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Outside the inn, people were gathered around, talking about an election. Rip
enquired about his friends. He was told that the inn manager had been dead for
eighteen years and that the schoolmaster he knew had moved from the village.

Finally, Rip asked if anyone knew who Rip Van Winkle was. A young woman holding a
baby stepped forward, saying that Rip was her father and that he’d gone out hunting
twenty years ago and never returned. Rip then realised that he had been asleep for
twenty years!

Rip recognised the young woman as his daughter, Judith, now grown. He told her that
he, in fact, was her father. Rip then told everyone the story of where he had been for
the last twenty years. No one believed him.

Finally, they called an old, wise man named Peter Vanderdonk, who knew many
stories about the village. Peter listened as Rip repeated his tale. He claimed that Rip
had met some ghosts. A few of the villagers thought Rip Van Winkle was crazy. But
others believed him.

Rip Van Winkle went to live with his daughter, Judith, and her family. He began telling
stories to the children, just as he used to earlier. And not surprisingly, he told his own
story frequently. Occasionally, he would hear thunder in the mountains, but he never
went into the forest again. He did not want to lose another twenty years.

– Adapted from ‘Rip Van Winkle’ by Washington Irving

New Words

Word Meaning

Dutch

wander

inn

ninepins

echoed

tattered

rusted

election

enquired

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