The cattle came upon me with like suddenness, staring out of their eyes, and steaming out of their nostrils, “Halloa, young thief!” One black ox, with a white cravat on, – who even had to my awakened conscience something of a clerical air, – fixed me so obstinately with his eyes, and moved his blunt head round in such an accusatory manner as I moved round, that I blubbered out to him, “I couldn’t help it, sir! It wasn’t for myself I took it!”
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 3. As boy Pip travels across the marsh to bring stolen food to convict Magwitch, he feels overburdened with guilt. He imagines himself as a fugitive from the law, much like Magwitch. In Pip’s state of panic, he hears cattle with human voices speaking to him and calling out his crime. In another example of personification, Pip sees a black ox with white throat as if it were a cleric staring reprovingly at him.