"I have been under a mistake all this time," answered Don Quixote, "for in truth I thought it was a castle, and not a bad one; but since it appears that it is not a castle but an inn, all that can be done now is that you should excuse the payment, for I cannot contravene the rule of knights-errant, of whom I know as a fact (and up to the present I have read nothing to the contrary) that they never paid for lodging or anything else in the inn where they might be; for any hospitality that might be offered them is their due by law and right in return for the insufferable toil they endure in seeking adventures by night and by day, in summer and in winter, on foot and on horseback, in hunger and thirst, cold and heat, exposed to all the inclemencies of heaven and all the hardships of earth."
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

“I have been under a mistake all this time,” answered Don Quixote, “for in truth I thought it was a castle, and not a bad one; but since it appears that it is not a castle but an inn, all that can be done now is that you should excuse the payment, for I cannot contravene the rule of knights-errant, of whom I know as a fact (and up to the present I have read nothing to the contrary) that they never paid for lodging or anything else in the inn where they might be; for any hospitality that might be offered them is their due by law and right in return for the insufferable toil they endure in seeking adventures by night and by day, in summer and in winter, on foot and on horseback, in hunger and thirst, cold and heat, exposed to all the inclemencies of heaven and all the hardships of earth.”
— from The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Complete by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Their ornaments are amulets, necklaces, and bracelets of bones, shells, and beads of mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, &c. which are worn by both sexes.
— from A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 14 by Robert Kerr

The sky was of the deepest blue, with a few white, fleecy clouds drifting lazily across it, and the air was filled with the low drone of insects or with a sudden sharper note as bee or bluefly shot past with its quivering, long-drawn hum, like an insect tuning-fork.
— from Beyond the City by Arthur Conan Doyle

The nobility and burghers of both St. Petersburg and Moscow caught the war fever, opened their coffers, equipped a numerous (p. 337) militia, and by the end of July all Russia was hopeful and eager for battle.
— from The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Vol. 3 (of 4) by William Milligan Sloane

Not a breath of breeze stirred the willows down below the level of the prairie.
— from South from Hudson Bay: An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys by Ethel C. (Ethel Claire) Brill

“It wouldn’t take long out in that sun to get cooked nice and brown on both sides,” said Bob.
— from The Radio Boys at Ocean Point; Or, The Message that Saved the Ship by Allen Chapman

This was Countess Guiccioli's first direct influence upon Byron's work—and it was certainly not a beneficial one; but she soon withdrew her prohibition, on the condition, however, that there should be no obscenity in the part as yet unwritten.
— from Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 4. Naturalism in England by Georg Brandes

The most beautiful which I have seen was greyish ash-colour in the middle of its crest, and silvery white on the rest of its head and nape; a broad orange border surrounded the beak, and the neck was adorned with a white collar; the back was a dusky grey, with black streaks; the rump white, the under part of the body of a snowy whiteness; the under tail-coverts, the wings and first quill-feathers white, but the others, as well as the coverts, black, edged with yellow; the middle of the wing was also adorned with a beautiful golden yellow spot; the white tail had a black spot on the sides, the white beak was tipped with black, the feet were white.
— from The Natural History of Cage Birds Their Management, Habits, Food, Diseases, Treatment, Breeding, and the Methods of Catching Them. by Johann Matthäus Bechstein

Not a bad old boy, Sir Samuel."
— from The Motor Maid by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson

"I am almost sure, indeed, I may say I feel convinced, that this headache of yours is a nervous attack brought on by seeing those waxworks last night.
— from A Woman Martyr by Alice M. (Alice Mangold) Diehl