The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: The Original 1820 Edition: Classic Illustrated Edition

by Washington Irving

A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere.

the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie.

The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head.

the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head,

Such is the general purport of this legendary superstition, which has furnished materials for many a wild story in that region of shadows; and the spectre is known at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.

to inhale the witching influence of the air, and begin to grow imaginative, to dream dreams, and see apparitions.

if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was—a woman.

I profess not to know how women’s hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration.

The chief part of the stories, however, turned upon the favorite spectre of Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman, who had been heard several times of late, patrolling the country; and, it was said, tethered his horse nightly among the graves in the churchyard.

was found the hat of the unfortunate Ichabod, and close beside it a shattered pumpkin.