An old
folk legend told by the
New York Dutch during
colonial times. The story was popularized when
Washington Irving wrote it up for one of his
books.
Rip Van Winkle was a
lazy, lazy man who hated to
work and wanted to
sleep all day. His wife
nagged him to do some work, but he usually ended up dozing half the day away.
One day, Rip was
strolling around the
countryside when he heard some
crashing about off the path. He went investigating and found a bunch of
little people playing
ninepins (a
game similar to
bowling). They asked him to
play, and he spent most of the day
bowling and
drinking with the little people. Eventually, he got tired and decided to take a
nap.
When he woke up, he went back down to the
village where he lived and was
astounded by how much
different it looked. All the
buildings had changed, and he didn't see anyone he
recognized.
No one recognized him either -- and no wonder, since he looked like an
old man, with a long white
beard and
tattered clothing. Finally, someone recognized him -- his
wife, now an
old woman. To
punish him for his
chronic laziness, the little people had caused Rip to
sleep for
20 years...