“You bring me, to-morrow morning early, that file and them wittles. You bring the lot to me, at that old Battery over yonder. You do it, and you never dare to say a word or dare to make a sign concerning your having seen such a person as me, or any person sumever, and you shall be let to live. You fail…and your heart and your liver shall be tore out, roasted, and ate.”
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 1. Escaped convict Abel Magwitch threatens the boy Pip’s life and demands that he bring him food and a file the following morning or face fearful consequences. Magwitch tells Pip that he has another young man with him who knows how to tear out a boy’s heart and liver. Pip’s encounter with prison escapee Magwitch must have been a terrifying experience.