Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle is a short story by Washington Irving, first published in his Sketch-Book in 1819-20, about a man who falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains of pre-Revolutionary New York and only re-awakens 20 years later, whereupon he discovers that both he and the world about him have completely changed. The story itself is based on a German folk tale which Irving encountered while in Europe. It is often regarded as the first American short story and proved so popular at the time, and since, that the name of the principal character has entered the American lexicon.