“No, no, I do not wish to accept a present.”
“It is a volume of my poems.”
“Ah, that is different. I could not have permitted you to give me anything valuable.”
Judge (to an individual notorious for thievish proclivities): “I was told you stole wood the other day. That is not true, is it, Peter?”
Peter: “Nay, Herr Judge.”
Judge: “The policeman says he found the wood at your house. That can’t be so?”
Peter: “Nay, Herr Judge.”
Judge: “Well, Peter, I’ll sentence you to six weeks in gaol. That’s not too much, is it?”
Peter: “Nay, Herr Judge.”
“I wonder why that gentleman over there is holding the paper up before his face for such an interminable length of time?”