Calico Illustrated Classics: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle
Many historians in those parts have been careful to collect the floating facts about the ghostly horseman They believe he is buried behind the church in the old graveyard He is on an eternal quest to find his missing head He rides at rushing speeds along the Hollow worried of being late He must hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak The residents of Sleepy Hollow believe this legend It has supplied materials for many a wild story The specter is known to all the country folk who spin these frightful tales The people have named him the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow It is remarkable that all I have mentioned is considered true among the residents of the valley Everyone who lives here believes the horseman exists Even if they were not superstitious before moving to Sleepy Hollow they soon have no doubts Their imaginations grow wild They too are troubled with nightmares and begin to see apparitions 8
I mention this respectfully You see in these little retired Dutch valleys found here and there in the great state of New York the population never grows The residents remain true to their ways of life and their customs remain fixed The smaller regions like Sleepy Hollow let changes sweep by them They are like little nooks of still water alongside a rapid stream Though it’s been many years since I have lived in Sleepy Hollow I bet today it is still the same I would probably see the same trees and vines and the same families relaxing in their homes 10
2 Ichabod Crane During this time in American history there lived a man named Ichabod Crane Ichabod served as the schoolmaster in Sleepy Hollow He was a native of Connecticut a state that supplies frontier woodsmen and country schoolmasters The last name of Crane suited Ichabod He was tall and lanky with narrow shoulders long arms and legs and hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves His feet were so large they could serve as shovels His whole frame hung together loosely His head was small and flat on top He had huge ears large green glassy eyes and a long nose His nose looked like a weathercock perched 11
