(MUSIC)Today's story is called "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It is aboutsomething strange that happed long ago in a valley called "SleepyHollow". It was written by Washington Irving. The story is told byDoug Johnson.
(MUSIC)Narrator: The valley known as Sleepy Hollow hides from the world inthe high hills of New York state. There are many stories told aboutthe quiet valley. But the story that people believe most is about aman who rides a horse at night. The story says the man died many yearsago during the American revolutionary war. His head was shot off.
Every night he rises from his burial place, jumps on his horse andrides through the valley looking for his lost head.
Near Sleepy Hollow is a village called Tarry Town. It was settled manyyears ago by people from Holland. The village had a small school. Andone teacher, named Ichabod Crane. Ichabod Crane was a good name forhim, because he looked like a tall bird, a crane. He was tall and thinlike a crane. His shoulders were small, joined two long arms. His headwas small, too, and flat on top. He had big ears, large glassy greeneyes and a long nose.
Ichabod did not make much money as a teacher. And although he was talland thin, he ate like a fat man. To help him pay for his food heearned extra money teaching young people to sing. Every Sunday afterchurch Ichabod taught singing.
Among the ladies Ichabod taught was one Katrina Van Tassel. She wasthe only daughter of a rich Dutch farmer. She was a girl in bloom…much like a round red, rosy apple. Ichabod had a soft and foolishheart for the ladies, and soon found himself interested in Miss VanTassel.
Ichabod's eyes opened wide when he saw the riches of Katrina's farm:
the miles of apple trees and wheat fields, and hundreds of fat farmanimals. He saw himself as master of the Van Tassel farm with Katrinaas his wife.
But there were many problems blocking the road to Katrina's heart. Onewas a strong young man named Brom Van Brunt. Brom was a hero to allthe young ladies. His shoulders were big. His back was wide. And hishair was short and curly. He always won the horse races in Tarry Townand earned many prizes. Brom was never seen without a horse.
Sometimes late at night Brom and his friends would rush through townshouting loudly from the backs of their horses. Tired old ladies wouldawaken from their sleep and say: "Why, there goes Brom Van Bruntleading his wild group again!"Such was the enemy Ichabod had to defeat for Katrina's heart.
Stronger and wiser men would not have tried. But Ichabod had a plan.
He could not fight his enemy in the open. So he did it silently andsecretly. He made many visits to Katrina's farm and made her think hewas helping her to sing better.
Time passed, and the town people thought Ichabod was winning. Brom'shorse was never seen at Katrina's house on Sunday nights anymore.
One day in autumn Ichabod was asked to come to a big party at the VanTassel home. He dressed in his best clothes. A farmer loaned him anold horse for the long trip to the party.
The house was filled with farmers and their wives, red-faced daughtersand clean, washed sons. The tables were filled with different thingsto eat. Wine filled many glasses.
Brom Van Brunt rode to the party on his fastest horse calledDaredevil. All the young ladies smiled happily when they saw him. Soonmusic filled the rooms and everyone began to dance and sing.
Ichabod was happy dancing with Katrina as Brom looked at them with ajealous heart. The night passed. The music stopped, and the youngpeople sat together to tell stories about the revolutionary war.
Soon stories about Sleepy Hollow were told. The most feared story wasabout the rider looking for his lost head. One farmer told how heraced the headless man on a horse. The farmer ran his horse faster andfaster. The horseman followed over bush and stone until they came tothe end of the valley. There the headless horseman suddenly stopped.
Gone were his clothes and his skin. All that was left was a man withwhite bones shining in the moonlight.
The stories ended and time came to leave the party. Ichabod seemedvery happy until he said goodnight to Katrina. Was she ending theirromance? He left feeling very sad. Had Katrina been seeing Ichabodjust to make Brom Van Brunt jealous so he would marry her?
Well, Ichabod began his long ride home on the hills that surroundTarry Town. He had never felt so lonely in his life. He began towhistle as he came close to the tree where a man had been killed yearsago by rebels.
He thought he saw something white move in the tree. But no, it wasonly the moonlight shining and moving on the tree. Then he heard anoise. His body shook. He kicked his horse faster. The old horse triedto run, but almost fell in the river, instead. Ichabod hit the horseagain. The horse ran fast and then suddenly stopped, almost throwingIchabod forward to the ground.
There, in the dark woods on the side of the river where the bushesgrow low, stood an ugly thing. Big and black. It did not move, butseemed ready to jump like a giant monster.
Ichabod's hair stood straight up. It was too late to run, and in hisfear, he did the only thing he could. His shaking voice broke thesilent valley.
"Who are you?" The thing did not answer. Ichabod asked again. Still noanswer. Ichabod's old horse began to move forward. The black thingbegan to move along the side of Ichabod's horse in the dark. Ichabodmade his horse run faster. The black thing moved with them. Side byside they moved, slowly at first. And not a word was said.
Ichabod felt his heart sink. Up a hill they moved above the shadow ofthe trees. For a moment the moon shown down and to Ichabod's horror hesaw it was a horse. And it had a rider. But the rider's head was noton his body. It was in front of the rider, resting on the horse.
Ichabod kicked and hit his old horse with all his power. Away theyrushed through bushes and trees across the valley of Sleepy Hollow. Upahead was the old church bridge where the headless horseman stops andreturns to his burial place.
"If only I can get there first, I am safe," thought Ichabod. He kickedhis horse again. The horse jumped on to the bridge and raced over itlike the sound of thunder. Ichabod looked back to see if the headlessman had stopped. He saw the man pick up his head and throw it with apowerful force. The head hit Ichabod in the face and knocked him offhis horse to the dirt below.
They found Ichabod's horse the next day peacefully eating grass. Theycould not find Ichabod.
They walked all across the valley. They saw the foot marks ofIchabod's horse as it had raced through the valley. They even foundIchabod's old hat in the dust near the bridge. But they did not findIchabod. The only other thing they found was lying near Ichabod's hat.
It was the broken pieces of a round orange pumpkin.
The town people talked about Ichabod for many weeks. They rememberedthe frightening stories of the valley. And finally they came tobelieve that the headless horseman had carried Ichabod away.
Much later an old farmer returned from a visit to New York City. Hesaid he was sure he saw Ichabod there. He thought Ichabod silentlyleft Sleepy Hollow because he had lost Katrina.
As for Katrina, her mother and father gave her a big wedding when shemarried Brom Van Brunt. Many people who went to the wedding saw thatBrom smiled whenever Ichabod's name was spoken. And they wondered whyhe laughed out loud when anyone talked about the broken orange pumpkinfound lying near Ichabod's old dusty hat.
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Announcer: You have heard "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" written byWashington Irving. It was first published in eighteen twenty. Listennext week to the Voice of America for another AMERICAN STORY inSpecial English.
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