumbled headlong into the
1:16:56
dust and gunpowder. The black Steed and the god Rider all passed by like
1:17:01
a whirlwind. The next morning, the old horse was found without his saddle
1:17:12
and with the bridle under his feet, soberly cropping the grass at his master's
1:17:17
gate. Icabad did not make his appearance at breakfast. Dinner hour came,
1:17:25
but no Ichabod. The boys assembled at the schoolhouse and strolled idly about the
1:17:30
banks of the brook, but no schoolmaster Hans van Ripper began to feel some
1:17:38
uneasiness about the fate of poor Ichabad and his saddle. An inquiry was set
1:17:44
afoot, and after diligent investigation, they came upon his traces in one part
1:17:49
of the road leading to the church, he found the saddle trampled in the
1:17:55
dirt, the tracks of horses hoofs deeply dented the road, and evidently at
1:18:00
furious speed, were traced to the bridge, beyond which, on the bank
1:18:06
of a broad part of the brook, where the water ran deep and black,
1:18:14
was found the hat of the unfortunate Ichabod, and close beside it a
1:18:23
shattered pumpkin. The brook was searched, but the body of the schoolmaster was
1:18:32
not to be discovered. Hans bon Ripper, as executor of his estate,
1:18:38
examined the bundle which contained all his worldly effects. They consisted of two shirts
1:18:42
and a half, two socks for the neck, a pair of two worsted
1:18:45
stockings, an old pair of corduroy small clothes, a rusty razor, a
1:18:51
book of psalm tunes full of dog ears, and a broken pitch pipe.
1:18:57
As to the books and furniture of the schoolhouse, they belong to the community
1:19:00
accepting Cotton Mather's history of Witchcraft, a New England Almanac, and a book
1:19:06
of Dreams and fortune Telling, in which last was a sheet of foolscap,
1:19:11
much scribbled and blotted in several fruitless attempts to make a copy of Verses in
1:19:16
honor of the heiress of van Tassel. These magic books and the poetic scrawl
1:19:23
were forthwith consigned to the flames by Hans van Ripper, who from that time
1:19:29
forward determined to send his children no more to school, observing that he never
1:19:33
knew any good came of that same reading and writing. Whatever money the schoolmaster
1:19:40
possessed, and he had received his quarters pay but a day or two before,
1:19:45
he must have had about his person at the time of his disappearance.
1:19:51
The mysterious event caused much speculation at the church. On the following Sunday,
1:19:57
knots of gazers and gossips were collected in the churchyard at the bridge and at
1:20:01
the spot where the hat and pumpkin had been found. The stories of Broer
1:20:08
of Bones, and of a whole budget of others were called to mind,
1:20:13
And when they had diligently considered them all and compared them with the symptoms of
1:20:16
the present case, they shook their heads and came to the conclusion that Ichabod
1:20:21
had been carried off by the galloping Hessian, as he was a bachelor and
1:20:27
in nobody's debt, nobody troubled his head any more about him, and the
1:20:30
school was removed to a different quarter of the hollow, and another pedagogue reigned
1:20:35
in his stead. It is true an old farmer who had been down to
1:20:41
New York on a visit several years earlier, and from whom this account of
1:20:45
the ghostly adventure was received, brought home the intelligence that Ichabod Crane was still
1:20:50
alive, and that had left the neighborhood, partly through fear of the Goblin
1:20:56
and Hans van Ripper, and partly in mortification at having been suddenly dismissed by
1:21:00
the heiress. That he had changed his quarters to a distant part of the
1:21:04
country and kept school and studied law. At the same time had been admitted
1:21:09
to the bar, turned politician, electioneered, written for the newspapers, and
1:21:14
finally had been made a justice of the ten Pound Court. Brombones, too,
1:21:19
who shortly after his rival's disappearance, conducted the Blooming Katrina in triumph to
1:21:25
the altar, was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was
1:21:30
related, and always burst into a hearty laugh at the mention of the pumpkin
1:21:35
which led some to suspect that he knew more about the matter than he chose
1:21:41
to tell. The old country wives, however, who were the best judges
1:21:47
of these matters, maintain to this day that Ichabod was spirited away by supernatural
1:21:55
means, and it is a favorite story often told about the neighborhood round the
1:22:00
winter evening fire. The bridge became more than ever an object of superstitious awe,
1:22:08
and that may be the reason why the road has been altered of late
1:22:13
years, so as to approach the church by the border of the mill pond.
1:22:17
The schoolhouse, being deserted, soon fell to decay, and was reported
1:22:23
to be haunted by the ghost of the unfortunate pedagogue. And the plowboy loitering
1:22:29
homeward of a still summer evening, has often fancied his voice at a distance,
1:22:34
chanting a melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil solitudes of Sleepy Hollow. And
1:22:47
so ends the legend of Sleepy Hollow. By Washington Irving