Rip van Winkle
Rip van Winkle is a short story by
Washington Irving, as well as the name of the story's fictional protaganist. The story, written while Irving was staying with his sister in
Birmingham England, is set in the days before and after the
American Revolutionary War. A villager of
Dutch descent escapes his nagging
wife by wandering into the
woods. After various adventures, he settles down under a shady
tree and falls asleep. He wakes up
years later and returns to his
village. He immediately gets into trouble when he hails
George III, not knowing that in the meantime the American Revolution has taken place and he is not supposed to be a loyal subject of the Hanoverian any longer.
After this story, "Rip van Winkle" can be a reference to a person who sleeps a long time, or to a person who is inexplicably unaware of current events.
Rip van Winkle has been the subject of several animated cartoons.
See also
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