A One day, Rip just walked on and on and reached the highest part of the moun- tains. It was late in the after- noon when he reached there. Tired after his long climb,he lay down and began day dream- ing. It was soon evening and he realized it would be night by the time he reached his village.

Suddenly, he heard a voice calling out, "Rip Van Winkle, Rip Van Winkle!" He looked around and saw a short, old man, with thick hair and a grizzled beard walking towards him with a barrel. He made signs to help him carry the barrel. Rip hurried to help the stranger who caught his hand tightly. Together they reached a place where there were some more odd looking short men, playing ninepins. They were all dressed the same way and all of them had beards of various shapes and Eventhough they were playing a game, their faces were serious and there was silence. The only sound was the noise of the balls, which echoed in the mountains like thunder. As Rip and his companion reached them, they stopped playing and stared at Rip with a fixed gaze. Rip was really frightened. His companion emptied the contents of the barrel into glasses and made Rip drink it. Rip obeyed as he was trembling with fear. Since he was thirsty he drank a few more glasses and slowly fell into a deep sleep.

On waking up, he found that he was at the place where he had first met the old man. He rubbed his eyes - it was a bright morning. sunny