Daring

“ I am breaking!’ And in fact she did break. ‘Didn’t I tell you so!’ said the Darning-needle. ‘I am too fine!’
‘Now she is good for nothing!’ said the Fingers; but they had to hold her tight while the cook dropped some sealing-wax on the needle and stuck it in the front of her dress.
‘Now I am a breast-pin!’ said the Darning-needle. ‘I always knew I should be promoted. When one is something, one will become something!’ And she laughed to herself; you can never see when a Darning-needle is laughing. ”

“ The king came and saw the cradle coloured with the blood, and he cried out “where was the child gone?” and every one said it was the dog had eaten it.
The king said: “It is not: loose him, and he will get the pursuit himself.”
When I was loosed, I found the scent of the blood till I came to a door of the room in which the child was. I went to the king and took hold of him, and went back again and began to tear at the door. The king followed me and asked for the key. The servant said it was in the room of the stranger woman. ”

“ If you should wed, may a father's curse
⁠Be your swift and sure undoing.
“My curse shall feed on your fields of corn,
⁠On your roof-tree make its nesting,
Your wife shall wish your child unborn
⁠As he pines on her sore heart resting.”
Now when this cruel oath he said
⁠The youth did chide him, crying,
“Since I have neither field nor bed
⁠Your curse shall fall to dying. ”

“ In the history of duelling we read the history of mankind in the developement of our evil passions, and the occasional display of some redeeming qualities. 6 It is a reflective mirror stained with blood, and we must wipe off the clotted gore of ages to contemplate truth in all its bearings, to feel what miserable creatures we are!—the occasional foot-balls of vanity and pride, or the tools of ambition and hypocrisy, but always the victims of ideal pursuits and visionary joys! ”

“ Lod. 'Twas rashly done too. But are you sure, dear daughter,
The maid's head was not broke before?
Dor. No, no, sir; she came to me with ne'er a crack about her.
Lod. These will be brave sins to mix with her virtues! Why, they will make no more show than three or four bailiffs amongst a company of honest men. [Aside.] These sins, my dove-like daughter, are out of contradiction venial, trivial, and light. Have you none of greater growth?
Dor. O yes, sir, one! ”

“ Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city. And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law. Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day. ”

“ DOLL I' THE GRASS.
Once on a time there was a King who had twelve sons. When they were grown big he told them they must go out into the world and win themselves wives, but these wives must each be able to spin, and weave, and sew a shirt in one day, else he wouldn't have them for daughters-in-law.
To each he gave a horse and a new suit of mail, and they went out into the world to look after their brides; but when they had gone a bit of the way, they said they wouldn't have Boots, their youngest brother, with them—he wasn't fit for anything. ”

“ Some slight omission of ceremonial will offend its pride, some sordid repulse will check its ambition; it will flame with anger at the breaking of a jar, or pine with jealousy at the like frailty in a mistress. ”

“ The books in which the love scenes are most violent possess unfading charm. A hero who says "darling" every time he opens his finely-chiselled mouth is very near [Pg 54] perfection. That fondness lasts well into the after-years, for "darling" is, above all others, the favourite term of endearment with a woman. ”

“ Avarice begetteth anger; blind desires from her begin;
A right fruitful mother is she of a countless spawn of sin.'
And again,
'Can a golden Deer have being? yet for such the Hero pined:—
When the cloud of danger hovers, then its shadow dims the mind.'
Presently they were caught in the net. ”

“ As there is no Deceit or Perjury which Women will stick at putting in use against us, let them lament the Consequence of their own Examples.
Thirdly, Tears are of great Service. The Proverb tells you, Tears will move Adamant. If you can bring it about therefore, let your Mistress see your Cheeks a little blubbered upon Occasion.
If Tears should refuse to come (as they sometimes will) an Onion in your Handkerchief will be of great use.
Fourthly, Kisses. What Lover of any Sense doth not mix Kisses with his tender Expressions! ”

“ She was cuddling up to him, her voice quavering, her hand stroking his cheek, in a curious effort to combine affection and punishment at the same time. Duer felt nothing but wrath, resentment, discouragement, failure. ”

“ Why has Darling not fled with the woman? Has he been given the double cross? He may have been bunkoed out of his big bundle of cash and—well, there is no telling what has become of him. It’s up to us to find out. ”

“ Once on a time there was a lad who was walking along a road cracking nuts, so he found one that was worm-eaten, and just at that very moment he met the Deil.
"Is it true, now," said the lad, "what they say, that the Deil can make himself as small as he chooses, and thrust himself in through a pinhole?"
"Yes, it is," said the Deil.
"Oh! it is, is it? then let me see you do it, and just creep into this nut," said the lad. ”

“ A long time ago, the king of this country, having no children, made many prayers and offerings to the goddess Durgâ, in the hope of propitiating her. At last she appeared to him in a dream, and said: 'Your prayer is granted; your wife shall bear twins—a daughter who must be your successor, and a son who must be subject to her and to her husband when she marries. ”

“ Nor can we despise opportunities, and not suffer for doing so; if they offer the vase, they also carry the punishment meet for those who neglect its contents. As the boy stood trembling at the gate of Death, a dart came hissing through the air, and inflicted on him a burning wound: then came another and another; every opportunity despised sent its messenger of vengeance, and the wretched boy, writhing with the arrows of conscience in his soul, sank down at the gate, and perished! ”

“ Do y’u want me to be a quitter, and y’u so game yourself? Do y’u want it to go all over this cattle country that I gave my word and took it back because I lost my nerve?”
“The boy that takes a dare isn’t a hero, is he! There’s a higher courage that refuses to be drawn into such foolishness, that doesn’t give way to the jeers of the empty headed.” ”

“ It's in your blood to dare everything whenever a chance offers, as it was in your father's before you. Why, I've seen him stop on the way to a ball, pull off his coat, and go up a burning ladder to save a woman's pet canary, and then, when the crowd hurrahed him, I've laughed because I knew he deserved nothing of the kind. ”

“ And God the Holy Ghost pursed His lips, and shook His head, and said, "Take it from Me, this fellow Dale will turn out badly"—seeming to add or explain that it was a mere pretense and no true repentance. "He has never repented of his crime. ”

“ If but a single arrow be discharged against us, the tender flesh of this thy babe shall be the clout that shall receive it—and if but one burning brand be thrown, this shall be the very first food given to the conflagration. It is thy child. I hate it as being thine. ”

“ Wilt thou be my dearie?
When sorrow wrings thy gentle heart,
O wilt thou let me cheer me;
By the treasure of my soul,
That's the love I bear thee!
I swear and vow, that only thou
Shall ever be my Dearie. ”

“ It was when the fun was flying most fast and furious, that a voice exclaimed, “Brother cellarer, where is your official dish?” “True!” answered that reverend individual; “I am not cellarer for nothing;”—and therewith he disappeared, but speedily returned accompanied by three servitors, bearing piles of buttered toast and bowls of what worldly men would have called “punch.” If the fun had waxed fast before, it grew fiery now, and fervour for the patron saint glowed at the very fiercest heat that punch could give it. ”

“ Dale, severely, “I am surprised at your conduct; you have gone farther than a modest girl ought, with any man who is not to be her husband. Your reputation—if you do not now marry—is lost. You will acquire the name of flirt and jilt, and no honorable man will ever again look at you.” ”

“ If two men quarrel, and one happen to curse the other’s father or mother, whether they be living or dead, and his antagonist have so much command of himself as to refrain from cursing the other’s father or mother, he recovers two beeves as a compensation. ”

“ ALL in a lordly garden ground
Is weeding hemp a maid,
A Lark addresses her and asks,
Why sad, and why afraid?
‘O how can I then joyful be,
Thou pretty little lark?
My lover they have ta’en from me,
And shut in dungeon dark. ”

“ Darling, who never for one moment forgot the little empty beds and the silence and cheerlessness of the nursery. Then he left her, and sitting down by the fire, Mrs. Darling was alone with her sad thoughts. ”

“ Glad to see you, Darry. Hope there ain't been any more doings up at your place? I'm laying for the slippery rascals, and hope to have them dead to rights soon; but you know men in my profession have to go slow. ”

“ DARIEL: A ROMANCE OF SURREY
CHAPTER I A NIGHTINGALE
If any man came to me, and said, "You are going to tell your tale, good sir, without knowing how to handle it," I should look at him first with some surprise, and anger at his interference, yet in a very few minutes, unless he wanted to argue about it, probably he would have my confession, and a prayer for his assistance. For every one knows how to do a thing, much better than the one who does it. ”

“ So I tell thee, when thou deemest thy need and thy grief to be as great as it may be, hie thou to the little dale where first we met, and call on me by the token of the bow I gave thee then, and presently thou shalt have tidings: now farewell. ”

“ Then I heard a quick step in the shrubbery, as of some one sent to summon us, and reluctantly released from my hold the embodiment at that instant of all I esteemed noblest and loveliest in woman. With characteristic composure, Miss Darry answered the message by gathering some of the [Pg 690] roses beside us, and turning to reënter the house. Afraid of my own lack of self-control, I would gladly have gone home like a blushing girl; but my new pride of protecting Miss Darry under all circumstances of difficulty compelled me to follow her. ”

“ Give me credence, and trow me, if ye had experience of eating men and women’s flesh, ye would think it so delicious that ye would never forbear it again.’ So, without any sign of repentance, this unhappy creature died in the sight of the people. ”

“ And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
19:9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. ”

“ Male or female, young or old, weak or strong, may be punished with or without reason, as caprice or passion may prompt. When the drudge does not suit, he may be sold for some inferior purpose, like a horse that has seen his best days, till like a worn-out beast he dies, unpitied and forgotten! ”

“ With a savage cry Mànus snatched up a long dirk from its place by the chimney, and rushed out.
There was not the shadow of a sea-gull even in front: so he sped round by the byre. Neither was anything unusual discoverable there.
“Sorrow upon me,” he cried; “man or wraith, I will be putting it to the dirk!” ”

“ Many a parent held the child with convulsive clasp, and the eyes of fathers and mothers alike followed their darlings with a greed, as though desirous of not losing one glimpse, not missing one word, of the little creature on whom so many kisses were bestowed, and in whom so much love was centered. ”

“ Spenser in the Shepherd’s Calendar first adapted derring-do as a substantive meaning “manhood and chevalrie,” and this use was revived by Scott, through whom it came into vogue with writers of romance. ”

“ My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day."
"S'ars o' mine!" said the king, "I never heerd tell of any one as could do that."
Then he said: "Look you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your darter. But look you here," says he, "'leven months out o' the year she shall have all the vittles she likes to eat, and all the gownds she likes to git, and all the cumpny she likes to hev; but the last month o' the year she'll ha' to spin five skeins iv'ry day, an' if she doon't, I shall kill her." ”

“ Thy hand trembles, and thy cheeks flush—nay, the very alabaster of thine unsullied [175] forehead partake of the crimson that overrunneth thy countenance. ’Tis the fever of home-leaving that hath seized thee, and thou weepest for thy mother, whom thou hast left behind thee; silly youth,” said he, chuckling him gently under the chin, “’tis the penalty thou must pay for thy naughtiness in leaving them. Doubtless, thou hast made them weep too. But say if thou wouldst yet return? for if thou wouldst, one of mine attendants shall wend with thee, and see thee safe to Werk ”

“ Can you call any young woman plain, who, attired in her nondescript manner, hypnotizes the whole of Drury with her tiny handkerchief edged with lace, every time she plucks it out of her tatterdemalia? ”