SCENE I. Cyprus. Before the
Castle.
[Enter Cassio and some Musicians.]
CASSIO.
Masters, play here,--I will content
your pains,
Something that's brief; and bid
good-morrow, general.
[Music.]
[Enter Clown.]
CLOWN.
Why, masters, have your instruments
been in Naples, that
they speak i' the nose thus?
FIRST MUSICIAN.
How, sir, how!
CLOWN.
Are these, I pray you, wind instruments?
FIRST MUSICIAN.
Ay, marry, are they, sir.
CLOWN.
O, thereby hangs a tale.
FIRST MUSICIAN.
Whereby hangs a tale, sir?
CLOWN.
Marry, sir, by many a wind instrument
that I know. But,
masters, here's money for you:
and the general so likes your
music, that he desires you, for
love's sake, to make no more
noise with it.
FIRST MUSICIAN.
Well, sir, we will not.
CLOWN.
If you have any music that may
not be heard, to't again:
but, as they say, to hear music
the general does not greatly
care.
FIRST MUSICIAN.
We have none such, sir.
CLOWN.
Then put up your pipes in your
bag, for I'll away:
go, vanish into air, away!
[Exeunt Musicians.]
CASSIO.
Dost thou hear, mine honest friend?
CLOWN.
No, I hear not your honest friend;
I hear you.
CASSIO.
Pr'ythee, keep up thy quillets.
There's a poor piece of
gold for thee: if the gentlewoman
that attends the general's wife
be stirring, tell her there's
one Cassio entreats her a little
favour of speech: wilt thou do
this?
CLOWN.
She is stirring, sir; if she
will stir hither I shall
seem to notify unto her.
CASSIO.
Do, good my friend.
[Exit Clown.]
[Enter Iago.]
In happy time, Iago.
IAGO.
You have not been a-bed, then?
CASSIO.
Why, no; the day had broke
Before we parted. I have made
bold, Iago,
To send in to your wife: my suit
to her
Is, that she will to virtuous
Desdemona
Procure me some access.
IAGO.
I'll send her to you presently;
And I'll devise a mean to draw
the Moor
Out of the way, that your converse
and business
May be more free.
CASSIO.
I humbly thank you for't. [Exit
Iago.] I never knew
A Florentine more kind and honest.
[Enter Emilia.]
EMILIA.
Good-morrow, good lieutenant;
I am sorry
For your displeasure; but all
will sure be well.
The general and his wife are
talking of it;
And she speaks for you stoutly:
the Moor replies
That he you hurt is of great
fame in Cyprus
And great affinity, and that,
in wholesome wisdom,
He might not but refuse you;
but he protests he loves you
And needs no other suitor but
his likings
To take the safest occasion by
the front
To bring you in again.
CASSIO.
Yet, I beseech you,--
If you think fit, or that it
may be done,--
Give me advantage of some brief
discourse
With Desdemona alone.
EMILIA.
Pray you, come in:
I will bestow you where you shall
have time
To speak your bosom freely.
CASSIO.
I am much bound to you.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE II. Cyprus. A Room in
the Castle.
[Enter Othello, Iago, and Gentlemen.]
OTHELLO.
These letters give, Iago, to
the pilot;
And by him do my duties to the
senate:
That done, I will be walking
on the works;
Repair there to me.
IAGO.
Well, my good lord, I'll do't.
OTHELLO.
This fortification, gentlemen,--shall
we see't?
GENTLEMEN.
We'll wait upon your lordship.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE III. Cyprus. The Garden
of the Castle.
[Enter Desdemona, Cassio, and
Emilia.]
DESDEMONA.
Be thou assured, good Cassio,
I will do
All my abilities in thy behalf.
EMILIA.
Good madam, do: I warrant it
grieves my husband
As if the cause were his.
DESDEMONA.
O, that's an honest fellow.--Do
not doubt, Cassio,
But I will have my lord and you
again
As friendly as you were.
CASSIO.
Bounteous madam,
Whatever shall become of Michael
Cassio,
He's never anything but your
true servant.
DESDEMONA.
I know't,--I thank you. You do
love my lord:
You have known him long; and
be you well assur'd
He shall in strangeness stand
no farther off
Than in a politic distance.
CASSIO.
Ay, but, lady,
That policy may either last so
long,
Or feed upon such nice and waterish
diet,
Or breed itself so out of circumstance,
That, I being absent, and my
place supplied,
My general will forget my love
and service.
DESDEMONA.
Do not doubt that; before Emilia
here
I give thee warrant of thy place:
assure thee,
If I do vow a friendship, I'll
perform it
To the last article: my lord
shall never rest;
I'll watch him tame, and talk
him out of patience;
His bed shall seem a school,
his board a shrift;
I'll intermingle everything he
does
With Cassio's suit: therefore
be merry, Cassio;
For thy solicitor shall rather
die
Than give thy cause away.
EMILIA.
Madam, here comes
My lord.
CASSIO.
Madam, I'll take my leave.
DESDEMONA.
Why, stay,
And hear me speak.
CASSIO.
Madam, not now. I am very ill
at ease,
Unfit for mine own purposes.
DESDEMONA.
Well, do your discretion.
[Exit Cassio.]
[Enter Othello and Iago.]
IAGO.
Ha! I like not that.
OTHELLO.
What dost thou say?
IAGO.
Nothing, my lord: or if--I know
not what.
OTHELLO.
Was not that Cassio parted from
my wife?
IAGO.
Cassio, my lord! No, sure, I
cannot think it,
That he would steal away so guilty-like,
Seeing you coming.
OTHELLO.
I do believe 'twas he.
DESDEMONA.
How now, my lord!
I have been talking with a suitor
here,
A man that languishes in your
displeasure.
OTHELLO.
Who is't you mean?
DESDEMONA.
Why, your lieutenant, Cassio.
Good my lord,
If I have any grace or power
to move you,
His present reconciliation take;
For if he be not one that truly
loves you,
That errs in ignorance and not
in cunning,
I have no judgement in an honest
face:
I pr'ythee, call him back.
OTHELLO.
Went he hence now?
DESDEMONA.
Ay, sooth; so humbled
That he hath left part of his
grief with me
To suffer with him. Good love,
call him back.
OTHELLO.
Not now, sweet Desdemon; some
other time.
DESDEMONA.
But shall't be shortly?
OTHELLO.
The sooner, sweet, for you.
DESDEMONA.
Shall't be to-night at supper?
OTHELLO.
No, not to-night.
DESDEMONA.
To-morrow dinner then?
OTHELLO.
I shall not dine at home;
I meet the captains at the citadel.
DESDEMONA.
Why then to-morrow night; or
Tuesday morn;
On Tuesday noon, or night; on
Wednesday morn:--
I pr'ythee, name the time; but
let it not
Exceed three days: in faith,
he's penitent;
And yet his trespass, in our
common reason,--
Save that, they say, the wars
must make examples
Out of their best,--is not almost
a fault
To incur a private check. When
shall he come?
Tell me, Othello: I wonder in
my soul,
What you would ask me, that I
should deny,
Or stand so mammering on. What!
Michael Cassio,
That came awooing with you; and
so many a time,
When I have spoke of you dispraisingly,
Hath ta'en your part;--to have
so much to do
To bring him in! Trust me, I
could do much,--
OTHELLO.
Pr'ythee, no more; let him come
when he will;
I will deny thee nothing.
DESDEMONA.
Why, this is not a boon;
'Tis as I should entreat you
wear your gloves,
Or feed on nourishing dishes,
or keep you warm,
Or sue to you to do a peculiar
profit
To your own person: nay, when
I have a suit
Wherein I mean to touch your
love indeed,
It shall be full of poise and
difficult weight,
And fearful to be granted.
OTHELLO.
I will deny thee nothing:
Whereon, I do beseech thee, grant
me this,
To leave me but a little to myself.
DESDEMONA.
Shall I deny you? no: farewell,
my lord.
OTHELLO.
Farewell, my Desdemona: I'll
come to thee straight.
DESDEMONA.
Emilia, come.--Be as your fancies
teach you;
Whate'er you be, I am obedient.
[Exit with Emilia.]
OTHELLO.
Excellent wretch! Perdition catch
my soul,
But I do love thee! and when
I love thee not,
Chaos is come again.
IAGO.
My noble lord,--
OTHELLO.
What dost thou say, Iago?
IAGO.
Did Michael Cassio, when you
woo'd my lady,
Know of your love?
OTHELLO.
He did, from first to last: why
dost thou ask?
IAGO.
But for a satisfaction of my
thought;
No further harm.
OTHELLO.
Why of thy thought, Iago?
IAGO.
I did not think he had been acquainted
with her.
OTHELLO.
O, yes; and went between us very
oft.
IAGO.
Indeed!
OTHELLO.
Indeed! ay, indeed:--discern'st
thou aught in that?
Is he not honest?
IAGO.
Honest, my lord!
OTHELLO.
Honest! ay, honest.
IAGO.
My lord, for aught I know.
OTHELLO.
What dost thou think?
IAGO.
Think, my lord!
OTHELLO.
Think, my lord!
By heaven, he echoes me,
As if there were some monster
in his thought
Too hideous to be shown.--Thou
dost mean something:
I heard thee say even now,--thou
lik'dst not that,
When Cassio left my wife. What
didst not like?
And when I told thee he was of
my counsel
In my whole course of wooing,
thou criedst, "Indeed!"
And didst contract and purse
thy brow together,
As if thou then hadst shut up
in thy brain
Some horrible conceit: if thou
dost love me,
Show me thy thought.
IAGO.
My lord, you know I love you.
OTHELLO.
I think thou dost;
And,--for I know thou'rt full
of love and honesty
And weigh'st thy words before
thou giv'st them breath,--
Therefore these stops of thine
fright me the more:
For such things in a false disloyal
knave
Are tricks of custom; but in
a man that's just
They're close delations, working
from the heart,
That passion cannot rule.
IAGO.
For Michael Cassio,
I dare be sworn I think that
he is honest.
OTHELLO.
I think so too.
IAGO.
Men should be what they seem;
Or those that be not, would they
might seem none!
OTHELLO.
Certain, men should be what they
seem.
IAGO.
Why, then, I think Cassio's an
honest man.
OTHELLO.
Nay, yet there's more in this:
I pr'ythee, speak to me as to
thy thinkings,
As thou dost ruminate; and give
thy worst of thoughts
The worst of words.
IAGO.
Good my lord, pardon me:
Though I am bound to every act
of duty,
I am not bound to that all slaves
are free to.
Utter my thoughts? Why, say they
are vile and false;--
As where's that palace whereinto
foul things
Sometimes intrude not? who has
a breast so pure
But some uncleanly apprehensions
Keep leets and law-days, and
in session sit
With meditations lawful?
OTHELLO.
Thou dost conspire against thy
friend, Iago,
If thou but think'st him wrong'd
and mak'st his ear
A stranger to thy thoughts.
IAGO.
I do beseech you,--
Though I perchance am vicious
in my guess,
As, I confess, it is my nature's
plague
To spy into abuses, and of my
jealousy
Shape faults that are not,--that
your wisdom yet,
From one that so imperfectly
conceits,
Would take no notice; nor build
yourself a trouble
Out of his scattering and unsure
observance:--
It were not for your quiet nor
your good,
Nor for my manhood, honesty,
or wisdom,
To let you know my thoughts.
OTHELLO.
What dost thou mean?
IAGO.
Good name in man and woman, dear
my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their
souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash;
'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has
been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my
good name
Robs me of that which not enriches
him
And makes me poor indeed.
OTHELLO.
By heaven, I'll know thy thoughts.
IAGO.
You cannot, if my heart were
in your hand;
Nor shall not, whilst 'tis in
my custody.
OTHELLO.
Ha!
IAGO.
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey'd monster
which doth mock
The meat it feeds on: that cuckold
lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves
not his wronger;
But O, what damned minutes tells
he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects,
yet strongly loves!
OTHELLO.
O misery!
IAGO.
Poor and content is rich, and
rich enough;
But riches fineless is as poor
as winter
To him that ever fears he shall
be poor;--
Good heaven, the souls of all
my tribe defend
From jealousy!
OTHELLO.
Why, why is this?
Think'st thou I'd make a life
of jealousy,
To follow still the changes of
the moon
With fresh suspicions? No; to
be once in doubt
Is once to be resolv'd: exchange
me for a goat
When I shall turn the business
of my soul
To such exsufflicate and blown
surmises,
Matching thy inference. 'Tis
not to make me jealous,
To say my wife is fair, feeds
well, loves company,
Is free of speech, sings, plays,
and dances well;
Where virtue is, these are more
virtuous:
Nor from mine own weak merits
will I draw
The smallest fear or doubt of
her revolt;
For she had eyes and chose me.
No, Iago;
I'll see before I doubt; when
I doubt, prove;
And on the proof, there is no
more but this,--
Away at once with love or jealousy!
IAGO.
I am glad of it; for now I shall
have reason
To show the love and duty that
I bear you
With franker spirit: therefore,
as I am bound,
Receive it from me:--I speak
not yet of proof.
Look to your wife; observe her
well with Cassio;
Wear your eye thus, not jealous
nor secure:
I would not have your free and
noble nature,
Out of self-bounty, be abus'd;
look to't.
I know our country disposition
well;
In Venice they do let heaven
see the pranks
They dare not show their husbands;
their best conscience
Is not to leave undone, but keep
unknown.
OTHELLO.
Dost thou say so?
IAGO.
She did deceive her father, marrying
you;
And when she seem'd to shake
and fear your looks,
She loved them most.
OTHELLO.
And so she did.
IAGO.
Why, go to then;
She that, so young, could give
out such a seeming,
To seal her father's eyes up
close as oak,--
He thought 'twas witchcraft,--but
I am much to blame;
I humbly do beseech you of your
pardon
For too much loving you.
OTHELLO.
I am bound to thee for ever.
IAGO.
I see this hath a little dash'd
your spirits.
OTHELLO.
Not a jot, not a jot.
IAGO.
Trust me, I fear it has.
I hope you will consider what
is spoke
Comes from my love; but I do
see you're mov'd:--
I am to pray you not to strain
my speech
To grosser issues nor to larger
reach
Than to suspicion.
OTHELLO.
I will not.
IAGO.
Should you do so, my lord,
My speech should fall into such
vile success
Which my thoughts aim'd not.
Cassio's my worthy friend:--
My lord, I see you're mov'd.
OTHELLO.
No, not much mov'd.
I do not think but Desdemona's
honest.
IAGO.
Long live she so! and long live
you to think so!
OTHELLO.
And yet, how nature erring from
itself,--
IAGO.
Ay, there's the point:--as,--to
be bold with you,--
Not to affect many proposed matches,
Of her own clime, complexion,
and degree,
Whereto we see in all things
nature tends,--
Foh! one may smell in such a
will most rank,
Foul disproportion, thoughts
unnatural:--
But pardon me: I do not in position
Distinctly speak of her; though
I may fear,
Her will, recoiling to her better
judgement,
May fall to match you with her
country forms,
And happily repent.
OTHELLO.
Farewell, farewell:
If more thou dost perceive, let
me know more;
Set on thy wife to observe: leave
me, Iago.
IAGO.
[Going.] My lord, I take my leave.
OTHELLO.
Why did I marry?--This honest
creature doubtless
Sees and knows more, much more,
than he unfolds.
IAGO.
[Returning.] My lord, I would
I might entreat your honour
To scan this thing no further;
leave it to time:
Though it be fit that Cassio
have his place,--
For sure he fills it up with
great ability,--
Yet, if you please to hold him
off awhile,
You shall by that perceive him
and his means:
Note if your lady strain his
entertainment
With any strong or vehement importunity;
Much will be seen in that. In
the meantime,
Let me be thought too busy in
my fears,--
As worthy cause I have to fear
I am,--
And hold her free, I do beseech
your honour.
OTHELLO.
Fear not my government.
IAGO.
I once more take my leave.
[Exit.]
OTHELLO.
This fellow's of exceeding honesty,
And knows all qualities, with
a learned spirit,
Of human dealings. If I do prove
her haggard,
Though that her jesses were my
dear heartstrings,
I'd whistle her off, and let
her down the wind
To prey at fortune. Haply, for
I am black,
And have not those soft parts
of conversation
That chamberers have; or for
I am declin'd
Into the vale of years,--yet
that's not much,--
She's gone; I am abus'd, and
my relief
Must be to loathe her. O curse
of marriage,
That we can call these delicate
creatures ours,
And not their appetites! I had
rather be a toad,
And live upon the vapor of a
dungeon,
Than keep a corner in the thing
I love
For others' uses. Yet, 'tis the
plague of great ones:
Prerogativ'd are they less than
the base;
'Tis destiny unshunnable, like
death:
Even then this forked plague
is fated to us
When we do quicken. Desdemona
comes:
If she be false, O, then heaven
mocks itself!--
I'll not believe't.
[Re-enter Desdemona and Emilia.]
DESDEMONA.
How now, my dear Othello!
Your dinner, and the generous
islanders
By you invited, do attend your
presence.
OTHELLO.
I am to blame.
DESDEMONA.
Why do you speak so faintly?
Are you not well?
OTHELLO.
I have a pain upon my forehead
here.
DESDEMONA.
Faith, that's with watching;
'twill away again;
Let me but bind it hard, within
this hour
It will be well.
OTHELLO.
Your napkin is too little;
[He puts the handkerchief from
him, and she drops it.]
Let it alone. Come, I'll go
in with you.
DESDEMONA.
I am very sorry that you are
not well.
[Exeunt Othello and Desdemona.]
EMILIA.
I am glad I have found this napkin;
This was her first remembrance
from the Moor.
My wayward husband hath a hundred
times
Woo'd me to steal it; but she
so loves the token,--
For he conjur'd her she should
ever keep it,--
That she reserves it evermore
about her
To kiss and talk to. I'll have
the work ta'en out,
And give't Iago:
What he will do with it heaven
knows, not I;
I nothing but to please his fantasy.
[Re-enter Iago.]
IAGO.
How now! what do you here alone?
EMILIA.
Do not you chide; I have a thing
for you.
IAGO.
A thing for me!--it is a common
thing.
EMILIA.
Ha!
IAGO.
To have a foolish wife.
EMILIA.
O, is that all? What will you
give me now
For that same handkerchief?
IAGO.
What handkerchief?
EMILIA.
What handkerchief!
Why, that the Moor first gave
to Desdemona;
That which so often you did bid
me steal.
IAGO.
Hast stol'n it from her?
EMILIA.
No, faith; she let it drop by
negligence,
And, to the advantage, I being
here, took't up.
Look, here it is.
IAGO.
A good wench; give it me.
EMILIA.
What will you do with't, that
you have been so earnest
To have me filch it?
IAGO.
[Snatching it.] Why, what's that
to you?
EMILIA.
If it be not for some purpose
of import,
Give't me again: poor lady, she'll
run mad
When she shall lack it.
IAGO.
Be not acknown on't; I have use
for it.
Go, leave me.
[Exit Emilia.]
I will in Cassio's lodging lose
this napkin,
And let him find it. Trifles
light as air
Are to the jealous confirmations
strong
As proofs of holy writ: this
may do something.
The Moor already changes with
my poison:
Dangerous conceits are in their
natures poisons,
Which at the first are scarce
found to distaste,
But, with a little act upon the
blood,
Burn like the mines of sulphur.--I
did say so:--
Look, where he comes!
Not poppy, nor mandragora,
Nor all the drowsy syrups of
the world,
Shall ever medicine thee to that
sweet sleep
Which thou ow'dst yesterday.
[Re-enter Othello.]
OTHELLO.
Ha! ha! false to me?
IAGO.
Why, how now, general! no more
of that.
OTHELLO.
Avaunt! be gone! thou hast set
me on the rack:--
I swear 'tis better to be much
abus'd
Than but to know't a little.
IAGO.
How now, my lord!
OTHELLO.
What sense had I of her stol'n
hours of lust?
I saw't not, thought it not,
it harm'd not me:
I slept the next night well,
was free and merry;
I found not Cassio's kisses on
her lips:
He that is robb'd, not wanting
what is stol'n,
Let him not know't and he's not
robb'd at all.
IAGO.
I am sorry to hear this.
OTHELLO.
I had been happy if the general
camp,
Pioners and all, had tasted her
sweet body,
So I had nothing known. O, now,
for ever
Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell
content!
Farewell the plumed troop and
the big wars
That make ambition virtue! O,
farewell,
Farewell the neighing steed and
the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, the
ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance
of glorious war!
And, O you mortal engines, whose
rude throats
The immortal Jove's dread clamors
counterfeit,
Farewell! Othello's occupation's
gone!
IAGO.
Is't possible, my lord?--
OTHELLO.
Villain, be sure thou prove my
love a whore;--
[Taking him by the throat.]
Be sure of it. Give me the ocular
proof;
Or, by the worth of man's eternal
soul,
Thou hadst been better have been
born a dog
Than answer my wak'd wrath!
IAGO.
Is't come to this?
OTHELLO.
Make me to see't; or at the least
so prove it,
That the probation bear no hinge
nor loop
To hang a doubt on; or woe upon
thy life!
IAGO.
My noble lord,--
OTHELLO.
If thou dost slander her and
torture me,
Never pray more; abandon all
remorse;
On horror's head horrors accumulate;
Do deeds to make heaven weep,
all earth amaz'd;
For nothing canst thou to damnation
add
Greater than that.
IAGO.
O grace! O heaven defend me!
Are you a man? have you a soul
or sense?--
God be wi' you; take mine office.--O
wretched fool,
That liv'st to make thine honesty
a vice!--
O monstrous world! Take note,
take note, O world,
To be direct and honest is not
safe.--
I thank you for this profit;
and from hence
I'll love no friend, sith love
breeds such offense.
OTHELLO.
Nay, stay:--thou shouldst be
honest.
IAGO.
I should be wise; for honesty's
a fool,
And loses that it works for.
OTHELLO.
By the world,
I think my wife be honest, and
think she is not;
I think that thou art just, and
think thou art not:
I'll have some proof: her name,
that was as fresh
As Dian's visage, is now begrim'd
and black
As mine own face.--If there be
cords or knives,
Poison or fire, or suffocating
streams,
I'll not endure 't.--Would I
were satisfied!
IAGO.
I see, sir, you are eaten up
with passion:
I do repent me that I put it
to you.
You would be satisfied?
OTHELLO.
Would! nay, I will.
IAGO.
And may: but how? how satisfied,
my lord?
Would you, the supervisor, grossly
gape on,--
Behold her tupp'd?
OTHELLO.
Death and damnation! O!
IAGO.
It were a tedious difficulty,
I think,
To bring them to that prospect:
damn them then,
If ever mortal eyes do see them
bolster
More than their own! What then?
how then?
What shall I say? Where's satisfaction?
It is impossible you should see
this
Were they as prime as goats,
as hot as monkeys,
As salt as wolves in pride, and
fools as gross
As ignorance made drunk. But
yet, I say,
If imputation and strong circumstances,--
Which lead directly to the door
of truth,--
Will give you satisfaction, you
may have't.
OTHELLO.
Give me a living reason she's
disloyal.
IAGO.
I do not like the office;
But, sith I am enter'd in this
cause so far,--
Prick'd to it by foolish honesty
and love,--
I will go on. I lay with Cassio
lately;
And, being troubled with a raging
tooth,
I could not sleep.
There are a kind of men so loose
of soul,
That in their sleeps will mutter
their affairs:
One of this kind is Cassio:
In sleep I heard him say, "Sweet
Desdemona,
Let us be wary, let us hide our
loves";
And then, sir, would he gripe
and wring my hand,
Cry, "O sweet creature!" and
then kiss me hard,
As if he pluck'd up kisses by
the roots,
That grew upon my lips: then
laid his leg
Over my thigh, and sigh'd and
kiss'd; and then
Cried, "Cursed fate that
gave thee to the Moor!"
OTHELLO.
O monstrous! monstrous!
IAGO.
Nay, this was but his dream.
OTHELLO.
But this denoted a foregone conclusion:
'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it
be but a dream.
IAGO.
And this may help to thicken
other proofs
That do demonstrate thinly.
OTHELLO.
I'll tear her all to pieces.
IAGO.
Nay, but be wise: yet we see
nothing done;
She may be honest yet. Tell me
but this,--
Have you not sometimes seen a
handkerchief
Spotted with strawberries in
your wife's hand?
OTHELLO.
I gave her such a one; 'twas
my first gift.
IAGO.
I know not that: but such a handkerchief,--
I am sure it was your wife's,--did
I today
See Cassio wipe his beard with.
OTHELLO.
If it be that,--
IAGO.
If it be that, or any that was
hers,
It speaks against her with the
other proofs.
OTHELLO.
O, that the slave had forty thousand
lives,--
One is too poor, too weak for
my revenge!
Now do I see 'tis true.--Look
here, Iago;
All my fond love thus do I blow
to heaven:
'Tis gone.--
Arise, black vengeance, from
thy hollow hell!
Yield up, O love, thy crown and
hearted throne
To tyrannous hate! swell, bosom,
with thy fraught,
For 'tis of aspics' tongues!
IAGO.
Yet be content.
OTHELLO.
O, blood, Iago, blood!
IAGO.
Patience, I say; your mind perhaps
may change.
OTHELLO.
Never, Iago. Like to the Pontic
Sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive
course
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but
keeps due on
To the Propontic and the Hellespont;
Even so my bloody thoughts, with
violent pace,
Shall ne'er look back, ne'er
ebb to humble love,
Till that a capable and wide
revenge
Swallow them up.--Now, by yond
marble heaven,
In the due reverence of a sacred
vow
[Kneels.]
I here engage my words.
IAGO.
Do not rise yet.--
[Kneels.]
Witness, you ever-burning lights
above,
You elements that clip us round
about,--
Witness that here Iago doth give
up
The execution of his wit, hands,
heart,
To wrong'd Othello's service!
Let him command,
And to obey shall be in me remorse,
What bloody business ever.
OTHELLO.
I greet thy love,
Not with vain thanks, but with
acceptance bounteous,
And will upon the instant put
thee to't:
Within these three days let me
hear thee say
That Cassio's not alive.
IAGO.
My friend is dead; 'tis done
at your request:
But let her live.
OTHELLO.
Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn
her!
Come, go with me apart; I will
withdraw
To furnish me with some swift
means of death
For the fair devil. Now art thou
my lieutenant.
IAGO.
I am your own for ever.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV. Cyprus. Before the
Castle.
[Enter Desdemona, Emilia, and
Clown.]
DESDEMONA.
Do you know, sirrah, where Lieutenant
Cassio lies?
CLOWN.
I dare not say he lies anywhere.
DESDEMONA.
Why, man?
CLOWN.
He's a soldier; and for one to
say a soldier lies is
stabbing.
DESDEMONA.
Go to: where lodges he?
CLOWN.
To tell you where he lodges is
to tell you where I lie.
DESDEMONA.
Can anything be made of this?
CLOWN.
I know not where he lodges; and
for me to devise a
lodging, and say he lies here
or he lies there were to lie
in
mine own throat.
DESDEMONA.
Can you inquire him out, and
be edified by report?
CLOWN.
I will catechize the world for
him; that is, make
questions and by them answer.
DESDEMONA.
Seek him, bid him come hither:
tell him I have moved
my lord on his behalf, and hope
all will be well.
CLOWN.
To do this is within the compass
of man's wit; and
therefore I will attempt the
doing it.
[Exit.]
DESDEMONA.
Where should I lose that handkerchief,
Emilia?
EMILIA.
I know not, madam.
DESDEMONA.
Believe me, I had rather have
lost my purse
Full of crusadoes: and, but my
noble Moor
Is true of mind and made of no
such baseness
As jealous creatures are, it
were enough
To put him to ill thinking.
EMILIA.
Is he not jealous?
DESDEMONA.
Who, he? I think the sun where
he was born
Drew all such humours from him.
EMILIA.
Look, where he comes.
DESDEMONA.
I will not leave him now till
Cassio
Be call'd to him.
[Enter Othello.]
How is't with you, my lord?
OTHELLO.
Well, my good lady.--[Aside.]
O, hardness to dissemble!--
How do you, Desdemona?
DESDEMONA.
Well, my good lord.
OTHELLO.
Give me your hand: this hand
is moist, my lady.
DESDEMONA.
It yet hath felt no age nor known
no sorrow.
OTHELLO.
This argues fruitfulness and
liberal heart:--
Hot, hot, and moist: this hand
of yours requires
A sequester from liberty, fasting,
and prayer,
Much castigation, exercise devout;
For here's a young and sweating
devil here
That commonly rebels. 'Tis a
good hand,
A frank one.
DESDEMONA.
You may, indeed, say so;
For 'twas that hand that gave
away my heart.
OTHELLO.
A liberal hand: the hearts of
old gave hands;
But our new heraldry is hands,
not hearts.
DESDEMONA.
I cannot speak of this. Come
now, your promise.
OTHELLO.
What promise, chuck?
DESDEMONA.
I have sent to bid Cassio come
speak with you.
OTHELLO.
I have a salt and sorry rheum
offends me;
Lend me thy handkerchief.
DESDEMONA.
Here, my lord.
OTHELLO.
That which I gave you.
DESDEMONA.
I have it not about me.
OTHELLO.
Not?
DESDEMONA.
No, faith, my lord.
OTHELLO.
That is a fault.
That handkerchief
Did an Egyptian to my mother
give;
She was a charmer, and could
almost read
The thoughts of people: she told
her, while she kept it,
'Twould make her amiable and
subdue my father
Entirely to her love; but if
she lost it
Or made a gift of it, my father's
eye
Should hold her loathed, and
his spirits should hunt
After new fancies: she, dying,
gave it me;
And bid me, when my fate would
have me wive,
To give it her. I did so: and
take heed on't;
Make it a darling like your precious
eye;
To lose't or give't away were
such perdition
As nothing else could match.
DESDEMONA.
Is't possible?
OTHELLO.
'Tis true: there's magic in the
web of it:
A sibyl, that had number'd in
the world
The sun to course two hundred
compasses,
In her prophetic fury sew'd the
work;
The worms were hallow'd that
did breed the silk;
And it was dy'd in mummy which
the skillful
Conserv'd of maiden's hearts.
DESDEMONA.
Indeed! is't true?
OTHELLO.
Most veritable; therefore look
to't well.
DESDEMONA.
Then would to God that I had
never seen't!
OTHELLO.
Ha! wherefore?
DESDEMONA.
Why do you speak so startingly
and rash?
OTHELLO.
Is't lost? is't gone? speak,
is it out of the way?
DESDEMONA.
Heaven bless us!
OTHELLO.
Say you?
DESDEMONA.
It is not lost; but what an if
it were?
OTHELLO.
How!
DESDEMONA.
I say, it is not lost.
OTHELLO.
Fetch't, let me see't.
DESDEMONA.
Why, so I can, sir, but I will
not now.
This is a trick to put me from
my suit:
Pray you, let Cassio be receiv'd
again.
OTHELLO.
Fetch me the handkerchief: my
mind misgives.
DESDEMONA.
Come, come;
You'll never meet a more sufficient
man.
OTHELLO.
The handkerchief!
DESDEMONA.
I pray, talk me of Cassio.
OTHELLO.
The handkerchief!
DESDEMONA.
A man that all his time
Hath founded his good fortunes
on your love,
Shar'd dangers with you,--
OTHELLO.
The handkerchief!
DESDEMONA.
In sooth, you are to blame.
OTHELLO.
Away!
[Exit.]
EMILIA.
Is not this man jealous?
DESDEMONA.
I ne'er saw this before.
Sure there's some wonder in this
handkerchief;
I am most unhappy in the loss
of it.
EMILIA.
'Tis not a year or two shows
us a man:
They are all but stomachs and
we all but food:
They eat us hungerly, and when
they are full,
They belch us.--Look you,--Cassio
and my husband.
[Enter Cassio and Iago.]
IAGO.
There is no other way; 'tis she
must do't:
And, lo, the happiness! go and
importune her.
DESDEMONA.
How now, good Cassio! what's
the news with you?
CASSIO.
Madam, my former suit: I do beseech
you
That by your virtuous means I
may again
Exist, and be a member of his
love,
Whom I, with all the office of
my heart,
Entirely honour: I would not
be delay'd.
If my offence be of such mortal
kind
That nor my service past, nor
present sorrows,
Nor purpos'd merit in futurity,
Can ransom me into his love again,
But to know so must be my benefit;
So shall I clothe me in a forc'd
content,
And shut myself up in some other
course,
To fortune's alms.
DESDEMONA.
Alas, thrice-gentle Cassio!
My advocation is not now in tune;
My lord is not my lord; nor should
I know him
Were he in favour as in humour
alter'd.
So help me every spirit sanctified,
As I have spoken for you all
my best,
And stood within the blank of
his displeasure
For my free speech! You must
awhile be patient:
What I can do I will; and more
I will
Than for myself I dare: let that
suffice you.
IAGO.
Is my lord angry?
EMILIA.
He went hence but now,
And certainly in strange unquietness.
IAGO.
Can he be angry? I have seen
the cannon,
When it hath blown his ranks
into the air
And, like the devil, from his
very arm
Puff'd his own brother;--and
can he be angry?
Something of moment, then: I
will go meet him:
There's matter in't indeed if
he be angry.
DESDEMONA.
I pr'ythee, do so.
[Exit Iago.]
Something sure of state,--
Either from Venice or some unhatch'd
practice
Made demonstrable here in Cyprus
to him,--
Hath puddled his clear spirit,
and in such cases
Men's natures wrangle with inferior
things,
Though great ones are their object.
'Tis even so;
For let our finger ache, and
it indues
Our other healthful members even
to that sense
Of pain: nay, we must think men
are not gods,
Nor of them look for such observancy
As fits the bridal.--Beshrew
me much, Emilia,
I was,--unhandsome warrior as
I am,--
Arraigning his unkindness with
my soul;
But now I find I had suborn'd
the witness,
And he's indicted falsely.
EMILIA.
Pray heaven it be state matters,
as you think,
And no conception nor no jealous
toy
Concerning you.
DESDEMONA.
Alas the day, I never gave him
cause!
EMILIA.
But jealous souls will not be
answer'd so;
They are not ever jealous for
the cause,
But jealous for they are jealous:
'tis a monster
Begot upon itself, born on itself.
DESDEMONA.
Heaven keep that monster from
Othello's mind!
EMILIA.
Lady, amen.
DESDEMONA.
I will go seek him.--Cassio,
walk hereabout:
If I do find him fit, I'll move
your suit,
And seek to effect it to my uttermost.
CASSIO.
I humbly thank your ladyship.
[Exeunt Desdemona and Emilia.]
[Enter Bianca.]
BIANCA.
Save you, friend Cassio!
CASSIO.
What make you from home?
How is it with you, my most fair
Bianca?
I'faith, sweet love, I was coming
to your house.
BIANCA.
And I was going to your lodging,
Cassio.
What, keep a week away? seven
days and nights?
Eight score eight hours? and
lovers' absent hours,
More tedious than the dial eight
score times?
O weary reckoning!
CASSIO.
Pardon me, Bianca:
I have this while with leaden
thoughts been press'd;
But I shall in a more continuate
time
Strike off this score of absence.
Sweet Bianca,
[Giving her Desdemona's handkerchief.]
Take me this work out.
BIANCA.
O Cassio, whence came this?
This is some token from a newer
friend.
To the felt absence now I feel
a cause:
Is't come to this? Well, well.
CASSIO.
Go to, woman!
Throw your vile guesses in the
devil's teeth,
From whence you have them. You
are jealous now
That this is from some mistress,
some remembrance:
No, in good troth, Bianca.
BIANCA.
Why, whose is it?
CASSIO.
I know not neither: I found it
in my chamber.
I like the work well: ere it
be demanded,--
As like enough it will,--I'd
have it copied:
Take it, and do't; and leave
me for this time.
BIANCA.
Leave you! wherefore?
CASSIO.
I do attend here on the general;
And think it no addition, nor
my wish,
To have him see me woman'd.
BIANCA.
Why, I pray you?
CASSIO.
Not that I love you not.
BIANCA.
But that you do not love me.
I pray you, bring me on the way
a little;
And say if I shall see you soon
at night.
CASSIO.
'Tis but a little way that I
can bring you,
For I attend here: but I'll see
you soon.
BIANCA.
'Tis very good; I must be circumstanc'd.
[Exeunt.]
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