The father turned towards the younger girl who sat on the bed near the window, and shouted to her in a thundering voice:— Quick! get off that bed, you lazy thing! will you never do anything? Break a pane of glass! The little girl jumped off the bed with a shiver. Break a pane! he repeated. The child stood still in bewilderment. Do you hear me? repeated her father, I tell you to break a pane! The child, with a sort of terrified obedience, rose on tiptoe, and struck a pane with her fist. The glass broke and fell with a loud clatter. Good, said the father. In the meantime, a sob became audible in one corner. What’s that? cried the father. The younger daughter exhibited her bleeding fist, without quitting the corner in which she was cowering.
…
You see, my beautiful young lady, pursued Jondrette, her bleeding wrist! It came through an accident while working at a machine to earn six sous a day. It may be necessary to cut off her arm.
—
Les Miserables, Victor Hugo