Answer:
Because he sees his own self laying under a tree.
Explanation:
Rip Van Winkle is a short story written by the American author Washington Irving. The story is developed between a monarchic town (where Rip lived at the beginning of the story, sometime before the Independence) and a free town, where Rip arrives after what it looks a night out in the woods. He found some character carrying a barrel and after helping him and tasting the liquid inside it, spends the night in the woods. When he comes back, he finds a totally different town, where his friends have died or become something else. He even sees himself laying under a tree, and people in his family have grown up. All this things combined help the crisis in identity.
