Various

“ But, unfortunately, while the train which bore the monster to its destination was being shunted in a siding, a cattle drover, named Picart, was foolhardy enough, in spite of all warnings and precautions, to risk his life, first in offering a piece of bread through the bars, and next, as his sleeping majesty took no notice of this affront, in attempting to pat the lion on the head. Then arose the king of beasts in his wrath, and, quick as lightning, the unhappy man’s arm was seized upon, crunched and snapped off, with no more ado than a dog would make over a chicken bone. ”

“ The performance was just about to begin, one afternoon, the band was tuning up, and the spectators were already assembling in crowds at the foot of the wooden steps leading to the arena, when the cry arose: ‘Ather has escaped!’
Now, Ather was a young royal tiger, noted, perhaps with some slight exaggeration, for his ferocity; the only one, in fact, of all our animals not a sluggard. Everyone had seen him prowling to and fro in his cage, rubbing himself against the bars, at times lashing his tail in a fury, while his bloodshot eyes darted flame and fire. ”

“ Reflection had taught Pincher that a refined Crescent was no fit arena for military prowess. Besides, he had reduced the dogs of the district to order, and his appearance, like that of the British Flag on the high seas of old, was saluted by tails down. Pincher looked for new worlds to conquer. He took his stand, like some adventurous knight of old, in a pass perilous. He kept that thronged thoroughfare, the Dairy Road, against all comers. No collie, or bull-terrier, or Dandie could pass, but must cross teeth with Pincher. ”

“ Whilst we were scattered about in the clearing, trying to make out some vestige of the track, either by accident or by awkwardness a gun suddenly went off.
Instantly a hoarse roar was heard, and the lion fell amongst us as though he had literally dropped from the clouds.
There was an instant of intense terror. Every gun except mine went off at the same moment, and it was only a wonder that we did not all kill each other. Needless to say that not a ball touched the lion.
Through the fire and smoke I saw all the men round me except Amar Ben-Sarah. ”

“ Bearing itself up on its hind legs, the dragon endeavoured, as a bear will do, to hug its enemy to death, but it now exposed the under surface of its neck (which was comparatively unprotected by scales) to the attack of De Gozon. In an instant he thrust his sword into its throat; a deluge of blood gushed out; the monster tottered, and fell; but in its fall crushed to the ground the brave Knight, who was already sufficiently wearied with the strife, and half poisoned besides by the dragon's noisome breath. ”

“ At this the elephant waxed so furious that it charged them madly, catching up some in its trunk and dashing them to the earth again, and trampling others under its great feet. The men at the back, seeing the fate of their foremost comrades, fled away in terror from the enraged elephant, who then, stooping over its unconscious master, raised him gently in its trunk, and carried him away to a safe place. ”

“ My father had been, first, a travelling pedlar; then, after his marriage, he had started a panorama of scenes from Napoleon’s wars, and when the public grew tired of that he obtained some curious animals, and by degrees acquired enough to stock a travelling wild beast show. Fortune seemed to smile upon him at last, and this venture was in a fair way to become a success, when his life was cut short in this sudden fashion.
My mother strove her utmost, for the sake of her little ones, to carry on the business; but what can a woman do alone at the head of a menagerie? ”

“ Having reached the top he found himself about seven paces from the goat and fifteen from me. I remained settled where I was, and took aim at him right between the eyes. For a moment I felt tempted to pull the trigger, but the fascination of watching the superb creature and noting the movements and ways of my formidable antagonist kept me motionless. For some moments I enjoyed such an interview as few men can boast of. I felt I deserved it, for it was two years since I had been actually face to face with a lion, and this was one of the finest and largest I had ever seen. ”

“ Calling to his servant, Suleiman, to bring a rifle, Baker made his way to the main deck, where the rest of the crew were sleeping; but the whole place was such a mass of interlaced mosquito strings, that it was very difficult to steer between them so as to wake the men. Meanwhile the hippopotamus had not wasted his time. He had sunk the larder boat, and crushed the little 'dingey' alongside as if it had been a walnut, and was now gathering himself together for the larger vessel, caring nothing for the noises made by the natives in the hope of frightening him away. ”

“ Beowulf was alive, however, though in sorry plight, so Wiglaf fetched more water wherewith to refresh him. Then spake the brave old King his last words on earth, the while he looked sadly on the gold: 'I give thanks for these beautiful things, which here I gaze on, to the Lord of all, to the King of Glory, the eternal Lord, for that I have been able before my death-day to gain so much for my people. Fulfil ye now with this hoard my people's needs, for here I may no longer be. Let the warriors build a mound at the headland which juts out into the sea. ”

“ So day after day Charley and his master rode on toward the north, through plains of grass all covered with flowers. Every night when the sun set Catlin jumped off and unloaded his horse, which he tied up, or 'picketed,' with a long rope, so that Charley should have plenty of room for feeding. Then he lit a fire to keep off the wolves, whose snarls and howls were always to be heard in the distance, and lying down on his bearskin with his saddle for a pillow and his buffalo robe for a blanket, Catlin curled himself up, and slept soundly till morning. ”

“ One day Jacko was perched on the top of a tall ladder in the studio, when a lad suddenly came in bringing back a large lion's skin which Tony had sent to be mounted. The boy had hung the skin over his back, and it partly covered his head; and his appearance, and the smell of the skin, so terrified Jacko, that he turned quite faint and fell down from the ladder.
He was promptly picked up and soon restored to his senses, but in the sudden fall his frozen tail had snapped right off, and Jacko had to pass the remainder of his life a tail-less monkey. ”

“ The squirrel could think of nothing but the enemy behind, and never heeded any possible danger in front, yet, if it had only looked that way, it would have seen something more dreadful even than a pine-weasel. The rattle-snake had suddenly swelled to twice its natural size; his mouth was opened so wide that the lower jaw touched his throat, and his poisoned fangs were bare. As the squirrel flashed past him up the stem, the snake appeared to move his head slightly, but so little that it did not seem even to have touched the squirrel. ”

“ All was now ready; so the Knight, entering the cave, began to screech and yell lustily in order to wake up the dragon and annoy it; then, rushing out himself, he mounted his charger, and awaited the attack on a piece of level ground. He did not have long to wait; scarcely was he mounted when the sound of the well-known hissing was heard, and the clattering of the huge plate-like scales warned him that the monster was after him in full cry—and, indeed, as it came at him, partly running, partly flying, the creature itself thought it saw in the bold Knight an opportunity not lightly to be missed ”

“ In order to tame a reindeer, you must catch him when he is very young, and even then it is no use to expect him to become as friendly as a cow or a horse. He always has something half wild about him, which peeps out every now and then when you least expect it, and often when it is extremely inconvenient. The tame reindeer is his master’s pride and stay, his joy and his riches, and often his torment too! A Laplander who owns a herd of a few hundred reindeer thinks himself the happiest man on earth, and would not change lots with anybody. ”

“ There could be no question as to her high descent and pure blood. It was apparent in every one of her graceful movements, in the exquisite softness and delicacy of her grey coat, the thickness and fluffiness of the ruff she wore round her neck, and the size and bushiness of her superb tail. In a word Princess was a pure-bred Persian cat, and her happy owners, Mrs. and Miss H., took great pride in her possession, and much pleasure in her society. ”

“ Suddenly he saw lying on the floor a magic sword; a huge weapon with finest edge, forged of old in the time of the Jotuns, or giants, whose work it was. No ordinary man could have wielded that blade, but Beowulf seized it, and smote the witch a fearful blow, almost cleaving her body in twain. A bright light shone up at once in the cavern, which the warrior now began to explore; nor had he gone far before he found Grendel lying on a couch, dead, so Beowulf cut off his head. ”

“ Not long ago a dog was living at the mouth of a short street in London which was open only at one end, and was the home of a great many children. If any child tried to pass him he would run at it and snap, and if he did not actually bite them, the nurses always thought that he had done so. At length every one became so frightened that the father of one of the little girls had to go before a magistrate and beg that the owners of this terrible animal might be forced to get rid of him, as it was not fair that the whole street should be kept in a state of siege, only for the amusement of one dog. ”

“ The two men followed her eyes, and saw an oriole's nest, hanging like a pocket from the top twigs of the tree.
The old opossum saw it too, and uttered a sharp cry which brought all the little ones running helter-skelter from their game in the dead leaves. Some tucked themselves safely into their mother's pouch, two used her tail as a rope, and lay comfortably down in her hair, while others held on by her neck. When seven or eight had gone to their places, the whole mass began to climb the pawpaw. ”

“ The afternoon performance passed without a hitch; when the evening one began, I entered the cages as usual, and there passed tranquilly before me—each in his turn—the first, second, third, and fourth lions, and next, the two white bears. Finally, I was left alone with Sultan, the same who, a short while before, had devoured the arm of the unhappy cattle drover. He was a fine black African lion, eighteen years of age—the prime of life among his tribe. ”

“ But if a wind gets up and drift sets in, one sits by one's fire shuddering to think of the wreaths or drifts piling up outside. Well, in this year of storm there had been a long spell of snow and frost, and the surface of the snow had hardened, and the sheep were weakened by want of food. In the end of January a change seemed coming, and the shepherds were rejoicing to think of relief. ”

“ The famous 'rattle' that it sets up whenever it sees an enemy approaching comes from the shaking together of a loose, horny, jointed substance at the end of its tail, and when a man or animal hears this he knows what awaits him, and can get out of the way if he chooses. If he does not choose, but prefers to attack the rattle-snake, which twists itself straight up in a wreath of many coils, its eyes gleaming from the centre, he runs the risk of a speedy and painful death. ”