The head clerk looked at him with a condescending smile of compassion, and at the same time with a certain triumph, as at a novice under fire for the first time—as though he would say: “Well, how do you feel now?”
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

This hay was put into a hut and never used for feeding the cattle but for bedding for the pigs.
— from Three Years in Tristan da Cunha by Katherine Mary Barrow

In the valley of the Amatikula were some thorn-bushes of osier-like growth, which the natives use for fencing their kraals, and these bore large purple bell-shaped flowers.
— from The Story of the Zulu Campaign by Edmund Verney Wyatt Edgell

“But loyal subjects do not usually fly from their rulers,” objected Mark.
— from The Fugitives: The Tyrant Queen of Madagascar by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

so lax was the marital tie that it was not uncommon for friends to exchange wives in token of amity.
— from Women of America Woman: In all ages and in all countries Vol. 10 (of 10) by John Ruse Larus

Many, not understanding French, failed to comprehend his meaning, and others who did understand, appreciating his courage in thug braving a furious crowd, surveyed him with more astonishment than anger.
— from The Prussian Terror by Alexandre Dumas

On the other hand, there is no universal formula for the bringing up of children, one that can be applied to all children everywhere and always, any more than there is a universal formula for fertilizing soil or curing disease or feeding babies.
— from Your Child: Today and Tomorrow Some Problems for Parents Concerning Punishment, Reasoning, Lies, Ideals and Ambitions, Fear, Work and Play, Imagination, Social Activities, Obedience, Adolescence, Will, Heredity by Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg

It is not uncommon for flies to blow the sores made by flogging; in that case, we get a strong weed growing in those parts, called the Oak of Jerusalem; we boil it at night, and wash the sores [pg 24] with the liquor, which is extremely bitter.
— from Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy, Late a Slave in the United States of America by Moses Grandy

The soldiers did as they were ordered, and their prisoners lay, with widely-extended eyes, and shrieks on their parted lips which they dared not utter, for fear the sword-points would pierce their breasts.
— from Mohammed Ali and His House by L. (Luise) Mühlbach

It was Monsieur Podvin's business to hunt these unfortunates up and to relieve them of any valuables of which they might be possessed, and which they had no use for for the time being.
— from Mlle. Fouchette: A Novel of French Life by Charles Theodore Murray