""
byis an American classic that many a reader has enjoyed. The setting of this tale suggests that
rural beauty and comfort exist there; however, a ghostly headless horseman is rumored to haunt
this area.
The narrator describes the lovely, desultory
valley in which the story is set. While many migrate to the state of New York, they go past by
this " site" founded by the Dutch. The area is, thus, much unchanged since it was
first discovered. The residents have a penchant for all kinds of superstitions, but the
"dominant spirit" that haunts the region is a Hessian trooper who rides on horseback
without his head. At night, he rides forth to the scene where he lost his head during some
nameless battle of the Revolution. However, his haunts are not confined there; he goes to
adjacent roads, but he must always return to the church-yard before dawn.
Into this area, Ichabod Crane from Connecticut has come to be the schoolmaster. His
last name befits him as he is very tall and lanky, with narrow shoulders and long legs and arms.
His hands dangle from his sleeves, and when he walks, he resembles a scarecrow. His head is
small, and it sits upon a "spindle neck."
During the school day,
Crane is very strict; however, after school, he becomes "wonderfully gentle on the
boys." He is also inclined to visit with the mothers, bouncing a baby on his lap. The
narrator describes him as "[O]ur man of letters," who "was peculiarly happy in
the smiles of all the country damsels." Further, Ichabod carries with him "the market
of human gossip," and he fills his head with "Mather's book" and wives' tales
with which to entertain the wives as he bounces their young on his knees. On his way home, the
superstitious Ichabod is "beset by Satan" as he imagines "fearful shapes and
shadows."
RISING ACTION
When Ichabod plays psalms,
one of his "musical disciples" is Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a wealthy Dutch
farmer. She is a young woman, pleasing both for her plump beauty and for her "vast
expectations," as her father has a marvelous farm. After Crane visits the Van Tassels'
mansion, "the conquest of his heart is complete." Unfortunately, there is a rival for
Katrina's affections, Brom van Brunt, whose physical structure contrasts greatly with that of
Ichabod Crane's. He is broad-shouldered and athletic. He is "foremost at all races and
cock-fights"; with his strength, he is the umpire in all arguments and fights. But for all
his brawniness, there is "more mischief than ill-will" in his makeup.
CRISIS
Nevertheless, Crane is faced with a formidable adversary
against whom he must compete for Katrina. But, he is plucky and has perseverance when he
foresees bountiful meals in his future. Under the guise of being the singing-master, Crane
visits the farmhouse and flirts surreptitiously with Katrina. Brom plays many a practical joke
on Crane to run him off, but Ichabod is determined in his pursuit of Katrina.
Ichabod Crane receives an invitation to a "quilting
frolic" to be held at Mynheer Van Tassel's. During the day Crane hurries his students
through their lessons and dismisses the children an hour early. Wishing to appear the cavalier,
Ichabod Crane rents a horse, but the "errant-knight's steed" is a broken down plow
horse. Nevertheless, Crane is gallantly dressed, and he sets forth in search of adventure on the
back of old Gunpowder. As he jogs along, Crane delightfully views the bounty of the Van Tassel's
farm. Once there, Ichabod eats and dances and joins the story-tellers.
The chief part of the stories, however, turned upon the favorite
spectre of Sleepy Hollow, the headless horseman.
Brom
Bones claims to have challenged this headless horseman one night. As his horse Daredevil began
to beat the goblin-horse, they came to the church-bridge and "the Hessian bolted and
vanished in a flash of fire." Crane matches these stories with tales from Cotton Mather and
incidents from Connecticut. The party ends, and Ichabod lingers, believing he can woo Katrina.
But, he soon departs with a desolate look on his face.
On his dark ride home
at the "witching time of night," Ichabod Crane recalls all the stories he has heard of
ghosts and goblins. And, as the night darkens, Crane's imagination ignites, and he fears that he
is being chased by the Hessian in search of his head. When he hears the galloping hooves of his
pursuer's horse, fear strikes Crane; he urges old Gunpowder on, and he comes down on the horse's
backbone so hard he fears he will be knocked apart. After some slipping from side to side by the
saddle, the entire thing falls off the bony horse. But, Crane gives Gunpowder a "convulsive
kick in the sides" and the old horse springs onto the bridge, sending the saddle behind
them. Desperately, Crane clings to the old horse as he hears the black steed snorting in his
wake. "Just then he saw the goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of hurling
his head at him." Ichabod tries to dodge this horrible cranium, but he falls and tumbles
into the dust while Gunpowder, the black steed, and the goblin race past him "like a
whirlwind."
FALLING ACTION
The next day when the
children come to the schoolhouse, Master Crane is nowhere to be seen. The brook is searched, but
no one finds a trace of Ichabod Crane. On Sunday there is much speculation. Some think Ichabod
has been carried off by the Galloping Hessian. But, since he is a bachelor, the congregation do
not trouble themselves about him. The schoolhouse becomes deserted, too, and "is reported
to be haunted by the ghost of the former pedagogue."
At times a young boy passes the old schoolhouse and reports that he hears a voice in
the distance, singing a "melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil solitudes of Sleepy
Hollow."
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