The sketch-book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent[pseud.] together with Abbotsford and other selections from the writings of Washington Irving .. . en-tic. 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. Asmall brook glides through it, with just murmur enough to lullone to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail, or tappingof a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever breaksin upon the uniform tranquillity. 2. I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit insqu
The sketch-book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent[pseud.] together with Abbotsford and other selections from the writings of Washington Irving .. . en-tic. 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. Asmall brook glides through it, with just murmur enough to lullone to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail, or tappingof a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever breaksin upon the uniform tranquillity. 2. I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit insquirrel-shooting was in a grove of tall walnut-trees thatshades one side of the valley. I had wandered into it at noon-time, when all nature is peculiarly quiet, and was startled bythe roar of my own gun, as it broke the Sabbath stillnessaround, and was prolonged and reverberated by the angryechoes. If ever I should wish for a retreat, whither I might 296 THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW 297 steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietlyawa,y the remnant of a troubled life, I know of none morepromising than this httle Tappan Zee and the Sleepy Hollow Church 3. From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiarcharacter of its inhabitants, who are descendants from theoriginal Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been 298 THE SKETCH-BOOK known by the name of Sleepy Hollow, and its rustic ladsare called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neigh-boring country. A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hangover the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Somesay that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor,during the early days of the settlement; others, that an oldIndian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his pow-wows there before the country was discovered by MasterHendrich Hudson. Certain it is, the place still continuesunder the sway of some witching power, that holds a spellover the minds of the good people, causing them to
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