Lesson 12

📖 Rip Van Winkle

By Washington Irving

🚀 Let's start:

Washington Irving (1783–1859) was an American author, essayist, biographer, and historian of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories like Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Christopher Columbus, and the prophet Mohammad. The present story is an adaptation of the original short story.

🤝 Let's share:

(1) Match column A with column B 🧩

A	B
Morning	playing
Afternoon	sleeping
Midnight	in the school
Noon	studying

(2) You may sleep longer than you usually do when... 😴

• (a) You are idle
• (b) You are tired

Discuss with your partner and choose the appropriate alternative.

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Let's Read: 📚

In a village among the Kaatskill Mountains 🏞️, there lived a simple, good-natured fellow, called Rip Van Winkle. The children of the village loved him. He assisted at their sports and made their playthings. He also taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and told them stories. Rip helped everyone in their work, but could not keep his own farm in order. His fences fell to pieces, his cows strayed, weeds grew in his fields. His wife complained about his idleness. His son, Rip, inherited his habits. His sole follower was his dog, Wolf. 🐕

Vedder, the landlord of the village inn 🍻, was Rip's good friend. Rip had to leave this group eventually, as his wife complained that his friends encouraged his idle habits.

Poor Rip was reduced almost to despair. He started walking away into the woods with Wolf. On one of these days, Rip had gone high up the Kaatskill Mountains. From there, he looked down into a deep and dark valley. Evening was gradually advancing. He felt that he should return home. As he was about to go down, he heard a voice from the distance calling: "Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!" 🗣️

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Word Nest: 📚

📌 assisted: helped 📌 strayed: moved away aimlessly 📌 sole: only 📌 inn: a place of shelter

Let's do: 👇

Activity 1 🧩

Rearrange the following sentences in the correct order and put the numbers in the given boxes:

• (1) Rip had to leave his group eventually. [ ]
• (2) On one of these days Rip had gone high up to the Kaatskill Mountains. [ ]
• (3) Rip used to sit and talk with his friends. [ ]
• (4) He heard a voice from the distance calling, "Rip Van Winkle ! Rip Van Winkle." [ ]
• (5) His wife complained that his friends encouraged his idle habits. [ ]
• (6) Poor Rip was reduced almost to despair. [ ]

Activity 2 ✍️

Fill in the blanks with words from the Help Box. There is one extra word:

Rip ___________ children at their sports. He always helped others in their ___________ . His wife ___________ about his idle habits. One day Rip went ___________ up the Kaatskill Mountains.

Help Box: high, complained, assisted, encouraged, work

Activity 3 🤔

Answer the following question:

How do you think Rip felt when he heard a voice from the distance calling?

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🗺️ Let's continue:

He saw a strange figure slowly coming up the rocks. He carried something heavy on his back. Coming closer, Rip saw a short old man with thick bushy hair and a beard. He made signs for Rip to assist him with the load. Always helpful, Rip did so.

They came to a round hollow, surrounded by trees. On a level spot in the centre, he saw a most unusual crowd of people playing at ninepins. They looked peculiar. One had a large head, broad face and small piggish eyes. The face of another seemed to consist entirely of nose! They all had beards, of various shapes and colours. They were enjoying themselves, yet were silent. They looked at Rip with a fixed, statue-like gaze. His

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His companion, it seemed, was carrying some liquid in a keg on his back. This was unloaded, and everyone drank from the keg. Rip was fearful at first. After a while, his fear subsided. Feeling thirsty, he had several drinks himself. Slowly, his eyes closed. He fell into a deep sleep.

On waking, he found himself on the high hill where he had first seen the old man. It was a bright sunny morning. The birds were twittering among the bushes. "Surely," thought Rip, "I have not slept here all night!" He whistled for Wolf, but no dog was to be seen. He decided to visit the scene of last evening. When he reached the spot, he was surprised to see that a mountain stream was now flowing through it! What was to be done? The morning was passing away, and poor Rip was hungry. He shook his head and went homeward.

As he came near his village, he met many people he had never seen before. This surprised him, as he thought he knew everyone around his village. They all stared at him with surprise. Rip suddenly noticed that his beard had grown a foot long! He saw his village was now larger, with more people. There were rows of houses which he had never seen before. Strange names were over the doors. He found his own house was empty and in ruins. He called loudly for his wife and children. All was silence. The village inn was gone.

📚 Word Nest:

• ninepins: a game where nine pins that look like bottles are used
• gaze: look steadily at something
• subsided: became less intense

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Let's do: 📝

🎯 Activity 4

Write 'T' for true and 'F' for false statements in the given boxes. Give supporting statements for each of your answers:

1. (a) The stranger wanted to assist Rip. [ ]

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2. (b) All the strangers had beards. [ ]

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3. (c) Rip felt very thirsty. [ ]

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4. (d) Rip saw that his village had become smaller. [ ]

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❓ Activity 5

Answer the following questions in complete sentences:

1. (a) How did the stranger look?
2. (b) What happened after Rip had drunk the liquid?
3. (c) Why was Rip surprised when he came near the village?
4. (d) What did Rip suddenly notice?

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Let's Continue: ⏳

The appearance of Rip, with his long beard and peculiar dress, soon attracted the attention of people. Rip told them that he meant no harm, but merely came there to look for his friends and folks. He asked about Nicholas Vedder. There was silence for a little while. Then an old man replied, "Nicholas Vedder? Why, he is dead and gone for these eighteen years!" 😮

Rip's heart died away, at finding himself thus alone in the world. He cried out, "Does nobody here know Rip Van Winkle?" 💔

"Oh, there he is, leaning against the tree," exclaimed two or three. As he looked, Rip saw a fellow who looked exactly like his previous self. He understood that this was his son, Rip! Just then, a young woman with a child came his way. She said that Rip Van Winkle had been her father, and had gone away twenty years back when she was little. All stood amazed. An old woman looked at his face and exclaimed, "Sure enough! It is Rip Van Winkle! Welcome home again, old neighbour. Why, where have you been these twenty long years?" 🌳👨‍👩‍👧

Soon everybody came to know Rip's story, for the whole twenty years had been to him but as one night. Some had doubts, and insisted that Rip had been out of his head. Even to this day, a thunder-storm on a summer afternoon at Kaatskill reminds them of the strange people playing at a game of ninepins. ⛈️🎳

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📚 Word Nest:

• 📌 merely: hardly
• 📌 previous: that what had happened before

Let's do: 🚀

Activity 6

Fill in the following chart with information from the text: 📝

Cause	Effect
(i) Rip had a long beard and wore a peculiar dress
(ii)	Rip's heart died away
(iii) Rip saw a fellow who looked exactly like his previous self
(iv)	all stood amazed

Activity 7

Answer the following questions in complete sentences: 🤔

• (a) What attracted the attention of the people when Rip entered the village?
• (b) What did Rip learn about Nicolas Vedder?
• (c) Who looked exactly like Rip's previous self?
• (d) How long did twenty years seem to Rip?

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📝 Activity 8

Fill in the blanks with appropriate verbs from those given in brackets:

1. A hundred rupees _______ too much for this item (is/are)
2. The accountant and the cashier _______ absconded. (has/have)
3. Time and tide _______ for none. (wait/waits)
4. Either he or I _______ mistaken. (is/am)
5. The ship with its crew _______ delayed. (was/were)

✍️ Activity 9(a)

Make meaningful sentences of your own with the following words:

• hollow: ________________________________________________
• fearful: ________________________________________________
• ruins: ________________________________________________
• gaze: ________________________________________________

🧐 Activity 9(b)

Identify the types of sentences given below:

1. Rip's sole follower was the dog Wolf.
2. What was to be done?
3. All was silence.
4. Sure enough! It is Van Winkle!

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Let's talk: 🗣️

There is a mythical character called Kumbhakarna who used to sleep for six months and keep awake for six months.

Suppose you are trying to wake up Kumbhakarna. Tell the class how you would do this. 😴

Let's do: 📝

Activity 10(a)

Write a short story in about sixty words using the hints given below. Add a title to it:

• you went on a tour with your friends
• stayed the night in a house inside a forest
• slept in separate rooms
• when you woke up your friends were all gone
• your feelings
• how you returned home

Activity 10(b)

Imagine that you have a very lazy brother who is always late in getting up from sleep. Write an imaginary conversation between you and your brother on the usefulness of early rising. ⏰

Let's work together: 🤝

• Take nine empty water bottles. 🧴
• Arrange them in a triangle on a flat ground. From a distance take a ball and roll it towards the empty bottles. If you succeed in dropping all the bottles at one go, you score a full point. Otherwise, you lose a point. 🎯
• Now go and play this game of ninepins. 🎳
• Share your experience with your friends. 🤗

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