It is one of the few American fables that an old man once climbed up into the Catskill Mountains and slept there for twenty years. Young children have kicked their heels before an open fire as mothers read them the tale of Rip Van Winkle. Barefooted urchins with long bamboo poles have wondered at the persistency of a man who would sit all day upon a wet rock with a "rod as long and as heavy as a Tartar's lance," whatever that might be. Our fathers step out into the bright lights of Broadway from a Theatre Guild production, with a soft sigh for days when Thomas Jefferson made Rip Van Winkle stretch his cramped legs upon a New York stage. And Ichabod Crane has become a fixture in America, one might even say a plumbing fixture.

All the above is true because in 1793 a boy was born who was destined to become one of America's greatest literary figures, called Washington Irving. He was one of the most versatile figures in the country's literature. An ambassador to Spain, a biographer of Mohamet, of Washington, an essayist of some eminence, a lawyer of none, the coiner of the phrase, "the almighty dollar," all these things he was. For delicacy and precision of style he has few superiors in America. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The Alhambra" show a grace and beauty that is carefully wrought, while "A History Of New York" is full of deft humour and sly winks. But the Vagabond will not go deeper into the subject, art is long and time is fleeting. He must turn to other subjects and allow Professor Mathiessen to carry on for him in Harvard 6 today at 10 o'clock.

TODAY

10 o'clock

"Washington Irving," Assistant Professor Matthiesson, Harvard 6.

TOMORROW

9 o'clock

"Lucretius-Poet and Epicurean Malgro lui," Professor E. K. Rand, Sever 13.

12 o'clock

"The Background of the Crimean War," Assistant Professor Langer, Harvard 1.

"English Shipping 1572-1750," Professor Usher, Widener 11.

"Don Loronzo Monaco," Professor Post, Fogg Large Lecture Room.