She leaned for support against the trunk of a slender tree, and at last climbed to the topmost branches, like a cat, and seated herself firmly upon them.
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. (Hans Christian) Andersen

Where he formerly thought of keeping his tools sharp, he should now let them grow dull; surfaces that formerly were lubricated now should be sanded; normally diligent, he should now be lazy and careless; and so on.
— from Simple Sabotage Field Manual by United States. Office of Strategic Services

If I do, hang me in a bottle like a cat and shoot at me; and he that hits me, let him be clapped on the shoulder and called Adam. DON PEDRO.
— from Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare

“Well, den—” She drew a big breath like a child, as she voiced to the uttermost all she cared to demand of life.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London

Why, gentlemen, I got out of bed, lighted a candle, and sat down to the writing-table just as I was.
— from White Nights and Other Stories The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Volume X by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

When will my brother, like a cloud At summer's close, make glad the crowd?” Then through the streets the hero rode, And passed within his sire's abode, Like some deserted lion's den, Forsaken by the lord of men.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

Her large dark eyes seemed fixed; a fleet expression of agony flitted over her beautiful brow like a cloud; and she said, “I swear that I will never give my hand to—” “And your heart, your heart,” said Morley eagerly.
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

The stars were still shining when I awoke in my blanket, lighted a candle, and stepped into the wooden tub of salt-water outside the tent.
— from The Maids of Paradise by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

Here he ordered a fresh cup of strong coffee to clear his brain, lighted another cigarette, and sat down to recall the late conversation.
— from The Spider by Fergus Hume

By lighting another candle and standing it outside, you can judge by comparison, of the foulness of the air inside.
— from Lectures on Ventilation Being a Course Delivered in the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia by Lewis W. Leeds

I had at last the pleasure of seeing that monarch, equally absolute by law and custom, and so moderate from his own disposition.
— from Ten Years' Exile Memoirs of That Interesting Period of the Life of the Baroness De Stael-Holstein, Written by Herself, during the Years 1810, 1811, 1812, and 1813, and Now First Published from the Original Manuscript, by Her Son. by Madame de (Anne-Louise-Germaine) Staël

You must pay the forfeit!” cried Seriosha at that moment, and Sonetchka, who was standing in front of him, blushed like a criminal as she replied, “No, I have NOT lost!
— from Boyhood by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

'Immediately after service clinks out the breakfast bell, and, with marvellous promptitude and punctuality, whites and blacks, lay and clerical, are seen flocking to the mess-room.
— from Life of John Coleridge Patteson : Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

"Now, Bob, light a candle an' show Mr. Trowbridge above stairs.
— from The Gaunt Gray Wolf: A Tale of Adventure With Ungava Bob by Dillon Wallace

She numbered up the various services she had rendered in the family—and denounced the plague of swartness to the linen—of leanness to the poultry—of dearth and dishonour to the housekeeping—and of lingering sickness and early death to Alice;—all which evils, she averred, had only been kept off by her continued, watchful, and incessant cares.—Then again turning to the subject of the fugitive Lance, she expressed such a total contempt of that mean-spirited fellow, in a tone between laughing and crying, as satisfied Julian it was not a topic likely to act as a sedative; and that, therefore, unless he made a longer stay than the urgent state of his affairs permitted, he was not likely to find Mistress Deborah in such a state of composure as might enable him to obtain from her any rational or useful information.
— from Peveril of the Peak by Walter Scott

They are mostly uncrystallisable; and all form blackish-blue or blackish-green compounds with ferric salts, and in common with many other organic substances are precipitated by lead and copper acetates, stannous chloride, and many other metallic salts, and those of organic bases, such as quinine.
— from A Text-book of Tanning A treatise on the conversion of skins into leather, both practical and theoretical. by H. R. (Henry Richardson) Procter