The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Abridged & Illustrated

By Washington Irving

A sleepy little town is famous for its legend of the Headless Horseman and other specters. Ichabod Crane, the town’s new school teacher, is fond of a good ghost story or two. He is in love with beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, but a handsome man named Brom Bones wants Katrina for himself. Then a party is held at Katrina’s house that end

• Language: English
• Publisher: Freedom With Pluralism
• Release date: May 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9788193604458

Washington Irving

Nueva York, 1783 - Sunnyside, 1859. Escritor norteamericano perteneciente al mundo literario del costumbrismo. Washington Irving es el primer autor americano que utiliza la literatura para hacer reír y caricaturizar la realidad, creando además el estilo coloquial que después utilizarían Mark Twain y Hemingway.

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

On the eastern shores of the Hudson, there lies a small market town, which is called Tarry Town. It was named Tarry Town by its local women, whose husbands apparently used to tarry in the bars and taverns in the area.

It is a pleasant and soothing place, good for a peaceful holiday wherein one can relax one’s body and mind. Yet, there is something strange about the place, though it seems so peaceful.

To be honest, near Tarry Town there is a little valley, or lap of land among the high hills, which happens to be the quietest place on the continent . . . and the most haunted.

The people who inhabit this valley are the descendants of the original Dutch settlers, and they called this valley Sleepy Hollow. The rustic lads and younger boys of this valley are therefore known as Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout the neighboring country.

A drowsy, dreamy influence hangs over this place. It is said that years ago the valley of Sleepy Hollow was bewitched by a learned German doctor, who was well-known for his witchcraft. Some people feel that his ghostly spirit still haunts Sleepy Hollow. Others believe that the place remains haunted by an ancient Indian chief—the prophet or wizard of his tribe—who held his ghostly powwows in the valley of Sleepy Hollow.

Whatever might be the case, it is certain that some witching power holds its spell over the minds of the good and simple farmers of Sleepy Hollow. Due to this influence, they are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs, are often subject to trances and visions, and sometimes feel as though they are possessed by the devil himself.

The people, especially the older folks of Sleepy Hollow, frequently see strange sights and hear music and voices in the air at all hours of the night. In fact, the whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted places, and twilight superstitions. Shooting stars frequent the traffic of the stars in the skies over Sleepy Hollow.

Yet the dominant spirit that haunts this enchanted region of the country, and seems to be the commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback—a man without a