"Rip Van Winkle Owen" original text

Summary of the work

At the foot of the magical Catzkill Mountains and on the banks of the Hudson River, there is a very old and secluded small village, inhabited by some descendants of Dutch colonists. Many years ago, there was a farmer named Rip Van Winkle in the village. He is simple, kind, warm-hearted and kind, but he does not work all day long. One day, in order to avoid the scolding of his nagging wife, he took his pet dog to the Kazir Mountains to hunt. On the mountain, he unexpectedly saw the long-dead Captain Hudson and his companions playing nine-pins. Rip secretly drank their ambrosia while they were not paying attention, and then fell asleep soundly. After waking up and returning to the village, he found that amazing changes had taken place overnight: the village was larger than before, and the population was more than before; the villagers were strangers, and their clothing styles had also changed; not only was his appearance aging, but his beard was also gray. , and his wife has passed away, and his daughter has married and become a mother; the person who knew him is dead, but the living person does not know him. It turned out that he had been sleeping for 20 years. During his slumber, the United States had broken away from British colonial rule and become a liberal democracy. He was indifferent to this change in political power. The only thing he was thankful for was that he had gotten rid of the shackles of marriage and was freed from the oppression of the "dictatorship of women."

Selected Works

One day, on a crisp autumn day, Rip made such a journey: he unknowingly climbed to the top of a very high peak in the Kazir Mountains. He concentrated on hunting squirrels, which was his most beloved thing; the silent hills repeatedly vibrated with the echoes of his gunshots. Towards dusk, panting and feeling very tired, he sat down on a grassy knoll on the top of the cliff. From the gaps in the trees he could look down upon the entire dense forest for miles. Looking over again, you can see the majestic Hudson River in the distance, flowing silently and solemnly. The mirror-like center of the river sometimes reflects a purple cloud, and sometimes is dotted with solitary sails, hesitant to move forward - this The river is invisible between the green foothills.

He looked down from the other side and saw a desolate, lonely, and unkempt deep valley. The bottom of the valley was filled with debris that fell from the precipitous cliffs, and there were still a few faint rays of the setting sun. Rip lay on the grass and contemplated the scenery for a while; dusk gradually came; the mountains had cast long blue shadows in the valley; he knew that it would be dark by the time he returned to the village, and he wanted to remember I was about to be scolded by my wife again, so I couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

As he was about to go down the mountain, he suddenly heard a man's voice in the distance shouting: "Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!" "He looked around, but there was not even a shadow of a person. He only saw a solitary crow fluttering across the hilltop. He thought this must be an illusion, so he turned around and went down the mountain again. At this time, he heard the voice echoing in the silent dusk: "Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!" - At the same time, The "wolf" also raised the fur on his back, howled lowly, hid next to his master, and looked at the valley below in horror. At this moment, Rip felt a vague sense of fear coming over him. He looked in this direction hurriedly and saw a strange man slowly and laboriously walking up the rock. He was carrying a heavy thing on his back. The waist is also bent. He was surprised to see someone coming in this desolate and inaccessible place, but he thought it was one of his neighbors who needed his help, so he hurried down to pick him up.

As he got closer, he was even more surprised when he saw that the stranger had a very strange appearance. He was a short, fat old man with thick, fluffy hair and a gray beard. His clothes were ancient Dutch attire: he wore a woolen vest on his upper body, a belt around his waist, and several pairs of trousers underneath. The outer one was very wide and decorated on both sides. It wears two rows of buttons and has pleats on the knees. He carried a large barrel that seemed to be full of wine on his shoulders, and gestured to Rip to come over and help. Although Rip was a little scared and suspicious of this new friend, he readily agreed to him as usual; so they took turns carrying the barrels and climbed up a narrow ravine. It is the bed of a dried up stream. As they ascended the mountain, Rip heard now and then a long rumbling sound, like distant thunder, which seemed to come from the deep ravines, or rather passes, between the cliffs into which their rugged path led. there. He paused for a moment, but thought it was just the sound of thunderstorms that often occurred in the mountains, so he continued to move forward. After passing through the canyon, they arrived at the entrance of a cave. It was shaped like a small amphitheatre, surrounded by cliffs. The trees and leaves hanging from the top of the cliff were all so that only flickers could be seen from here. shimmering blue sky and bright evening clouds. Along the way, Rip and his companions walked in silence; he really didn't understand why they had to carry a barrel of wine up such a barren mountain, but he didn't ask because the stranger looked a bit strange. , and it was so incredible that he was intimidated and did not dare to get close to her.

As soon as they entered the amphitheater, a new miracle appeared before their eyes. On a flat ground in the center, a group of odd-looking people were playing skittles. Their clothing was of a strange foreign style; some wore tight white jackets, others wore waistcoats with long knives in their belts, and most of them had trousers as wide as the guide's.

At the same time, their faces are also very strange: one has a big beard, a broad face, and a pair of small pig eyes; the other person's face seems to be entirely occupied by a nose, and he wears a conical white hat on his head. There is a small red chicken feather stuck in it. They have all kinds of beards. One of them seemed to be the leader. He is a burly old gentleman with a weathered face, wearing a lace tight jacket, a wide belt, a belt knife, a high hat with feathers on his head, and a pair of trousers on his feet. A pair of red socks and a pair of high-heeled shoes with rosettes. This group of people reminded Rip of the figures in an old Flanders painting that hung in the living room of the country priest Van Schalk, which the priest had brought from Holland when he first immigrated.

What makes Rip particularly strange is that although these people are obviously having fun, their faces are extremely serious and their silence is mysterious. This is the most disappointing thing he has ever seen. entertainment. Only the sound of balls broke the silence from time to time. Whenever these balls rolled, there would be a thunderous rumbling echo in the mountains.

When Rip and his companions approached them, they suddenly stopped playing and stared at Rip with eyes like solidified stone statues. Every face was so strange, unfamiliar, and indifferent. It was so lifeless that his heart shrank in fear and his knees trembled. At this time, his companions poured the wine in the barrel into several large wine jugs, and made signs to ask him to serve them drinking. Rip, trembling with fear, did as he was told; they drank the wine in silence, and went back to playing ball.

Later, Rip's fear and anxiety slowly subsided. He even dared to take a sip of the wine secretly when no one was watching him. He thought the wine tasted a bit like fine Dutch wine. He was originally a friend who was greedy for drinking, so after a while he couldn't help but take another sip. The more he tasted, the more delicious it became, and he kept sipping the wine in the jug. Finally, he became a little confused. Feeling dizzy, my head gradually drooped, and I fell asleep.

After he woke up, he found that he was still lying on the green hill where he first saw the old man in the valley. He rubbed his eyes - it was a bright and bright morning. Birds were jumping around in the trees and chirping; an eagle was hovering in the sky facing the breeze on the mountain. "Could it be," Rip thought, "that I slept here all night?" Then he remembered all the things that happened before he fell asleep. The strange man with the keg of wine—the mountain glen—the desolate retreat between the cliffs—the melancholy group of skittles—the flagon—"Alas! the flagon! Damn the jug!" Rip thought - "How can I tell when I go home and see my Mrs. Van Winkle?" He looked around for his shotgun. But his clean and well-oiled gun disappeared somewhere. There was an old musket lying beside him. The barrel was covered with a layer of rust, the trigger had fallen off, and the stock was hollow. At this time, he began to suspect that the sanctimonious drunkards he met last night played a trick, got him drunk, and then took away his shotgun. The "wolf" was also missing, but he might have gotten lost chasing a squirrel or a partridge. He whistled several times and called his name, but in vain. He only heard the echoes of whistles and shouts, but could not see his dog.

He decided to go back to the place where he had watched them play skittles last night, and if he met anyone in their group, he could ask them for his gun and dog. When he stood up to leave, he found that his joints were stiff and not as flexible as before. "A mountain bed is not a good place for me," thought Rip, "and if my wanderings should give me rheumatism and keep me in bed all day, it would make life much easier for me and Mrs. Van Winkle." "Later, he finally walked down the valley: he found the ravine where he and his companions went up the mountain yesterday evening; but, it was so strange that the ravine had now turned into a rolling stream, crossing the blocks. Rocks rush down, and the valley is filled with the sound of gurgling water. But he managed to climb up from the stream, struggling through thickets of alder, sassafras, and witch hazel, sometimes stumbling or getting tangled in wild grapevines that stretched their vines and tendrils From tree to tree, he seemed to cast a net on his path.

At last he reached the place where the gorge between the cliffs led to the amphitheatre; but there was no trace of the entrance to the cave. The craggy rock stood like an insurmountable high wall. On the top of the rock, a waterfall rushed down with splashing foam and fell into a wide deep pool. The shadow of the surrounding woods made the pool water dark. At this point poor Rip had to stop. He whistled again and called to his dog; but he was answered by the croaking of a flock of crows, high in the sky, circling a dead tree that hung upside down on a sunlit cliff. They felt safe because they were at a high place, and seemed to be looking down at the poor man, laughing at his miserable condition. What to do? The morning was almost gone, and Rip was already hungry because he had not eaten breakfast. He lost his dog and gun and felt very sad. He was afraid of seeing his wife, but he could not starve to death in the mountains. He shook his head, picked up the rusty musket, and turned around to walk home full of troubles and worries.

(Translated by Wan Zi and Yu Ning)

Appreciation

"Rip Van Winkle" is a representative work of Irving's short stories, and it is the same as another short story. The famous article "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is collected together in "Notes of Experiences". This is a short story full of magical romance.

The novel is based on an ancient German folklore, but the location of the story is changed from the Rhine River to a remote and ancient mountain village at the foot of the Catskill Mountains in the Hudson River Basin of the United States. The protagonist of the novel, Rip Van Winkle, is a simple, kind, gentle, and helpful farmer. He is a bit lazy by nature and pursues a quiet, simple and carefree rural life. He is not interested in working, making money or spending money. Therefore, no matter where he went, he could not escape the nagging and scolding of his wife, Mrs. Van Winkle. In order to escape the "dictatorship of women", Rip had to go hunting in the mountains with a shotgun and dogs, because in the deep valleys overgrown with grass, there was the peace and comfort he loved. On the mountain he met some ancient people wearing Dutch-style clothes. After secretly drinking their fine Dutch wine, he fell asleep for 20 years. After waking up, he faced a strange world. During these 20 years, he escaped reality and responsibilities, becoming the ancestor of the "recluse" image in American literature, and profoundly influenced future American literature. The "escapists" after him include Huckleberry Finn, a little boy who drifted on the Mississippi River, Babbitt, a middle-class businessman who ran away from home and went to Maine to pursue freedom, and "Mao" who went to the zoo to communicate with gorillas. "Ape" Yank, and Holden, a high school student who dreams of marrying a deaf-mute girl in the uninhabited west, and so on.

This selection is the middle part of the novel, describing the story of Rip leaving the real world and meeting ancient people in the Kazir mountains. Owen has been fond of fantasy since he was a child, and this is fully reflected here. The author uses rich imagination and bold exaggeration to transcend the limitations of time and space, weave strange plots, strange environments and extraordinary characters, creating a fantastic imaginary world, virtual and real, which adds a sense of authenticity to the novel. layer of mysticism. Rip's experience in the mountains is very reminiscent of the story of Wang Zhi who entered the mountains and met immortals in the Chinese legend of the Tang Dynasty. They also came to the mountains, met immortals, ate the immortals' food, and stayed overnight. When they returned to their hometown, they had been separated for decades. However, from a traditional and simplified perspective, Wang Zhi's story only has a few words, while "Rip Van Winkle" contains both a description of Rip's living environment, the shaping of his character traits, and the details of Rip's inner activities. The description is richer in content.

Rip Van Winkle represents the pastoral pastoral style of ancient patriarchal rural life. In the author's writing, this kind of life is simple, beautiful and full of poetry. In the first half of the novel, that is, the part before Rip Van Winkle falls asleep, the author tries his best to describe the beautiful scenery of the place and the tranquility and ease of life in the mountain village, even when writing about Mrs. Van Winkle's endless nagging. Trying to create an effect of "the mountains with singing birds are more secluded". In such a quiet and peaceful atmosphere, readers can easily have the illusion that time seems to be eternal and frozen. But this illusion was quickly shattered. Time is ruthless after all. When Rip woke up, the leisurely life no longer existed. People's pace of life had accelerated significantly. The new social atmosphere was characterized by busyness, panic, acrimony, and irritability. "It was not at all as calm and peaceful as in the past." Drowsy tranquility”. Not only that, Irving also hinted to readers the limitations of the bourgeois revolution through interesting details such as the hanging of the American flag, the change of the portrait on the inn sign, and the appearance of Little Winkle. It did not give readers like Rip Van... How many changes have been brought about in the lives of poor farmers like Winkle: the so-called sacred American flag is just a strip of cloth with strange patterns; although the portrait has been changed from King George to General Washington, it is still the sign of the hotel; Little Winkle Although Kerr grew up, he inherited his father's style. "He had the same lazy look and certainly the same tatters on his body." Twenty years have passed, but history seems to be repeating itself. This is Owen's clever satire of reality. Taking Rip Van Winkle's encounter with the fairy in the mountains as the boundary, there is a sharp contrast between the two worlds before Winkle falls asleep and after he wakes up. The contrast between the pastoral mood of the patriarchal society and the customs of capitalist society reveals Owen's yearning for the traditional culture of the European continent and his reservations about the changes of the times.

Irving uses very concise English in "Rip Van Winkle", narrating almost exclusively in short sentences. In this selection of Rip Van Winkle's Encounter with the Immortal in the Mountains, Irving uses concise and beautiful language to describe to the readers the quietly flowing Hudson River and the quiet sky dotted with white sails under the afterglow. of valley. These wonderful mountain views leave a sense of suspense: In such a quiet and beautiful environment, what adventures will Rip have? Another example is that after Rip woke up, he "found himself still lying on the green hill where he first saw the old man in the valley." He thought to himself: "Oh! That jug! Damn the jug!", "Go home and see me." How can you explain Mrs. Van Winkle?" These sentences are natural and concise, vividly portraying the image of a man who is afraid of his wife, and setting off the fierceness of Mrs. Van Winkle from the opposite side.

"Rip Van Winkle" inherits and develops the British romantic tradition of the 18th century, with fresh and smooth writing and beautiful and moving descriptions of scenery.

Owen used unique artistic techniques and romantic imagination to organically integrate European folklore with American natural scenery and real life, making the novel both legendary and realistic.

(Zhang Qiaohuan)