Suspended animation in fiction which is indistinguishable from death. In American fiction, the first story to deal with suspended animation is the tale of Rip Van Winkle, a short story by American author Washington Irving published in 1819 as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. In the story, a British subject in the American colonies wanders into the Catskill Mountains in the years before the American Revolutionary War, and finds a group of fairies, whose moonshine he drinks. He then falls asleep for 20 years, and returns to his village in what is now the United States, finding his home town
Rip Van Winkle (operetta) Rip Van Winkle (operetta) Rip Van Winkle is an operetta in three acts by Robert Planquette. The English language libretto by Henry Brougham Farnie was based on the stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving after the play by Dion Boucicault and Joseph Jefferson. The operetta opened at the Royal Comedy Theatre in London on October 14, 1882, adapted by Dion Boucicault, and ran for a very successful 328 performances, starring Fred Leslie, W. S. Penley, Lionel Brough, Rose Moncreiff and H. B. Farnie. Others who joined the cast during the run included Fred