Read the excerpt below and answer the question. for a long while he used to console himself, when driven from home, by frequenting a kind of perpetual club of the sages, philosophers, and other idle personages of the village; which held its sessions on a bench before a small inn, what is the author’s tone toward rip van winkle in the passage?   wistful ironic serious solemn

The authors tone as per the excerpt is wistful.

Explanation:

Ironic is the correct answer.

Explanation:

Rip Van Winkle is a short story written by American author Washington Irving. In the excerpt, the author's tone toward Rip Van Winkle is ironic. At first, he defines these people as "sages" and "philosophers" and uses very solemn words such as "perpetual". However, after that, the speaker mentions that these and other people that gathered around that place were "idle personages", meaning that, in reality, they don't really contribute to anything. Also, the location where the sessions are held (the bench in the small inn) does not seem to be very respected by the author.

a) madame podtochina used witchcraft to make it disappear.