Rip van Winkle is a short story by
Washington Irving set in the days of American independence. A villager of Dutch descent escapes his nagging wife by wandering into the woods. There, he settles down under a shady tree and falls asleep. He wakes up years later and returns to his village. He immediately gets into trouble when he hails
George III, not knowing that in the meantime the American Revolution has taken place and he is not supposed to be a loyal subject of the Hanoverian any longer.
Rip van Winkle also exists as a cartoon.