"A race of short, ugly and unfriendly humanoids."

    "A short, ugly and unfriendly humanoid:  squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with a wide mouth and pistachio-shaped eyes.$$\
    Clap! Snap! the black crack!$\
    Grip, grab! Pinch, nab!$\
    And down down to Goblin-town$\
    You go, my lad!$$\
    Clash, crash! Crush, smash!$\
    Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs!$\
    Pound, pound, far underground!$\
    Ho, ho! my lad!$$\
    Swish, smack! Whip crack!$\
    Batter and beat! Yammer and bleat!$\
    Work, work! Nor dare to shirk,$\
    While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh,$\
    Round and round far underground$\
    Below, my lad!$\
         J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Hobbit_"

    "A fearsome hunting dog."

    "A fearsome hunting dog, lithe and alert.  Its master must be long gone, for it looks dissheveled, and has a lean and hungry look.$$\
    A traveller, by the faithful hound,$\
    Half-buried in the snow was found,$\
    Still grasping in his hand of ice$\
    That banner with the strange device,$\
    Excelsior!$\
         Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, \"Excelsior\""

    "Rats which have grown large and aggressive in the pestilential dungeon environment."

    "Wherever there are men, there are rats -- rattus rattus.  This rat has grown large and aggressive in the pestilential dungeon environment.$$\
    How now? a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!$\
         -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, 4"