Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: Rip van

48

Not in K.

49

Not in K.

50

Not in K. Instead, “he is so handsome, his figure is so elegant.”

51

Not in K.

52

Not in K.

53

“mein” in K.

54

“Ve'll” in K.

55

“bate” in K.

56

“broken” in K. Also add “by your knocks.”

57

Not in K.

58

“Tonner” in K.

59

“tink” in K.

60

“finish” in K.

61

“crockery” in K.

62

Not in K.

63

Not in K.

64

“der tyfil's” in K.

65

“brivate” in K.

66

“goot-hell” in K.

67

“brosber” in K.

68

“tink” in K.

69

“entering” inserted, in K.

70

“I vork” in K.

71

“bit-and-bat” in K.

72

“goot” in K.

73

“bersbiration” in K.

74

Not in K.

75

“vild” and “tog” in K.

76

Not in K.

77

Not in K.

78

Not in K.

79

Not in K.

80

“bardon” in K.

81

Not in K.

82

Not in K.

83

“uncommon” in K.

84

“him” in K.

85

“Mynheer” in K.

86

“boot” and “baber” in K.

87

“freund” in K.

88

In K. “S—ss cat! be quiet wid you!”.

89

“Stob” and “vould” in K.

90

“der tyfil” in K.

91

In K. “S—s cat! you be quiet, or I will skin you as my vife skins me.”

92

K. adds, “I will take care to get him so completely in my power that he shall not dare, however he might desire it, to avail himself of the power which that addition to the contract will give him.”

93

In K., the line reads. “S—s cat! I vill cut off your tail.”

94

“Schneider” in K.

95

“dat ist” in K; also “Mynheer.”

96

“baber” in K.

97

“bocket” in K.

98

“Mynheer” in K.

99

Not in K.

100

“bar-bar-tick-bartickler” in K.

101

K. has also:

Alice. She wont believe it.

Rip. Tell her—I'll be stewed fun it's a fact.

102

Not in K.

103

In K, only “But, never mind.”

104

Not in K.

105

Not in K.

106

Not in K.

107

Not in K.

108

Not in K.

109

Not in K.

110

“I vishes” in K. No attempt is being made to indicate small differences ofdialect.

111

“der” inserted in K.

112

In K., stage direction, “[Lies down.]”.

113

“der debil” in K.; also “mein frau.”

114

In K., the stage directions are: [Lies down to sleep.

115

In K., the speech takes this form:

Voice. [Without.] Rip Van Winkle!

116

No name in K., only “Voice.”

117

In K., read. “One of the Spectre Crew enters.”

118

Not in K.

119

“The Imp” in K.; also “asks.”

120

“pale” in K.

121

“Imp” in K.

122

Not in K.

123

In K., reads, “at Dutch pins—the majority seated on a rock drinking and smoking—thunder reverberates each time a bowl is delivered.”

124

“Ichen” in K.; also “sprite.”

125

Not in K.

126

“The Imp” in K.

127

“Frau” in K.

128

In K., “if mein wife vere”

129

“trinking” in K.

130

“goot-hells” in K.

131

Not in K. Instead, “Your family's goot-hells.”

132

In K., the stage directions end, “Moon very bright. Tableau.”

133

In K., the scene opens thus:

The Aerial Spirits in Tableau.—Dance of the Spirits to the gleams of the rising sun.—Tableau.

Spirit of the Mountain. [Speaks.]

Wake, sleeper, wake, rouse from thy slumbers.

The rosy cheeked dawn is beginning to break,

The dream-spell no longer thy spirit encumbers.

Gone is its power, then wake, sleeper, wake.

The Spirits of Night can no longer enchain thee,

The breeze of the morn now is striving to shake

Sweet dewdrops like gems from the copsewood and forest tree.

All nature is smiling, then wake, sleeper, wake.

Tableau.—They disappear as the clouds gradually pass away and a full burst of bright sunshine illumines the scene.]

134

“Frau” in K.

135

In K., stage direction reads,“Rises with difficulty.” All through this speech in K., the dialect is pronounced.

136

“nein” in K.

137

Not in K.

138

In K., “donner unt blitzen.”

139

Not in K.

140

“goot” in K.

141

In K., “of him.”

142

In K., speech ends, [Moves painfully.] “My legs do seem as if they vould not come after me.”

143

Scene II, in K., reads as follows:

Scene Second.—Chamber.

Dame. 'Tis very hard for the poor girl.

Vedder. Yes; but 'tis your fault. You shouldn't have had a fool and a sot for your first husband.

Dame. [Aside.] And I didn't ought to have had a bear for my second.

Vedder. What did you say?

Dame. Nothing—nothing.

Vedder. Well, don't say it again. Because Lowena will have to be the wife of Herman Van Slaus, that's settled!

Dame. But he's a most disreputable man, and my poor child detests him.

Vedder. Well, she won't be the first wife that has detested her husband.

Dame. No; I should think not, indeed.

Vedder. You should think not! What do you mean by that?

Dame. Nothing!

Vedder. Well, don't mean it again. What, do you suppose that I'll suffer my daughter-in-law to sacrifice her fortune—a fortune of which we shall have our share?—Herman has promised that.

Dame. Herman will promise anything; and you know that my poor girl is doatingly fond of young Gustaffe.

Vedder. Well, I can't help that; but I am not going to allow her to make a beggar of herself and us too, for any nonsense about the man of her heart.

Dame. Hers will break if she is compelled to—

Vedder. Nonsense—a woman's heart is about the toughest object in creation.

Dame. You have given me plenty of proof that you think so.

Vedder. What do you intend to imply by that?

Dame. Nothing!

Vedder. Well, don't imply it again—don't, because—

Knickerbocker. Halloa! what's going on—a matrimonial tiff? My wife has just been giving me a few words, because I told her that she waddles up and down, and rolls about like one of our butter-laden luggers in a squall, as the Dutchmen have it.

Alice. You have no occasion to talk, Mr. Knickerbocker, for, I am sure, your corporation—

Knickerbocker. Yes, I belong to the town corporation, and to look respectable, am obliged to have one of my own. Master Vedder, a word with you. [Talks aside with him.

Alice. [Going to Dame.] You wish now, that my poor brother Rip hadn't died, don't you?

Dame. [Sighing.] But I thought Nicholas Vedder would have been just as easy to manage: he was as mild as a dove before our marriage.

Alice. You ought to have known that to be allowed to wear the inexpressibles by two husbands was more than the most deserving of our sex had any right to expect.

Dame. Oh, dear me! I never thought that I should live to be any man's slave.

Alice. Ah, we never know what we may come to! but your fate will be a warning and example for me, if Mr. Knickerbocker should take it into his head to leave me a widow.

Vedder. Mrs. Vedder, what are you whispering about there?

Dame. Nothing!

Vedder. Well, don't whisper it any more.

Alice. [Aside, to Dame.] Come along with me.

Vedder. Mrs. Vedder, take yourself out of the room.

Alice. Mr. Knickerbocker, I shall expect you to follow me immediately.

Knickerbocker. And this is the last day of the term fixed on by the agreement!

Vedder. Yes; and Herman is resolute, and so am I.

Knickerbocker. I am sorry for poor Lowena.

Vedder. She shouldn't have had a fool for a father.

Knickerbocker. It was unfortunate, but I can't exactly see that it was her fault. [Exeunt.

144

In K., “Kilderkin.”

145

In K., “and pointing at Rip, who comes on.”

146

In K., “Vhere I was I wonder? my kneiber freunds, sprechen sie deutsch?”

147

Not in K.

148

Not in K. After “who is he,” read, “I do not know him, but—” and continue with next Rip speech.

149

“But, now, I'm going to ask a ticklish question” in K. This speech is in dialect in K.

150

In K., “is his old voman dead too?”

Seth. No. She's alive and kicking.

Rip. Kicking—yes, she always vas dat.

Seth. And she's married agin.

Rip. She's done what agin?

Seth. She's got a second husband.

Rip. Second husband!—I pities the poor creetur. But there vas—vill you tell me, my friend—

Seth. I can't stop any longer, because—

151

In K., the stage directions are, “Villagers hurry on, shouting.”

152

In K., read, “Duck him—duck him.”

153

In K., read, “Music. All are rushing on Rip.—Gustave enters.”

154

In K., read, are you not ashamed—a score of you to attack a single man?

Rip. [Aside.] Yes. I am a single man—now my vife is marry agin; dat is a fact!

From this point, the two plays differ so that what remains in Kerr is here reproduced.

Gustave. And a poor old, gray-haired man.

Rip. Yes, I am poor, dat is a fact; but I know I'm not old, and I can't be gray-haired.

Gustave. Take yourselves off! What cause had you given them to attack you?

Rip. I don't know—do you?

Gustave. [Smiling.] How should I—

Rip. I say—vhere do I live?

Gustave. Don't you know?

Rip. I'm stewed fun I does. But, young man, you seems to know somezing, so, perhaps you knows Rip Van Winkle?

Gustave. Young Rip Van Winkle—I should think I do.

Rip. [Aside.] Here is von vhat knows me! dat is goot!

Gustave. I only wish his father hadn't gone away and died, twenty years ago.

Rip. [Aside.] His fader! Ah! he means my young Rip, and I'm dead myself arter all—dat is a fact.

Gustave. Poor old Rip Van Winkle—perhaps you know his daughter?

Rip. His daughter—yes, I tink I—and she is not dead, like her fader?

Gustave. No, thank heaven! and she would have been my wife before this but for—

Rip. But for what, young man?

Lowena. Gustave. [Moving to him.

Gustave. Ah! dear Lowena!

Rip. Lowena! Ah! dat is my daughter—and I have a son too, a lublicka boy; but my daughter is a girl, and I always lub my leetle girl so much, ven she vas only so big—and I must not hug her now to my poor heart, because she—she has got another fader—and I am dead—yes, dey all tell me dat is a fact! I am dead to meinself and—and I am dead to my leetle girl.

Lowena. Oh, yes, Gustave, it is indeed a sad misfortune for us both, that my father should have entered into a contract which had for its object to coerce me into becoming the wife of Herman Van Slaus.

Rip. [Aside.] Yes, dat is a fact. I remember, de burgomaster come to my house last night mit a paper, and I wrote my name down on it; but I vas trunk.

Gustave. And having loved you so long, is it now impossible that you can become my wife?

Lowena. No, not impossible; but—oh, my poor dear father, if you had but survived to see this day!

Rip. [Aside.] I wish what I had—but I am dead, dat is a fact.

Lowena. Oh, Gustave! see, protect me from that wicked man—I will be thine, and only thine!

Herman. No, Lowena; you will be mine, for you will not be suffered to resign into my hands that fortune of which I covet the possession, but which would lose half its value to me if you come not with it.

Rip. [Aside.] Dat is young Slaus; and he is as big a tam rascal as vas his resbectable fader.

Herman. Hereafter, Lowena, I will cause you to repent that you have given a rival to the man to whom, from your very childhood, you have been pledged and bound.

Rip. Herman Van Slaus, you are bledged to old Nick, and vill never be redeemed.

Herman. Who is this miserable old wretch?

Gustave. I would kill you sooner than you should become the husband of my heart's adored.

Knickerbocker. So, there you are, Master Herman, sticking to your rascally work like a crab to its shell, as fishmongers have it.

Alice. I should like to throw him into a saucepan of boiling water till he was done to rags.

Rip. [Aside.] Dat is my sister Alice—and dat is Knickerbocker—how fat they both is got since last night! What great big suppers they must have eat!

Enter Nicholas Vedder and Dame Vedder.

Dame. Oh, do try if you cannot save my poor girl!

Rip. [Aside.] Tonner unt blitzen! dat is mein frau! [Retreating.] No, no! I forget—she not is mine frau now! [Chuckles.

Dame. Let him take half the fortune and—

Vedder. What is that you observe?

Dame. Nothing—nothing!

Vedder. Then don't observe it any more.

Dame. I—I only—

Vedder. [Shouting.] Silence!

Rip. [Aside.] Dat is goot! [Laughing.] Mine frau have caught a Tartar. De second one make her pay for de virst. Ha, ha, ha! I'm stewed fun dat is a fact!

Herman. Nicholas Von Vedder, say—[Producing paper.]—is this contract to be fulfilled?

Vedder. Certainly. Lowena, the time for trifling is past; you have delayed until the very last hour, and must now at once consent to become Herman's wife.

Lowena. Never! Welcome poverty, if I may be wealthy only with that man for my husband. Whatever privations I may be made to endure, I shall not repine; for he whom I love will share them with me.

Rip. [Aside.] Dat is mine own girl, I vill swear to dat.

Gustave. I am poor, Lowena, but my love will give me courage to toil manfully, and heaven will smile upon my efforts and enable me to replace that fortune which, for my sake, you so readily sacrifice.

Herman. Well, be it as you will. This document gives me a claim which may not be evaded. [Reads.] “We, Deidrich Van Slous, Burgomaster, and Rip Van Winkle, desirous of providing for the prosperity of our offspring, do hereby mutually agree that Herman Van Slous, and Lowena Van Winkle, shall be united on the demand of either. Whosoever of those contracted fails in fulfilling the agreement shall forfeit their fortune to the party complaining.—Rip Van Winkle—Deidrich Van Slous.”

Rip. [Aside.] Yes, dat is a fact—I remember dat baber, and I've got him somevheres. [Feels in his pockets.

Vedder. Lowena, I command that you consent to become Herman's wife—I will not suffer that your fortune be sacrificed to—

Herman. And here is the now useless codicil.

Rip. [Advancing, paper in hand.] Let me read it. [All turn amazedly towards him.] “Should the said Rip Van Winkle tink fit to annul dis contract vithin twenty years and a day, he shall be at full liberty to do so.”

Herman. How came you by that document?

Rip. You see I've got it, and dat is a fact.

Herman. Who gave it to you?

Rip. Your old blackguard of a fader.

Dame. Oh, you are—you are—

Rip. Yes, I am—I am Rip Van Winkle! [All start.—Dame, with a loud scream, falls into Knickerbocker's arms.] Dere! for de first time in my life, I have doubled up my old woman!

Lowena. Oh, it is my father—my dear, dear father! [Runs into his arms.

Rip. Yes, and you are mein taughter, my darling dat I always was love so! Oh, bless your heart, how you have grown since last night as you was a little girl.

Alice. [Embracing him.] Oh, my poor dear brother.

Rip. Yes, I tink I am your broder 'cos you is my sister.

Alice. And here is my husband.

Rip. He is a much deal uglier, dan he used to vas before.

Knickerbocker. [Embracing him.] My blessed brother-in-law.

Vedder. Ah! and now you have come back, I suppose you want your wife!

Rip. No, I'll be tam if I do! You've got her, and you keep her—I von't never have her no more.

Vedder. I sha'n't have her—I have done with her, and glad to be rid of her. [Exit.

Rip. Ha, ha! Then my poor frau is a vidder, with two husbands, an' she ain't got none at all.

Herman. It is Rip Van Winkle, and alive!

Rip. Yes, and to the best of my belief, I have not never been dead at all.

Herman. And I am left to poverty and despair. [Exit.

Rip. And serve you right too—I'm stewed fun dat is fact. [Looking round.] But I had a leetle boy, last night—vhere is my young baby boy, my leetle Rip?

Alice. I saw him just now—oh, here he is.

Rip. Is dat my leetle baby boy? How he is grown since last night. Come here, you young Rip. I am your fader. Vell, he is much like me—he is a beautiful leetle boy.

Knickerbocker. But tell us, Rip, where have you hid yourself for the last twenty years?

Rip. Ech woll! ech woll! Vhen I take mine glass, I vill tell mine strange story, and drink the health of mine friends—and, ladies and gentlemen, I will drink to your good hells and your future families, and may you all—and may Rip Van Winkle too—live long and brosber.