<P> "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by American author Washington Irving published in 1819 . Written while Irving was living in Birmingham, England, it is part of a collection entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent . Although the story is set in New York's Catskill Mountains, Irving later admitted, "When I wrote the story, I had never been on the Catskills ." The story's title character is a Dutch - American villager living around the time of the American Revolutionary War . </P> <P> "Rip Van Winkle" is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War . In a pleasant village, at the foot of New York's Catskill Mountains, lives kindly Rip Van Winkle, a Dutch villager. Van Winkle enjoys solitary activities in the wilderness or hanging out at the inn with his friends . He is loved by all in the town, especially the children to whom he tells stories or for whom he repairs toys . However, he tends to shirk hard work, to his nagging wife's dismay, which has caused his home and farm to fall into disarray . </P> <P> One autumn day, to escape his wife's nagging, Van Winkle wanders into the mountains with his dog, Wolf . Hearing his name called out, Van Winkle sees a man wearing antiquated Dutch clothing; he is carrying a keg up the mountain and requires help . Together, the men and Wolf proceed to a hollow in which Rip discovers the source of thunderous noises: a group of ornately dressed, silent, bearded men who are playing nine - pins . </P>

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