BBC：100部英国人最喜欢的文学作品].TheLegendOfSleepyHollow.pdf

THE LEGEND
OF SLEEPY
HOLLOW
by Washington Irving





Prepared and Published by:
Ebd
E-
FOUND AMONG THE PAPERS
OF THE LATE DIEDRICH
KNICKERBOCKER.

A pleasing land of drowsy head it was,
Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;
And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,
Forever flushing round a summer sky.
CASTLE OF INDOLENCE.
In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the
eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river
denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and
where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the
protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small
market town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but
which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry
Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the
good housewives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate
propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on
market days. Be that as it may, I do not vouch for the fact, but
merely advert to it, for the sake of being precise and authentic. Not
far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley
or rather lap of land among high hills, which is one of the quietest
places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it, with just
murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a
quail or tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever
breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity.
I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit in squirrel-
shooting was in a grove of tall walnut-trees that shades one side of
the valley. I had wandered into it at noontime, when all nature is
peculiarly quiet, and was startled by the roar of my own gun, as it
broke the Sabbath stillness around and was prolonged and
reverberated by the angry echoes. If ever I should wish for a retreat
w