Washington Irving - Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle is a classic short story by Washington Irving (1783-1859), an American author probably most known for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It is also one of the first short stories ever, it is considered to be the origin of the genre.
Rip Van Wimkle, a farmer of Dutch descent, lives in a village in the Catskill Mountains. One day he wanders off into the woods to hunt and meets a strange group of people playing nine-pins. He is asked to pass out drinks from a keg, becomes intoxicated and falls asleep. He wakes up 24 years later to a changed world: his beard has grown and turned grey, he musket is rotten and when he returns to his village it is changed too. He doesn't recognize the people and finds out that many people he knew have died. Luckily one of his daughters is still alive and takes him in. He tells the story of the people in the mountains over and over again and although many believe he is insane they believe in the story. And whenever thunder is heard, so they say, the men in the mountains must be playing nine-pins.
I listened to a librivox recording by Julie Ross Rushton from a collection of short stories which was good as ususal.