作者简介: 华盛顿·欧文（Washington Irving)（1789-1895）， 美国浪漫主义作家，也是一个纯文学作家,他的写作态度是"writing for pleasure and to produce pleasure”。欧文的代表作有《见闻札记》（Sketch Book),这是第一部伟大的青少年读物，也是美国本土作家第一部成功的小说。由于欧文对美国文学的伟大贡献，他获得了“美国文学之父"的光荣称号。这篇短篇小说,《瑞普·凡·温克尔》便是摘自《见闻札记》。Rip Van Winkle A Posthumous Writing of Diedrich Knickerbocker By Washington Irving(THE FOLLOWING tale was found among the papers of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker, an old gentleman of New York， who was very curious in the Dutch history of the province ， and the manners of the descendants from its primitive settlers. His historical researches, however, did not lie so much among books as among men; for the former are lamentably scanty on his favorite topics; whereas he found the old burghers, and still more their wives, rich in that legendary lore so invaluable to true history. Whenever, therefore， he happened upon a genuine Dutch family, snugly shut up in its low—roofed farmhouse， under a spreading sycamore， he looked upon it as a little clasped volume of black—letter， and studied it with the zeal of a bookworm.The result of all these researches was a history of the province during the reign of the Dutch governors ， which he published some years since. There have been various opinions as to the literary character of his work， and， to tell the truth， it is not a whit better than it should be 。 Its chief merit is its scrupulous accuracy, which indeed was a little questioned on its first appearance, but has since been completely established ； and it is how admitted into all historical collections as a book of unquestionable authority.The old ...
