As he was about to descend, he heard a voice from a distance 66, hallooing,,,Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!" He looked around, but could see nothing but a crow winging its solitary flight across the mountain. He thought his fancy must have deceived him, and turned again to descend, when he heard the same cry ring through the still evening air; ,,Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!" at the same time Wolf bristled up his back 67, and, giving a low growl, skulked to his master's side, looking fearfully 68 down into the glen. Rip now felt a vague apprehension stealing over him; he looked anxiously in the same direction, and perceived a strange figure slowly toiling up the rocks, and bending under the weight of something he carried on his back. He was surprised to see any human being in this lonely and unfrequented place; but supposing it to be some one of the neighbourhood in need of his assistance 69 he hastened down to yield it.

On nearer approach he was still more surprised at the singularity of the stranger's appearance. He was a short squarebuilt old fellow, with thick bushy hair, and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the antique 70 Dutch fashion a cloth jerkin strapped round the waist several pairs of breeches, the outer one of ample volume, decorated with rows of buttons down the sides, and bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulder a stout keg, that seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to approach and assist him with the load. Though rather shy and distrustful of this new acquaintance, Rip complied with his usual alacrity; and, mutually relieving each other, they clambered up a narrow gully, apparently the dry bed of a mountain torrent. As they ascended, Rip every now and then heard long

66) from a distance, vergl. das lat. a tergo, a latere, das franz. de l'autre côté; deutsch in mit d. Dativ.

67) to bristle up (z. dem dtsch. Borste) trans. sträuben und intrans. sich sträuben, sich aufrichten; hier trans.; in deutscher Uebersetzung besser intrans.: das Haar auf Wolfs Rücken sträubte sich.

68) fearful furchtsam, so hier, und schrecklich. Um den Unterschied der Bedeutung auch durch die Aussprache zu markieren, sprechen Einige es in der letzteren Bedeutung férful.

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69) supposing it to be some etc.: Accusativ mit dem Infinitiv: da er vermuthete, annahm, glaubte, dass es Jemand aus der Nachbarschaft sei, der seines Beistandes bedürfe.

70) antique mit dem Ton auf der letzten nach franz. Weise ausgesprochenen Silbe.

71) deutsch bei; with zur Bezeichnung der auf den mit with eingeführten Substantivbegriff gerichteten Bethätigung, vergl. Mätzner, Engl. Gr. II, p. 438, 2, b.

rolling peals, like distant thunder, that seemed to issue out of a deep ravine, or rather cleft 72, between lofty rocks, toward which their ragged path conducted. He paused for an instant, but supposing it to be the muttering of one of those transient 73 thunder-showers, which often take place in mountain heights, he proceeded. Passing through the ravine, they came to a hollow, like a small amphitheatre, surrounded by perpendicular precipices, over the brinks of which impending trees shot their branches, merely allowing glimpses of the azure sky and the bright evening cloud. During the whole time Rip and his companion had laboured on in silence; for though the former marvelled greatly what could be the object of carrying a keg of liquor up this wild mountain, yet there was something strange and incomprehensible about the unknown, that inspired awe and checked familiarity.

On entering the amphitheatre, new objects of wonder presented themselves. On a level spot in the centre was a company of odd-looking personages playing at nine-pins. They were dressed in a quaint outlandish fashion: some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long knives in their belts, and most of them had enormous breeches, of similar style with that of the guide's. Their visages, too, were peculiar: one had a large head, broad face, and small piggish eyes; the face of another seemed to consist entirely of nose, and was surmounted by a white sugarloaf hat, set off with a little red cock's tail. They all had beards, of various shapes and colours. There was one who seemed to be the commander. He was a stout old gentleman, with a weather-beaten countenance; he wore a laced doublet, broad belt and hanger, high-crowned 75 hat and feather,

72) ravine mit franz. Aussprache (von rapere, ital. rapire rauben, hinreissen, wegreissen) = a long deep hollow worn by a stream or torrent Schlucht, Bergschlucht; cleft. dtsch. Kluft zu to cleave spalten, mhd., nhd. klieben, klauben, niederd. klöben, urverwandt mit lat. glubere, gr. γλύφω, γλάφω) = a space from the separation of parts, a space or opening made by splitting Spalte; vergl. Schiller, Alpenjäger:

Plötzlich aus der Felsen spalte
Tritt der Geist, der Bergesalte.

73) spr. tránshent.

74) on mit dem Gerundium, dessen Subject nicht das des regierenden Verbums ist, sondern aus dem Zusammenhange zu ergänzen ist they, Rip van Winkle and the Dutchman.

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75) high-crowned spitz v. crown in der Bedeutung von: the part of a hat above the brim (Krämpe), also, the flat circular part at the top of a hat.

red stockings, and high-heeled shoes with roses in them 76 The whole group reminded Rip of the figures in an old Flemish painting, in the parlour of Dominie " Van Schaick, the village parson, and which had been brought over from Holland at the time of the settlement 78.

What seemed particularly odd to Rip was, that though these folk were evidently amusing themselves, yet they maintained the gravest faces, the most mysterious silence, and were withal9 the most melancholy party of pleasure he had ever witnessed. Nothing interrupted the stillness of the scene but the noise of the balls, which, whenever they were rolled, echoed along the mountains like rumbling peals of thunder.

As Rip and his companion approached them, they suddenly desisted from their play, and stared at him with such fixed statue-like gaze, and such strange, uncouth, lack-lustre countenances, that his heart turned within him, and his knees smote together. His companion now emptied the contents of the keg into large flagons, and made signs to him to wait upon the company. He obeyed with fear and trembling 80; they quaffed the liquor in profound silence, and then returned to their game.

81

By degrees, Rip's awe and apprehension subsided. He even ventured, when no eye was fixed upon him, to taste the beverage, which he found had much of the flavour of excellent Hollands 1. He was naturally a thirsty soul, and was soon tempted to repeat the draught. One taste provoked another; and he reiterated his visits to the flagon so often, that at length his senses were overpowered, his eyes swam in his head, his head gradually declined, and he fell into a deep sleep.

On waking, he found himself on the green knoll from whence he had first seen the old man of the glen. He rubbed his eyes it was a bright sunny morning. The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, and the eagle was

76) mit Rosetten darauf.

77) Auch Domine geschrieben

Geistlicher, v. lat. domine, Vocativ

v. dominus Herr, in den Niederlanden Benennung des Pfarrers aus der gewöhnlichen Anrede.

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78) settlement hier act of settling, Niederlassung d. h. der holländischen Ansiedler in Nord-America.

80) Biblischer Ausdruck nach Philipp. 2, 12: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

wheeling aloft, and breasting 82 the pure mountain breeze. ,,Surely", thought Rip,,,I have not slept here all night." He recalled the occurrences before he fell asleep. The strange man with a keg of liquor the mountain ravine the wild retreat among the rocks the wo-begone 83 party at nine-pins — the flagon,,Oh! that flagon! that wicked flagon!" thought Rip, ,what excuse shall I make to Dame Van Winkle?"

He looked round for his gun; but, in the place of the clean, well-oiled fowling-piece, he found an old fire-lock lying by him, the barrel incrusted with rust, the lock falling off, and the stock worm-eaten. He now suspected that the grave roysters 84 of the mountain had put a trick upon him, and, having dosed him with liquor, had robbed him of his gun. Wolf, too, had disappeared; but he might have strayed away after a squirrel or partridge. He whistled after him, and shouted his name, but all in vain; the echoes repeated his whistle and shout, but no dog was to be seen.

He determined to revisit the scene of the last evening's gambol 85, and, if he met with any of the party, to demand his dog and gun. As he rose to walk, he found himself stiff in the joints, and wanting in his usual activity 86.,,These mountain beds do not agree with me," thought Rip; „,and if this frolic should lay me up with a fit of the rheumatism, I shall have a blessed time with Dame Van Winkle." With some difficulty he got down into the glen: he found the gully up which he and his companion had ascended the preceding evening; but, to his astonishment, a mountain stream was now foaming down it, leaping from rock to rock, and filling the glen with babbling murmurs. He made shift, however, to scramble up its sides,

82) to breast (zu breast, dtsch. Brust) to meet with the breast, sich mit der Brust entgegenstemmen; hier etwa sich wiegen auf.

83) wo-begone traurig. Die Lexica geben nur die Schreibweise woe-begone z. woe, dtsch. Weh, und begone, Partic. von dem alten zusammenges. bego, ags. begangan, welches u. a. auch die Bedeutung umgeben hat; vergl. nhd. begehen und betreten, besonders das letztere in dem bildlichen an woe-begone erinnernden Sinne, sowie das niederl. begaen.

84) Gewöhnlich mit i geschrieben: roister und roisterer Aufschneider, Prahlhans, Spass vogel (wahrscheinlich vom franz. rustre, lat. rusticus). Man beachte das Oxymoron grave roister ernster Spassvogel.

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85) gambol Sprung, Luftsprung, dann im weiteren Sinne sportive prank Lustbarkeit, altengl. gambaude, vergl. das franz. gambade zu jambe Bein.

86) he found himself wanting in etc. = er fand, dass es ihm an seiner gewöhnlichen Beweglichkeit fehlte.

working his toilsome way through thickets of birch, sassafras 87, and witch-hazel, and sometimes tripped up 88 or entangled by the wild grape-vines that twisted their coils and tendrils from tree to tree, and spread a kind of network in his path.

At length he reached to where 89 the ravine had opened through the cliffs to the amphitheatre; but no traces of such opening remained. The rocks presented a high impenetrable wall, over which the torrent came tumbling in a sheet 90 of feathery 91 foam, and fell into a broad deep basin 92, black from the shadows of the surrounding forest. Here, then, poor Rip was brought to stand. He again called and whistled after his dog; he was only answered by the cawing of a flock of idle crows, sporting high in air about a dry tree that overhung a sunny precipice; and who, secure in their elevation, seemed to look down and scoff at the poor man's perplexities. What was to be done? the morning was passing away, and Rip felt famished for want of his breakfast. He grieved to give up his dog and gun; he dreaded to meet his wife; but it would not do to starve among the mountains. He shook his head, shouldered the rusty fire-lock, and, with a heart full of trouble and anxiety, turned his steps homeward.

93

As he approached the village he met a number of people, but none whom he knew, which somewhat surprised him, for he had thought himself acquainted with every one in the

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87) Sassafras ein lorbeerartiger nordamerikanischer Baum, sowie das gewürzhafte als Heilmittel gebrauchte Holz desselben, v. franz. sassafras (mit stumm. Schluss-s) arbre de l'Amérique septentrionale, famille des laurinées, laurus sassafras, L., dit aussi laurier des Iroquois et devenu le type du genre sassafras des modernes sous le nom spécifique d'officinal; wahrscheinl. der Sprache der Indianer entnommen.

leicht oder mit

88) to trip (vergl. das dtsch. trippeln) urspr. kleinen Schritten gehen, aus welcher Bedeutung sich die übrigen ableiten lassen. Der leichte Schritt als unsicherer genommen wird zum Fehltritt; das ursprüngl. intransitive Verbum causativ gebraucht und meistens mit up verbunden erhält dann die Bedeutung zum Straucheln bringen.

89) Wie das Ortsadverb von Präpositionen bestimmt werden kann, so kann auch der ganze Satz der Ortsbestimmung gleich einem Substantiv durch eine Präposition mit dem Hauptsatze verknüpft sein, Mätzner, Engl. Gr. III, 446. dtsch.: Endlich gelangte er dahin, wo etc. 90) sheet eine breite Fläche Tuch, Wasser, Papier, ags. scête; es gehört zu dem Wurzelverb ags. sceótan und entspr. dem goth. skauto, nhd. Schôsz.

21) feathery federig, federartig, flockenartig.

92) spr. bàsin mit scharf. s, ebenso mason, garrison. capárison, sausage, pálisade, crusàde, abèisance u. obèisance.

93) it would not do to dtsch etwa: es gieng doch nicht, dass . . . . Irving, The Sketch Book.

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