You oughtn’t to go and see plays, you ought to go and look at yourself.
— from Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

" "Very well, captain," answered the carver, who looked grave and somewhat perplexed, yet had a sort of smile upon his visage; "depend upon it, I'll do my utmost to satisfy you.
— from Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Then you gently and slowly placed your mouth on that of the poor fellow, who remained with his neck out of joint, his sides twisted, his arms almost dropping off, trembling with fatigue and tired from his desperate effort.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

His Majesty King William the Fourth then reigned over us, a monarch deservedly popular amongst the boys addicted to melody, to whom he was chiefly known from the beginning of that excellent if slightly vulgar song in which they much delighted,— “Come, neighbours all, both great and small, Perform your duties here, And loudly sing, 'Live Billy, our king,' For bating the tax upon beer.”
— from Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes

"You've got a soft place, youngster," Lyman began.
— from Mark Manning's Mission: The Story of a Shoe Factory Boy by Alger, Horatio, Jr.

Some yoke the oxen to the plough, some bring the horses in from the field, some mend the hedges, some manure the land, some sow seed in the ground, and some plant young trees.
— from The Bad Family & Other Stories by E. (Eliza) Fenwick

Go and sleep; perhaps you will be better for it.
— from The Cryptogram: A Novel by James De Mille

The Sultan smiled most graciously, and said, 'Present your friends to me.'
— from Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, Volume 1 (of 2) Comprising Their Life and Work as Recorded in Their Diaries, from 1812 to 1883 by Montefiore, Judith Cohen, Lady

This it soon did to such a degree, that, in spite of all his efforts, he gradually sank lower and lower, until, unable longer to retain a footing, his legs were overhanging the awful gulf, and he was rapidly sliding off, when, by a desperate effort, he threw up his feet, so that they reached the opposite side of the shaft, whilst his body still remained on the projecting drift, against which he firmly planted his back, and with his feet on the opposite side, he was thus enabled to gain a stationary position; yet, even then, the soil continually crumbling away, rendered it doubtful how long he might be able to retain it.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 364, February 1846 by Various

I am the king of Gigha, and so please you I am come to lay claim to my castles and lands."
— from The Thirsty Sword: A Story of the Norse Invasion of Scotland (1262-1263) by Robert Leighton