Rip Van Winkle, Postscript summary
Postscript of 2 · 2 min to read the chapter
In Postscript, notes belonging to Mr. Knickerbocker describe beliefs about Catskill spirits, including a mother spirit who governs weather and a Manitou who misleads hunters. The account then explains the Kaaters-kill through a lost hunter’s theft of a gourd, which releases a stream that kills him and flows to the Hudson.
What happens
- The notes describe the Catskills as a home of spirits that control weather and hunting conditions.
- A mother spirit manages daylight, moons, and clouds, sending nourishing rain or destructive storms according to her mood.
- A mischievous Manitou takes animal forms to lure hunters into dangerous mountain terrain.
- Garden Rock, the Manitou’s favored dwelling, inspires such fear that hunters avoid pursuing animals there.
- A lost hunter takes a gourd, drops it, and dies in the rushing water that becomes the Kaaters-kill.
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What happens when the lost hunter drops the gourd?
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