Final answer:
The narrators in the texts engage in activities like pacing, watching over others, or suffering from torment due to emotional and psychological distress, which prevents them from sleeping.
Step-by-step explanation:
The narrators in the excerpts provided seem to entertain themselves late at night by engaging in various activities due to their inability to sleep, stemming from emotional distress, anxiety, and mental preoccupations. One narrator paces to and fro to escape a pitiable condition, another lies awake tormented by thoughts of a person dear to them, and yet another vigilantly watches over a dying girl with a heavy conscience.
These narrators are often depicted as being in a state of tension or torment, which suggests that their insomnia is linked to their emotional and psychological state. In some cases, the characters also experience delirium or dream-like states where the boundary between reality and imagination becomes blurred, indicating a level of exhaustion or mental strain that prevents restful sleep.
The narrator in the given extracts engages in several activities to entertain himself late at night. In one excerpt, he sits up all night in the public parlor. In another, he lies awake staring into the darkness and thinking about a girl he had hurt. In yet another, he walks through a forest and encounters a misty scene. The narrator's inability to sleep may be attributed to various reasons, such as anxiety, guilt, or discomfort.