‘I could see them pricking up their ears and looking at each other,’ went on the Mole; ‘and the Sergeant said to them, “Never mind HER; she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The name of Pausanias’ mother was Alcithea, as we are informed by Thucydides’ scholiast, who only says that it was reported, that when they set about walling up the gates of the chapel in which Pausanias had taken refuge, his mother Alcithea laid the first stone.”—Coste.] who was the first instructor of her son’s process, and threw the first stone towards his death, nor Posthumius the dictator, who put his son to death, whom the ardour of youth had successfully pushed upon the enemy a little more advanced than the rest of his squadron, do appear to me so much just as strange; and I should neither advise nor like to follow so savage a virtue, and that costs so dear.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

As little inclination had I to find fault with a funny old lady who was an upper domestic in this establishment, and who, when she came to wait upon us at any meal, sat herself down comfortably in the most convenient chair, and producing a large pin to pick her teeth with, remained performing that ceremony, and steadfastly regarding us meanwhile with much gravity and composure (now and then pressing us to eat a little more), until it was time to clear away.
— from American Notes by Charles Dickens

"I could see them pricking up their ears and looking at each other," went on the Mole; "and the Sergeant said to them, 'Never mind her ; she doesn't know what she's talking about.'" "'O!
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The horses nibble the corn, they prick up their ears a little when a shot screams past, but are so accustomed to the firing that they do not mind it much.
— from Following the Flag, from August 1861 to November 1862, with the Army of the Potomac by Charles Carleton Coffin

Germaine turned from him to Sonia, and pointed to a packet of envelopes and some letters, which Bernard Charolais had knocked off the table, and said, "Pick up those envelopes and letters, and bring everything to my room, and be quick about it!"
— from Arsene Lupin by Maurice Leblanc

The goats pricked up their ears, and Lisbeth, too, listened breathlessly.
— from Lisbeth Longfrock by Hans Aanrud

We see in the distance the ancient Worms, and the towers of Speir, and of Trifells, where King Richard sate in captivity; and yonder the ruins of the castle of Hambach; and in this one glance comes before us a vast fragment of history--the Niebelungen Lied, and the old holy Roman Empire, with its secular and spiritual Electors and Princes under the Emperor, and Luther before the Diet.
— from The Student-Life of Germany by William Howitt

Calling us into the yard, under the trees, they would press us to eat, and lament that they had not better to give.
— from Sea-gift: A Novel by Edwin W. (Edwin Wiley) Fuller

They show two things: first, the little real effect which, after all, the West has produced upon the East; and last, the freedom of thought and discussion which is now pervading the world.
— from The Galaxy, June 1877 Vol. XXIII.—June, 1877.—No. 6. by Various

And now that Christmas is over and we contemplate our thin purses and impossible presents, we all wonder why 'that monster custom' doesn't permit us to exercise a little common sense.
— from The Complete Works of Brann, the Iconoclast — Volume 10 by William Cowper Brann

"You see the minute I picked up the egg and looked at it closely, I saw that it was a hen's egg, and there you are."
— from The Autobiography of Methuselah by John Kendrick Bangs

All the Brownies pricked up their ears and listened hard.
— from The Brownie Scouts in the Cherry Festival by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt