Oct 8, 2008

Rip Van Winkle | Characters

The Commander
When Rip and the stranger step into the hollow, Rip notices that one of the oddly dressed men appears to be ‘‘the commander.’’ He is ‘‘a stout old gentleman, with a weather-beaten countenance,’’ and his clothing is a more grand than the other characters. Like the other strangers, he does not speak to Rip or take any particular notice of him. When Rip returns to the village after his long absence, he hears the legend of the explorer Hendrick Hudson. It is said that every twenty years Hudson haunts the county and the river that bear his name.

Judith...