Review Tuesday: THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW by Washington Irving

Since Halloween was coming up and with a new television show loosely based on the the tale, I decided to read with an inquisitive mind, THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW by Washington Irving. 

In colonial Sleepy Hollow, New York, an awkward looking schoolmaster has his delusions of grandeur dashed.

WHAT? you might be thinking. Isn't this the story of the headless horsemen? Yes, but peripherally. This short story is told from the point of view of someone who investigated the facts and seems to have known the teacher, Ichabod Crane, before he vanished from town under queer circumstances.

As children we learn THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW. It's been done as cartoons, movies for the small and large screen, reinterpreted in many different and clever ways. The truth is that it's a simple short story. A short story about love, ambition, and jealousy. Then you must add a sprinkling of supernatural and you have a perfect story from the around the turn of the 19th century.  

Ichabod Crane was never an inspector. He was never a top aid of George Washington. He was a teacher from Connecticut who worked in the Hudson Valley of New York at Sleepy Hollow. He never had funny devices. He never fired a gun. He was a simple gentleman with his eyes set on Katrina, the heir to the Van Tassel estate. The only problem was that his competition was the town hellion, "Brom Bones."

Back in those days tales of ghosts and goblins were taken very seriously, and Ichabod feared anything that went bump in the night. Finally, one night, Ichabod vanished from town without a word under a cloud of mystery. No one would admit knowing anything of his whereabouts, yet anytime the story would come up the roughneck Brom Bones and his cronies would share knowing glances. It was rumored that someone had crossed paths with Ichabod in New York City where he moved with his possessions easily over night.

As a child you hear THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW and it's geared to make you believe in the legend of the headless Hessian horseman who roams the dark roads of 18th century Upstate New York. However, as an adult it's plainly a story of jealousy. Ichabod was making overtures to the lovely Katrina and Brom was having none of it. He ambushed Crane in the woods and either ran him out of town or maybe even killed him. Back then it would be simple to make a body disappear. And there you have it, the true terrifying legend, how to get away with murder! Maybe. Or maybe Ichabod did run off with his tail between his legs. He was a well known coward, so that's very likely. 

The story is written in an older English than we're used to these days so it's a little bit of a chore to get through, but it's worth it to read the actual words for your own edification. Oddly enough, this is difficult to find in a free format. You'd expect it to be in common domain, but I was hard-pressed to find it for the kindle. You can find it for free on Australia's Project Gutenberg.