They were probably in that transition state which obtains in our own day for some of the Hill Mahomedans adjoining the Kafirs on the south side of the mountains the reproachful title of Nímchah Musulmán , or Half-and-halfs.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Rustichello of Pisa

But you took to drawing plans; you don't understand morbidezza, and that kind of thing.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot

In these streets he met Anitus, the king of the country, and brained him with his club, which was the fashion among gentlemen in those days.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

But, contrary to expectation, after they had been in their quarters for not over a month, Hsüeh P'an came to be on intimate relations with all the young men among the kindred of the Chia mansion, the half of whom were extravagant in their habits, so that great was, of course, his delight to frequent them.
— from Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book I by Xueqin Cao

He changed himself into a native in turban and breech-cloth, and very considerately conferred on me a temporary knowledge of the language.
— from The Mysterious Stranger, and Other Stories by Mark Twain

He promised to send me a man who would get me all that kind of thing.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

“I too, as happens to every man once in his life, have been taken by Satan into the highest mountain in the earth, and when there he showed me all the kingdoms of the world, and as he said before, so said he to me, ‘Child of earth, what wouldst thou have to make thee adore me?’ I reflected long, for a gnawing ambition had long preyed upon me, and then I replied, ‘Listen,—I have always heard of Providence, and yet I have never seen him, or anything that resembles him, or which can make me believe that he exists.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated by Alexandre Dumas

Desiring therefore to present myself to your Magnificence with some testimony of my devotion towards you, I have not found among my possessions anything which I hold more dear than, or value so much as, the knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by long experience in contemporary affairs, and a continual study of antiquity; which, having reflected upon it with great and prolonged diligence, I now send, digested into a little volume, to your Magnificence.
— from The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

—On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity, the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the vail was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the gospel of repentance!
— from Outlines of Ecclesiastical History by B. H. (Brigham Henry) Roberts

No, Laughing-eyes, there is hope only in marriage, and the kindness of the court which shall try us; otherwise it must be separation or death," he replied, despondingly.
— from A Prince of Anahuac: A Histori-traditional Story Antedating the Aztec Empire by James A. Porter

The troops are full of jest and merriment as they kick off their shoes, and empty the water out of them, squeeze their dripping trousers, and, lying on the ground, toast their steaming legs by the fires.
— from The Drummer Boy by J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge

The aforesaid Fulrad met the representatives of King Aistulf at Ravenna, and went with them through the various cities of the Pentapolis and of Emilia, receiving their submission and taking hostages from each and bearing away with him their chief men and the keys of their gates.
— from A Source Book for Mediæval History Selected Documents illustrating the History of Europe in the Middle Age by Oliver J. (Oliver Joseph) Thatcher

The last vestige of fear passed from Eustace's mind as the keys of the strong-room were found lying in their usual place.
— from The Rider of Waroona by G. Firth Scott

[590] The bull of Julius the Third sanctioning the use of these proscribed articles of food—at whose instigation it was given is uncertain—was regarded by the Parliament of Paris as allowing a "scandalous relaxation" of morals, and the keeper of the seals gave orders, by cry of the herald, that all booksellers and printers be forbidden to sell copies of it (Feb. 7, 1553).
— from History of the Rise of the Huguenots Vol. 1 by Henry Martyn Baird

Although in a minority in the Convention, they were all powerful with the mob; and the knowledge of this, together with their menaces, induced some of the more timid Girondists to vote for their savage measures.
— from Lives of Celebrated Women by Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold) Goodrich

This agreeable place of retreat was very comfortable to me after my misfortune, and the kindness of this generous prince towards me completed my satisfaction.
— from The Arabian Nights Entertainments - Volume 01 by Anonymous