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It is a great triumph of skill to gain the former , but a still greater proof of generalship to maintain possession of the latter , for man must battle for his fortress at every door and window . |
He who wins a thousand common hearts is therefore entitled to some renown ; but he who keeps undisputed sway over the heart of a coquette is indeed a hero . |
Certain it is , this was not the case with the redoubtable Brom Bones ; and from the moment Ichabod Crane made his advances , the interests of the former evidently declined : his horse was no longer seen tied to the palings on Sunday nights , and a deadly feud gradually arose between him and the preceptor of Sleepy Hollow . |
Brom , who had a degree of rough chivalry in his nature , would fain have carried matters to open warfare and have settled their pretensions to the lady , according to the mode of those most concise and simple reasoners , the knights-errant of yore , -- by single combat ; but Ichabod was too conscious of the superior might of his adversary to enter the lists against him ; he had overheard a boast of Bones , that he would `` double the schoolmaster up , and lay him on a shelf of his own schoolhouse ; '' and he was too wary to give him an opportunity . |
There was something extremely provoking in this obstinately pacific system ; it left Brom no alternative but to draw upon the funds of rustic waggery in his disposition , and to play off boorish practical jokes upon his rival . |
Ichabod became the object of whimsical persecution to Bones and his gang of rough riders . |
They harried his hitherto peaceful domains ; smoked out his singing school by stopping up the chimney ; broke into the schoolhouse at night , in spite of its formidable fastenings of withe and window stakes , and turned everything topsy-turvy , so that the poor schoolmaster began to think all the witches in the country held their meetings there . |
But what was still more annoying , Brom took all opportunities of turning him into ridicule in presence of his mistress , and had a scoundrel dog whom he taught to whine in the most ludicrous manner , and introduced as a rival of Ichabod 's , to instruct her in psalmody . |
In this way matters went on for some time , without producing any material effect on the relative situations of the contending powers . |
On a fine autumnal afternoon , Ichabod , in pensive mood , sat enthroned on the lofty stool from whence he usually watched all the concerns of his little literary realm . |
In his hand he swayed a ferule , that sceptre of despotic power ; the birch of justice reposed on three nails behind the throne , a constant terror to evil doers , while on the desk before him might be seen sundry contraband articles and prohibited weapons , detected upon the persons of idle urchins , such as half-munched apples , popguns , whirligigs , fly-cages , and whole legions of rampant little paper gamecocks . |
Apparently there had been some appalling act of justice recently inflicted , for his scholars were all busily intent upon their books , or slyly whispering behind them with one eye kept upon the master ; and a kind of buzzing stillness reigned throughout the schoolroom . |
It was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a negro in tow-cloth jacket and trowsers , a round-crowned fragment of a hat , like the cap of Mercury , and mounted on the back of a ragged , wild , half-broken colt , which he managed with a rope by way of halter . |
He came clattering up to the school door with an invitation to Ichabod to attend a merry-making or `` quilting frolic , '' to be held that evening at Mynheer Van Tassel 's ; and having delivered his message with that air of importance , and effort at fine language , which a negro is apt to display on petty embassies of the kind , he dashed over the brook , and was seen scampering away up the hollow , full of the importance and hurry of his mission . |
All was now bustle and hubbub in the late quiet schoolroom . |
The scholars were hurried through their lessons without stopping at trifles ; those who were nimble skipped over half with impunity , and those who were tardy had a smart application now and then in the rear , to quicken their speed or help them over a tall word . |
Books were flung aside without being put away on the shelves , inkstands were overturned , benches thrown down , and the whole school was turned loose an hour before the usual time , bursting forth like a legion of young imps , yelping and racketing about the green in joy at their early emancipation . |
The gallant Ichabod now spent at least an extra half hour at his toilet , brushing and furbishing up his best , and indeed only suit of rusty black , and arranging his locks by a bit of broken looking-glass that hung up in the schoolhouse . |
That he might make his appearance before his mistress in the true style of a cavalier , he borrowed a horse from the farmer with whom he was domiciliated , a choleric old Dutchman of the name of Hans Van Ripper , and , thus gallantly mounted , issued forth like a knight-errant in quest of adventures . |
But it is meet I should , in the true spirit of romantic story , give some account of the looks and equipments of my hero and his steed . |
The animal he bestrode was a broken-down plow-horse , that had outlived almost everything but its viciousness . |
He was gaunt and shagged , with a ewe neck , and a head like a hammer ; his rusty mane and tail were tangled and knotted with burs ; one eye had lost its pupil , and was glaring and spectral , but the other had the gleam of a genuine devil in it . |
Still he must have had fire and mettle in his day , if we may judge from the name he bore of Gunpowder . |
He had , in fact , been a favorite steed of his master 's , the choleric Van Ripper , who was a furious rider , and had infused , very probably , some of his own spirit into the animal ; for , old and broken-down as he looked , there was more of the lurking devil in him than in any young filly in the country . |
Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed . |
He rode with short stirrups , which brought his knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle ; his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers ' ; he carried his whip perpendicularly in his hand , like a sceptre , and as his horse jogged on , the motion of his arms was not unlike the flapping of a pair of wings . |
A small wool hat rested on the top of his nose , for so his scanty strip of forehead might be called , and the skirts of his black coat fluttered out almost to the horses tail . |
Such was the appearance of Ichabod and his steed as they shambled out of the gate of Hans Van Ripper , and it was altogether such an apparition as is seldom to be met with in broad daylight . |
It was , as I have said , a fine autumnal day ; the sky was clear and serene , and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance . |
The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow , while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange , purple , and scarlet . |
Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air ; the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves of beech and hickory-nuts , and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals from the neighboring stubble field . |
The small birds were taking their farewell banquets . |
In the fullness of their revelry , they fluttered , chirping and frolicking from bush to bush , and tree to tree , capricious from the very profusion and variety around them . |
There was the honest cock robin , the favorite game of stripling sportsmen , with its loud querulous note ; and the twittering blackbirds flying in sable clouds ; and the golden-winged woodpecker with his crimson crest , his broad black gorget , and splendid plumage ; and the cedar bird , with its red-tipt wings and yellow-tipt tail and its little monteiro cap of feathers ; and the blue jay , that noisy coxcomb , in his gay light blue coat and white underclothes , screaming and chattering , nodding and bobbing and bowing , and pretending to be on good terms with every songster of the grove . |
As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way , his eye , ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance , ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn . |
On all sides he beheld vast store of apples ; some hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees ; some gathered into baskets and barrels for the market ; others heaped up in rich piles for the cider-press . |
Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn , with its golden ears peeping from their leafy coverts , and holding out the promise of cakes and hasty-pudding ; and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them , turning up their fair round bellies to the sun , and giving ample prospects of the most luxurious of pies ; and anon he passed the fragrant buckwheat fields breathing the odor of the beehive , and as he beheld them , soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slapjacks , well buttered , and garnished with honey or treacle , by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van Tassel . |
Thus feeding his mind with many sweet thoughts and `` sugared suppositions , '' he journeyed along the sides of a range of hills which look out upon some of the goodliest scenes of the mighty Hudson . |
The sun gradually wheeled his broad disk down in the west . |
The wide bosom of the Tappan Zee lay motionless and glassy , excepting that here and there a gentle undulation waved and prolonged the blue shadow of the distant mountain . |
A few amber clouds floated in the sky , without a breath of air to move them . |
The horizon was of a fine golden tint , changing gradually into a pure apple green , and from that into the deep blue of the mid-heaven . |
A slanting ray lingered on the woody crests of the precipices that overhung some parts of the river , giving greater depth to the dark gray and purple of their rocky sides . |
A sloop was loitering in the distance , dropping slowly down with the tide , her sail hanging uselessly against the mast ; and as the reflection of the sky gleamed along the still water , it seemed as if the vessel was suspended in the air . |
It was toward evening that Ichabod arrived at the castle of the Heer Van Tassel , which he found thronged with the pride and flower of the adjacent country . |
Old farmers , a spare leathern-faced race , in homespun coats and breeches , blue stockings , huge shoes , and magnificent pewter buckles . |
Their brisk , withered little dames , in close-crimped caps , long-waisted short gowns , homespun petticoats , with scissors and pincushions , and gay calico pockets hanging on the outside . |
Buxom lasses , almost as antiquated as their mothers , excepting where a straw hat , a fine ribbon , or perhaps a white frock , gave symptoms of city innovation . |
The sons , in short square-skirted coats , with rows of stupendous brass buttons , and their hair generally queued in the fashion of the times , especially if they could procure an eel-skin for the purpose , it being esteemed throughout the country as a potent nourisher and strengthener of the hair . |
Brom Bones , however , was the hero of the scene , having come to the gathering on his favorite steed Daredevil , a creature , like himself , full of mettle and mischief , and which no one but himself could manage . |
He was , in fact , noted for preferring vicious animals , given to all kinds of tricks which kept the rider in constant risk of his neck , for he held a tractable , well-broken horse as unworthy of a lad of spirit . |
Fain would I pause to dwell upon the world of charms that burst upon the enraptured gaze of my hero , as he entered the state parlor of Van Tassel 's mansion . |
Not those of the bevy of buxom lasses , with their luxurious display of red and white ; but the ample charms of a genuine Dutch country tea-table , in the sumptuous time of autumn . |
Such heaped up platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds , known only to experienced Dutch housewives ! |
There was the doughty doughnut , the tender oly koek , and the crisp and crumbling cruller ; sweet cakes and short cakes , ginger cakes and honey cakes , and the whole family of cakes . |
And then there were apple pies , and peach pies , and pumpkin pies ; besides slices of ham and smoked beef ; and moreover delectable dishes of preserved plums , and peaches , and pears , and quinces ; not to mention broiled shad and roasted chickens ; together with bowls of milk and cream , all mingled higgledy-piggledy , pretty much as I have enumerated them , with the motherly teapot sending up its clouds of vapor from the midst -- Heaven bless the mark ! |
I want breath and time to discuss this banquet as it deserves , and am too eager to get on with my story . |
Happily , Ichabod Crane was not in so great a hurry as his historian , but did ample justice to every dainty . |
He was a kind and thankful creature , whose heart dilated in proportion as his skin was filled with good cheer , and whose spirits rose with eating , as some men 's do with drink . |
He could not help , too , rolling his large eyes round him as he ate , and chuckling with the possibility that he might one day be lord of all this scene of almost unimaginable luxury and splendor . |
Then , he thought , how soon he 'd turn his back upon the old schoolhouse ; snap his fingers in the face of Hans Van Ripper , and every other niggardly patron , and kick any itinerant pedagogue out of doors that should dare to call him comrade ! |
Old Baltus Van Tassel moved about among his guests with a face dilated with content and good humor , round and jolly as the harvest moon . |
His hospitable attentions were brief , but expressive , being confined to a shake of the hand , a slap on the shoulder , a loud laugh , and a pressing invitation to `` fall to , and help themselves . '' |
And now the sound of the music from the common room , or hall , summoned to the dance . |
The musician was an old gray-headed negro , who had been the itinerant orchestra of the neighborhood for more than half a century . |
His instrument was as old and battered as himself . |
The greater part of the time he scraped on two or three strings , accompanying every movement of the bow with a motion of the head ; bowing almost to the ground , and stamping with his foot whenever a fresh couple were to start . |
Ichabod prided himself upon his dancing as much as upon his vocal powers . |
Not a limb , not a fibre about him was idle ; and to have seen his loosely hung frame in full motion , and clattering about the room , you would have thought St. Vitus himself , that blessed patron of the dance , was figuring before you in person . |
He was the admiration of all the negroes ; who , having gathered , of all ages and sizes , from the farm and the neighborhood , stood forming a pyramid of shining black faces at every door and window , gazing with delight at the scene , rolling their white eyeballs , and showing grinning rows of ivory from ear to ear . |
How could the flogger of urchins be otherwise than animated and joyous ? |
The lady of his heart was his partner in the dance , and smiling graciously in reply to all his amorous oglings ; while Brom Bones , sorely smitten with love and jealousy , sat brooding by himself in one corner . |
When the dance was at an end , Ichabod was attracted to a knot of the sager folks , who , with Old Van Tassel , sat smoking at one end of the piazza , gossiping over former times , and drawing out long stories about the war . |
This neighborhood , at the time of which I am speaking , was one of those highly favored places which abound with chronicle and great men . |
The British and American line had run near it during the war ; it had , therefore , been the scene of marauding and infested with refugees , cowboys , and all kinds of border chivalry . |
Just sufficient time had elapsed to enable each storyteller to dress up his tale with a little becoming fiction , and , in the indistinctness of his recollection , to make himself the hero of every exploit . |
There was the story of Doffue Martling , a large blue-bearded Dutchman , who had nearly taken a British frigate with an old iron nine-pounder from a mud breastwork , only that his gun burst at the sixth discharge . |
And there was an old gentleman who shall be nameless , being too rich a mynheer to be lightly mentioned , who , in the battle of White Plains , being an excellent master of defence , parried a musket-ball with a small sword , insomuch that he absolutely felt it whiz round the blade , and glance off at the hilt ; in proof of which he was ready at any time to show the sword , with the hilt a little bent . |
There were several more that had been equally great in the field , not one of whom but was persuaded that he had a considerable hand in bringing the war to a happy termination . |
But all these were nothing to the tales of ghosts and apparitions that succeeded . |
The neighborhood is rich in legendary treasures of the kind . |
Local tales and superstitions thrive best in these sheltered , long-settled retreats ; but are trampled under foot by the shifting throng that forms the population of most of our country places . |
Besides , there is no encouragement for ghosts in most of our villages , for they have scarcely had time to finish their first nap and turn themselves in their graves , before their surviving friends have travelled away from the neighborhood ; so that when they turn out at night to walk their rounds , they have no acquaintance left to call upon . |
This is perhaps the reason why we so seldom hear of ghosts except in our long-established Dutch communities . |
The immediate cause , however , of the prevalence of supernatural stories in these parts , was doubtless owing to the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow . |
There was a contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted region ; it breathed forth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting all the land . |
Several of the Sleepy Hollow people were present at Van Tassel 's , and , as usual , were doling out their wild and wonderful legends . |
Many dismal tales were told about funeral trains , and mourning cries and wailings heard and seen about the great tree where the unfortunate Major André was taken , and which stood in the neighborhood . |
Some mention was made also of the woman in white , that haunted the dark glen at Raven Rock , and was often heard to shriek on winter nights before a storm , having perished there in the snow . |
The chief part of the stories , however , turned upon the favorite spectre of Sleepy Hollow , the Headless Horseman , who had been heard several times of late , patrolling the country ; and , it was said , tethered his horse nightly among the graves in the churchyard . |
The sequestered situation of this church seems always to have made it a favorite haunt of troubled spirits . |
It stands on a knoll , surrounded by locust-trees and lofty elms , from among which its decent , whitewashed walls shine modestly forth , like Christian purity beaming through the shades of retirement . |
A gentle slope descends from it to a silver sheet of water , bordered by high trees , between which , peeps may be caught at the blue hills of the Hudson . |
To look upon its grass-grown yard , where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly , one would think that there at least the dead might rest in peace . |
On one side of the church extends a wide woody dell , along which raves a large brook among broken rocks and trunks of fallen trees . |
Over a deep black part of the stream , not far from the church , was formerly thrown a wooden bridge ; the road that led to it , and the bridge itself , were thickly shaded by overhanging trees , which cast a gloom about it , even in the daytime ; but occasioned a fearful darkness at night . |
Such was one of the favorite haunts of the Headless Horseman , and the place where he was most frequently encountered . |
The tale was told of old Brouwer , a most heretical disbeliever in ghosts , how he met the Horseman returning from his foray into Sleepy Hollow , and was obliged to get up behind him ; how they galloped over bush and brake , over hill and swamp , until they reached the bridge ; when the Horseman suddenly turned into a skeleton , threw old Brouwer into the brook , and sprang away over the tree-tops with a clap of thunder . |
This story was immediately matched by a thrice marvellous adventure of Brom Bones , who made light of the Galloping Hessian as an arrant jockey . |
He affirmed that on returning one night from the neighboring village of Sing Sing , he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper ; that he had offered to race with him for a bowl of punch , and should have won it too , for Daredevil beat the goblin horse all hollow , but just as they came to the church bridge , the Hessian bolted , and vanished in a flash of fire . |
Subsets and Splits