SCENE III.

_The Town of_ RIP’S _nativity, instead of the Village as presented in first scene of the drama.—It is now a populous and flourishing settlement.—On the spot where_ RORY’S _tap-house formerly stood, is a handsome hotel, and the sign of_ “George III” _is altered into that of_ “George Washington.” _A settee in front, with table.—The harbour is filled with shipping.—Music at the opening of the scene._

SETH

[SLOUGH,](144) _the landlord, enters from the Hotel.—Loud shouts._

SETH.

Well, I reckon the election’s about bustin’ up. If that temperance feller gets in I’m bound to sell out; for a rum-seller will stand no more chance with him than a bob-tail cow in fly time.—[_Laugh._]—Hollo! who is this outlandish critter? he looks as if he had been dead for fifty years and was dug up to vote against the temperance ticket.—

_Music.—Enter_ MALE _and_ FEMALE VILLAGERS, _laughing._(_145_)_—Enter_ RIP,—_they gather round him._

RIP.

Where I was I wonder? my neiber frints, “knost you ty spricken?”(146)

VILLAGERS.

Ha, ha, ha!

1ST VILLAGER.

I say, old feller, you ain’t seed nothing of no old butter firkin with no kiver on, no place about here?

RIP.

No butter firkin mit no kiver no place, no I ain’t seen him.

VILLAGERS.

Ha, ha, ha!

1ST VILLAGER.

Who’s your barber?—[_Strokes his chin.—All laugh and exeunt._

RIP.

I can’t understand dis: everything seems changed.—[_Strokes his chin._]—Why, I’m changed too; why, my beard’s as long as a goat’s.

SETH.

[_Coming down._] Look here, old sucker, I guess you had better go home and get shaved.

RIP.

My old woman will shave me when I gets home! Home, where is my home? I went to the place where it used to was, and it wasn’t dere. Do you live in Catskill?

SETH.

Well, I rather guess I dus—

RIP.

Do you know where I live?

SETH.

Well, to look at you, I should think you didn’t live nowhere in particular, but stayed round in spots.

RIP.

You live in Catskill?

SETH.

Certain.

RIP.

You don’t know dat I belong here?

SETH.

No, I’m darned if I do. I should say you belonged to Noah’s ark—-

RIP.

Did you never hear in Catskill of one Rip Van Winkle?

SETH.

What, Rip Van Winkle, the greatest rum-sucker in the country?

RIP.

Dat is a fact—dat is him! ha! ha! now we shall see.

SETH.

Oh, yes, I’ve heard of him; the old coon’s been dead these twenty years.

RIP.

Den I am dead and dat is a fact. Well, poor Rip is dead. I’m sorry for dat.—Rip was a goot fellow.

SETH.

I wish there was a whole grist just like him in Catskill. Why, they say he could drink rum enough in one day to swim in.

RIP.

Don’t talk so much about rum; you makes me so dry as never was.

SETH.

Hold on a spell then, and I’ll fetch you something to wet your whistle. [_Exit into house._

RIP.

Why, here is another change! dis was Rory’s house last night, [SETH _re-enters._] mit de sign of George the Third.

SETH.

[The alteration of my sign is no bad sign for the country, I reckon.](147)

RIP.

[_Reading._] “George Washington,”—who is he? [I remember a shoot of dat name, dat served under Braddock, before I went to sleep.

SETH.

[_Giving him jug._] Well, if you’ve been asleep I guess he ar’n’t: his enemies always found him wide awake and kicking; and that shoot, as you call him, has planted the tree of liberty so everlasting tight in Yankeeland, that all the kingdoms of the earth can’t root it out.](148)

RIP.

Well, here is General Washington’s goot health, and his family’s goot health, ant may dey all live long ant prosper. So poor Rip Van Winkle is dead, eh? [Now comes de poser;](149) if Rip is dead, [what has become of his old woman?](150)

SETH.

She busted a blood-vessel swearing at a Yankee pedlar, and has gone to kingdom come long ago.

RIP.

De old woman dead too? den her clapper is stopped at last. [_Pause._] So de old woman is dead; well, she led me a hard life—she was de wife of my bosom, she was mine frow for all dat. [_Whimpering._] I’m dead too, unt dat is a fact. Tell me my frient—

SETH.

I can’t stop any longer—the polls are almost closing, and I must spread the game for the boys. Hurrah, for rum drinking and cheap licence for the retailers! that’s my ticket. [_Re-enter_ VILLAGERS, _shouting._](151) Here, boys, see what you can make of this old critter.—I give him up for the awfulest specimen of human nature in the States. [_Exit into house._

2D VILLAGER.

Are you a Federal or a Democrat?

RIP.

Fiddle who? damn who’s cat?

2D VILLAGER.

What’s your politics?

RIP.

Oh, I am on de safe side dere; I am a faithful subject of King George!

2D VILLAGER.

He’s a Tory! Kill him! Duck him!

VILLAGERS.

[To the horse pond! Duck him.](152)

_Music.—They seize_ RIP _and are about hurrying him off when_ GUSTAFFE _rushes in and throws them off._(153)

GUSTAFFE.

Stand back, [cowards.](154)

OMNES.

Cowards!

GUSTAFFE.

Yes, cowards! who but cowards would rush in numbers one grey-haired man?

RIP.

Yah, yah, dat’s a fact!

GUSTAFFE.

Sheer off! you won’t? then damme, here’s at ye. [_Drives them off._] Tell me, old man, what cause had you given them to attack you?

RIP.

I don’t know; do you?

GUSTAFFE.

You appear bewildered: can I assist you?

RIP.

Just tell me where I live, dat’s all I want to know.

GUSTAFFE.

And don’t you know?

RIP.

I’m d——d fun I does.

GUSTAFFE.

What is your name?

RIP.

Why, I was Rip Van Winkle.

GUSTAFFE.

Rip Van Winkle? impossible!

RIP.

Well, I won’t swear to it myself.

GUSTAFFE.

Stay,—you have a daughter?

RIP.

To be sure I has: a pretty little girl about so old—Lorrenna; and I have a son too, a lublicka boy, but my daughter is a girl.

GUSTAFFE.

Do you remember entering into a contract, binding your daughter to marry Herman Van Slaus?

RIP.

Oh! I remember, de burgomaster came to my house last night mit a paper, and I wrote my name down on it, but I was drunk.

GUSTAFFE.

Last night! His brain wanders: yet it must be he; come, come with me, old man.

RIP.

Where are you going to take me to?

GUSTAFFE.

Your daughter.

RIP.

Yes, yes, take me to my child. Stop, my gracious!—I am so changed,—suppose she should forget me too; no, no, she can’t forget her poor father. Come, come! [_Exeunt._

*Footnotes*

144 In K., “Kilderkin.”

145 In K., “_and pointing at_ RIP, _who comes_ on.”

146 In K., “Vhere I was I wonder? my kneiber freunds, sprechen sie deutsch?”

147 Not in K.

148 Not in K. After “who is he,” read, “I do not know him, but—” and continue with next Rip speech.

149 “But, now, I’m going to ask a ticklish question” in K. This speech is in dialect in K.

150 In K., “is his old voman dead too?” SETH. No. She’s alive and kicking. RIP. Kicking—yes, she always vas dat. SETH. And she’s married agin. RIP. She’s done what agin? SETH. She’s got a second husband. RIP. Second husband!—I pities the poor creetur. But there vas—vill you tell me, my friend— SETH. I can’t stop any longer, because—

151 In K., the stage directions are, “VILLAGERS _hurry on, shouting._”

152 In K., read, “Duck him—duck him.”

153 In K., read, “_Music. All are rushing on_ RIP.—GUSTAVE _enters._”

154 In K., read, are you not ashamed—a score of you to attack a single man? RIP. [_Aside._] Yes. I am a single man—now my vife is marry agin; dat is a fact! From this point, the two plays differ so that what remains in Kerr is here reproduced. GUSTAVE. And a poor old, gray-haired man. RIP. Yes, I am poor, dat is a fact; but I know I’m not old, and I can’t be gray-haired. GUSTAVE. Take yourselves off! What cause had you given them to attack you? VILLAGERS _sneak off._ RIP. I don’t know—do you? GUSTAVE. [_Smiling._] How should I— RIP. I say—vhere do I live? GUSTAVE. Don’t you know? RIP. I’m stewed fun I does. But, young man, you seems to know somezing, so, perhaps you knows Rip Van Winkle? GUSTAVE. Young Rip Van Winkle—I should think I do. RIP. [_Aside._] Here is von vhat knows me! dat is goot! GUSTAVE. I only wish his father hadn’t gone away and died, twenty years ago. RIP. [_Aside._] His fader! Ah! he means my young Rip, and I’m dead myself arter all—dat is a fact. GUSTAVE. Poor old Rip Van Winkle—perhaps you know his daughter? RIP. His daughter—yes, I tink I—and she is not dead, like her fader? GUSTAVE. No, thank heaven! and she would have been my wife before this but for— RIP. But for what, young man? _Enter_ LOWENA. LOWENA. Gustave. [_Moving to him._ GUSTAVE. Ah! dear Lowena! RIP. Lowena! Ah! dat is my daughter—and I have a son too, a lublicka boy; but my daughter is a girl, and I always lub my leetle girl so much, ven she vas only so big—and I must not hug her now to my poor heart, because she—she has got another fader—and I am dead—yes, dey all tell me dat is a fact! I am dead to meinself and—and I am dead to my leetle girl. LOWENA. Oh, yes, Gustave, it is indeed a sad misfortune for us both, that my father should have entered into a contract which had for its object to coerce me into becoming the wife of Herman Van Slaus. RIP. [_Aside._] Yes, dat is a fact. I remember, de burgomaster come to my house last night mit a paper, and I wrote my name down on it; but I vas trunk. GUSTAVE. And having loved you so long, is it now impossible that you can become my wife? LOWENA. No, not impossible; but—oh, my poor dear father, if you had but survived to see this day! RIP. [_Aside._] I wish what I had—but I am dead, dat is a fact. _Enter_ HERMAN VAN SLAUS. LOWENA. Oh, Gustave! see, protect me from that wicked man—I will be thine, and only thine! HERMAN. No, Lowena; you will be _mine_, for you will not be suffered to resign into my hands that fortune of which I covet the possession, but which would lose half its value to me if you come not with it. RIP. [_Aside._] Dat is young Slaus; and he is as big a tam rascal as vas his resbectable fader. HERMAN. Hereafter, Lowena, I will cause you to repent that you have given a rival to the man to whom, from your very childhood, you have been pledged and bound. RIP. Herman Van Slaus, _you_ are bledged to old Nick, and vill never be redeemed. HERMAN. Who is this miserable old wretch? GUSTAVE. I would kill you sooner than you should become the husband of my heart’s adored. _Enter_ KNICKERBOCKER _and_ ALICE. KNICKERBOCKER. So, there you are, Master Herman, sticking to your rascally work like a crab to its shell, as fishmongers have it. ALICE. I should like to throw him into a saucepan of boiling water till he was done to rags. RIP. [_Aside._] Dat is my sister Alice—and dat is Knickerbocker—how fat they both is got since last night! What great big suppers they must have eat! _Enter_ NICHOLAS VEDDER _and_ DAME VEDDER. DAME. Oh, do try if you cannot save my poor girl! RIP. [_Aside._] Tonner unt blitzen! dat is mein frau! [_Retreating._] No, no! I forget—she not is mine frau now! [_Chuckles._ DAME. Let him take half the fortune and— VEDDER. What is that you observe? DAME. Nothing—nothing! VEDDER. Then don’t observe it any more. DAME. I—I only— VEDDER. [_Shouting._] Silence! RIP. [_Aside._] Dat is goot! [_Laughing._] Mine frau have caught a Tartar. De second one make her pay for de virst. Ha, ha, ha! I’m stewed fun dat is a fact! HERMAN. Nicholas Von Vedder, say—[_Producing paper._]—is this contract to be fulfilled? VEDDER. Certainly. Lowena, the time for trifling is past; you have delayed until the very last hour, and must now at once consent to become Herman’s wife. LOWENA. Never! Welcome poverty, if I may be wealthy only with that man for my husband. Whatever privations I may be made to endure, I shall not repine; for he whom I love will share them with me. RIP. [_Aside._] Dat is mine own girl, I vill swear to dat. GUSTAVE. I am poor, Lowena, but my love will give me courage to toil manfully, and heaven will smile upon my efforts and enable me to replace that fortune which, for my sake, you so readily sacrifice. HERMAN. Well, be it as you will. This document gives me a claim which may not be evaded. [_Reads._] “We, Deidrich Van Slous, Burgomaster, and Rip Van Winkle, desirous of providing for the prosperity of our offspring, do hereby mutually agree that Herman Van Slous, and Lowena Van Winkle, shall be united on the demand of either. Whosoever of those contracted fails in fulfilling the agreement shall forfeit their fortune to the party complaining.—Rip Van Winkle—Deidrich Van Slous.” RIP. [_Aside._] Yes, dat is a fact—I remember dat baber, and I’ve got him somevheres. [_Feels in his pockets._ VEDDER. Lowena, I command that you consent to become Herman’s wife—I will not suffer that your fortune be sacrificed to— HERMAN. And here is the now useless codicil. RIP. [_Advancing, paper in hand._] Let me read it. [_All turn amazedly towards him._] “Should the said Rip Van Winkle tink fit to annul dis contract vithin twenty years and a day, he shall be at full liberty to do so.” HERMAN. How came you by that document? RIP. You see I’ve got it, and dat is a fact. HERMAN. Who gave it to you? RIP. Your old blackguard of a fader. DAME. Oh, you are—you are— RIP. Yes, I am—I am Rip Van Winkle! [_All start._—DAME, _with a loud scream, falls into_ Knickerbocker’s _arms._] Dere! for de first time in my life, I have doubled up my old woman! KNICKERBOCKER _carries off_ DAME. LOWENA. Oh, it is my father—my dear, dear father! [_Runs into his arms._ RIP. Yes, and you are mein taughter, my darling dat I always was love so! Oh, bless your heart, how you have grown since last night as you was a little girl. ALICE. [_Embracing him._] Oh, my poor dear brother. RIP. Yes, I tink I am your broder ’cos you is my sister. KNICKERBOCKER _returns._ ALICE. And here is my husband. RIP. He is a much deal uglier, dan he used to vas before. KNICKERBOCKER. [_Embracing him._] My blessed brother-in-law. VEDDER. Ah! and now you have come back, I suppose you want your wife! RIP. No, I’ll be tam if I do! You’ve got her, and you keep her—I von’t never have her no more. VEDDER. I sha’n’t have her—I have done with her, and glad to be rid of her. [_Exit._ RIP. Ha, ha! Then my poor frau is a vidder, with two husbands, an’ she ain’t got none at all. HERMAN. It is Rip Van Winkle, and alive! RIP. Yes, and to the best of my belief, I have not never been dead at all. HERMAN. And I am left to poverty and despair. [_Exit._ RIP. And serve you right too—I’m stewed fun dat is fact. [_Looking round._] But I had a leetle boy, last night—vhere is my young baby boy, my leetle Rip? ALICE. I saw him just now—oh, here he is. _Enter, young Rip Van Winkle, a very tall young man._ RIP. Is dat my leetle baby boy? How he is grown since last night. Come here, you young Rip. I am your fader. Vell, he is much like me—he is a beautiful leetle boy. KNICKERBOCKER. But tell us, Rip, where have you hid yourself for the last twenty years? RIP. Ech woll! ech woll! Vhen I take mine glass, I vill tell mine strange story, and drink the health of mine friends—and, ladies and gentlemen, I will drink to your good hells and your future families, and may you all—and may Rip Van Winkle too—live long and brosber. _Curtain._