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?
A. solemn
B. serious
C. ironic
D. wistful
