"Rip Van Winkle" had grabbed his gun and his dog, Wolf, and headed out to the woods. He rested under a tree where evening came on quickly. As Rip was getting ready to journey back home, he heard a voice calling his name. He went to see who was calling his name. He discovered an old man carrying a keg on his back. Rip and the old man walked to a ravine in the mountain. There they found a band of odd-looking people. Rip and the old man drank from the keg the man was carrying on his back. Rip feel into a deep sleep, which bring us up to his awaking.
Rip Van Winkle woke up and it seemed to be the next morning. "The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, and the eagle was wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain breeze." I think this symbolizes that the jeopardy that Rip was in the night before was over.
Life size bronze of Rip Van Winkle sculpted by Ric...
Jefferson as the old Rip Van Winkle, 1896
Rip's Rock, Rip Van Winkle House, by J. LoefflerThe text said that the people in the ravine were rolling balls that echoed sounds of thunder through the ravine. That makes me picture a dark storm rolling in. This sets the scene with a little tension because Rip did not know what to make of the people in the ravine. He was a little frightened by them. So the birds singing and the sun rising the next morning seems to set the mood at ease again.
Rip thinks about what went on the night before. He remembers the old man, the keg of liquor, the party, and the flagon. The flagon was the cup that Rip Van Winkle drank from the night before. Rip Van Winkle said, "Oh! That flagon! That wicked flagon!" I thought it was humors that he blamed the cup...