SCENE I. A seaport in Cyprus.
A Platform.
[Enter Montano and two Gentlemen.]
MONTANO.
What from the cape can you discern
at sea?
FIRST GENTLEMAN.
Nothing at all: it is a high-wrought
flood;
I cannot, 'twixt the heaven and
the main,
Descry a sail.
MONTANO.
Methinks the wind hath spoke
aloud at land;
A fuller blast ne'er shook our
battlements:
If it hath ruffian'd so upon
the sea,
What ribs of oak, when mountains
melt on them,
Can hold the mortise? What shall
we hear of this?
SECOND GENTLEMAN.
A segregation of the Turkish
fleet:
For do but stand upon the foaming
shore,
The chidden billow seems to pelt
the clouds;
The wind-shak'd surge, with high
and monstrous main,
Seems to cast water on the burning
Bear,
And quench the guards of the
ever-fixed pole;
I never did like molestation
view
On the enchafed flood.
MONTANO.
If that the Turkish fleet
Be not enshelter'd and embay'd,
they are drown'd;
It is impossible to bear it out.
[Enter a third Gentleman.]
THIRD GENTLEMAN.
News, lads! our wars are done.
The desperate tempest hath so
bang'd the Turks
That their designment halts;
a noble ship of Venice
Hath seen a grievous wreck and
sufferance
On most part of their fleet.
MONTANO.
How! is this true?
THIRD GENTLEMAN.
The ship is here put in,
A Veronessa; Michael Cassio,
Lieutenant to the warlike Moor
Othello,
Is come on shore: the Moor himself's
at sea,
And is in full commission here
for Cyprus.
MONTANO.
I am glad on't; 'tis a worthy
governor.
THIRD GENTLEMAN.
But this same Cassio,--though
he speak of comfort
Touching the Turkish loss,--yet
he looks sadly,
And prays the Moor be safe; for
they were parted
With foul and violent tempest.
MONTANO.
Pray heavens he be;
For I have serv'd him, and the
man commands
Like a full soldier. Let's to
the sea-side, ho!
As well to see the vessel that's
come in
As to throw out our eyes for
brave Othello,
Even till we make the main and
the aerial blue
An indistinct regard.
THIRD GENTLEMAN.
Come, let's do so;
For every minute is expectancy
Of more arrivance.
[Enter Cassio.]
CASSIO.
Thanks you, the valiant of this
warlike isle,
That so approve the Moor! O,
let the heavens
Give him defence against the
elements,
For I have lost him on a dangerous
sea!
MONTANO.
Is he well shipp'd?
CASSIO.
His bark is stoutly timber'd,
and his pilot
Of very expert and approv'd allowance;
Therefore my hopes, not surfeited
to death,
Stand in bold cure.
[Within.] A sail, a sail, a
sail!
[Enter a fourth Gentleman.]
CASSIO.
What noise?
FOURTH GENTLEMAN.
The town is empty; on the brow
o' the sea
Stand ranks of people, and
they cry, "A sail!"
CASSIO.
My hopes do shape him for the
governor.
[Guns within.]
SECOND GENTLEMAN.
They do discharge their shot
of courtesy:
Our friends at least.
CASSIO.
I pray you, sir, go forth,
And give us truth who 'tis that
is arriv'd.
SECOND GENTLEMAN.
I shall.
[Exit.]
MONTANO.
But, good lieutenant, is your
general wiv'd?
CASSIO.
Most fortunately: he hath achiev'd
a maid
That paragons description and
wild fame,
One that excels the quirks of
blazoning pens,
And in the essential vesture
of creation
Does tire the ingener.--
[Re-enter second Gentleman.]
How now! who has put in?
SECOND GENTLEMAN.
'Tis one Iago, ancient to the
general.
CASSIO.
Has had most favourable and happy
speed:
Tempests themselves, high seas,
and howling winds,
The gutter'd rocks, and congregated
sands,--
Traitors ensteep'd to clog the
guiltless keel,--
As having sense of beauty, do
omit
Their mortal natures, letting
go safely by
The divine Desdemona.
MONTANO.
What is she?
CASSIO.
She that I spake of, our great
captain's captain,
Left in the conduct of the bold
Iago;
Whose footing here anticipates
our thoughts
A se'nnight's speed.--Great Jove,
Othello guard,
And swell his sail with thine
own powerful breath,
That he may bless this bay with
his tall ship,
Make love's quick pants in Desdemona's
arms,
Give renew'd fire to our extincted
spirits,
And bring all Cyprus comfort!
O, behold,
[Enter Desdemona, Emilia, Iago,
Roderigo, and Attendants.]
The riches of the ship is come
on shore!
Ye men of Cyprus, let her have
your knees.--
Hall to thee, lady! and the grace
of heaven,
Before, behind thee, and on every
hand,
Enwheel thee round!
DESDEMONA.
I thank you, valiant Cassio.
What tidings can you tell me
of my lord?
CASSIO.
He is not yet arrived nor know
I aught
But that he's well, and will
be shortly here.
DESDEMONA.
O, but I fear--How lost you company?
CASSIO.
The great contention of the sea
and skies
Parted our fellowship:--but,
hark! a sail.
[Within.] A sail, a sail!
[Guns within.]
SECOND GENTLEMAN.
They give their greeting to the
citadel:
This likewise is a friend.
CASSIO.
See for the news.
[Exit Gentleman.]
Good ancient, you are welcome:--Welcome,
mistress:--[To Emilia.]
Let it not gall your patience,
good Iago,
That I extend my manners; 'tis
my breeding
That gives me this bold show
of courtesy.
[Kissing her.]
IAGO.
Sir, would she give you so much
of her lips
As of her tongue she oft bestows
on me,
You'd have enough.
DESDEMONA.
Alas, she has no speech.
IAGO.
In faith, too much;
I find it still when I have list
to sleep:
Marry, before your ladyship,
I grant,
She puts her tongue a little
in her heart,
And chides with thinking.
EMILIA.
You have little cause to say
so.
IAGO.
Come on, come on; you are pictures
out of doors,
Bells in your parlours, wild
cats in your kitchens,
Saints in your injuries, devils
being offended,
Players in your housewifery,
and housewives in your beds.
DESDEMONA.
O, fie upon thee, slanderer!
IAGO.
Nay, it is true, or else I am
a Turk:
You rise to play, and go to bed
to work.
EMILIA.
You shall not write my praise.
IAGO.
No, let me not.
DESDEMONA.
What wouldst thou write of me,
if thou shouldst praise me?
IAGO.
O gentle lady, do not put me
to't;
For I am nothing if not critical.
DESDEMONA.
Come on, assay--There's one gone
to the harbor?
IAGO.
Ay, madam.
DESDEMONA.
I am not merry; but I do beguile
The thing I am, by seeming otherwise.--
Come, how wouldst thou praise
me?
IAGO.
I am about it; but, indeed, my
invention
Comes from my pate as birdlime
does from frize,--
It plucks out brains and all:
but my Muse labours,
And thus she is deliver'd.
If she be fair and wise,--fairness
and wit,
The one's for use, the other
useth it.
DESDEMONA.
Well prais'd! How if she be black
and witty?
IAGO.
If she be black, and thereto
have a wit,
She'll find a white that shall
her blackness fit.
DESDEMONA.
Worse and worse.
EMILIA.
How if fair and foolish?
IAGO.
She never yet was foolish that
was fair;
For even her folly help'd her
to an heir.
DESDEMONA.
These are old fond paradoxes
to make fools laugh i' the
alehouse. What miserable praise
hast thou for her that's foul
and foolish?
IAGO.
There's none so foul and foolish
thereunto,
But does foul pranks which fair
and wise ones do.
DESDEMONA.
O heavy ignorance!--thou praisest
the worst best. But what
praise couldst thou bestow on
a deserving woman indeed,--one
that, in the authority of her
merit, did justly put on the
vouch
of very malice itself?
IAGO.
She that was ever fair and never
proud;
Had tongue at will and yet was
never loud;
Never lack'd gold and yet went
never gay;
Fled from her wish, and yet said, "Now
I may";
She that, being anger'd, her
revenge being nigh,
Bade her wrong stay and her displeasure
fly;
She that in wisdom never was
so frail
To change the cod's head for
the salmon's tail;
She that could think and ne'er
disclose her mind;
See suitors following and not
look behind;
She was a wight, if ever such
wight were;--
DESDEMONA.
To do what?
IAGO.
To suckle fools and chronicle
small beer.
DESDEMONA.
O most lame and impotent conclusion!--Do
not learn of him,
Emilia, though he be thy husband.--How
say you, Cassio? is he
not a most profane and liberal
counsellor?
CASSIO.
He speaks home, madam: you may
relish him more in the
soldier than in the scholar.
IAGO.
[Aside.] He takes her by the
palm: ay, well said, whisper:
with as little a web as this
will I ensnare as great a fly
as
Cassio. Ay, smile upon her, do;
I will gyve thee in thine own
courtship. You say true; 'tis
so, indeed: if such tricks as
these strip you out of your lieutenantry,
it had been better you
had not kissed your three fingers
so oft, which now again you are
most apt to play the sir in.
Very good; well kissed! an excellent
courtesy! 'tis so, indeed. Yet
again your fingers to your lips?
Would they were clyster-pipes
for your sake! [Trumpet within.]--
The Moor! I know his trumpet.
CASSIO.
'Tis truly so.
DESDEMONA.
Let's meet him, and receive him.
CASSIO.
Lo, where he comes!
[Enter Othello and Attendants.]
OTHELLO.
O my fair warrior!
DESDEMONA.
My dear Othello!
OTHELLO.
It gives me wonder great as my
content
To see you here before me. O
my soul's joy!
If after every tempest come such
calms,
May the winds blow till they
have waken'd death!
And let the laboring bark climb
hills of seas
Olympus-high, and duck again
as low
As hell's from heaven! If it
were now to die,
'Twere now to be most happy;
for, I fear,
My soul hath her content so absolute
That not another comfort like
to this
Succeeds in unknown fate.
DESDEMONA.
The heavens forbid
But that our loves and comforts
should increase
Even as our days do grow!
OTHELLO.
Amen to that, sweet powers!--
I cannot speak enough of this
content;
It stops me here; it is too much
of joy:
And this, and this, the greatest
discords be
[Kissing her.]
That e'er our hearts shall make!
IAGO.
[Aside.] O, you are well tun'd
now!
But I'll set down the pegs that
make this music,
As honest as I am.
OTHELLO.
Come, let us to the castle.--
News, friends; our wars are done,
the Turks are drown'd.
How does my old acquaintance
of this isle?
Honey, you shall be well desir'd
in Cyprus;
I have found great love amongst
them. O my sweet,
I prattle out of fashion, and
I dote
In mine own comforts.--I pry'thee,
good Iago,
Go to the bay and disembark my
coffers:
Bring thou the master to the
citadel;
He is a good one, and his worthiness
Does challenge much respect.--Come,
Desdemona,
Once more well met at Cyprus.
[Exeunt Othello, Desdemona,
and Attendants.]
IAGO.
Do thou meet me presently at
the harbour. Come hither. If
thou
be'st valiant,--as, they say,
base men being in love have then
a
nobility in their natures more
than is native to them,--list
me.
The lieutenant to-night watches
on the court of guard: first,
I
must tell thee this--Desdemona
is directly in love with him.
RODERIGO.
With him! why, 'tis not possible.
IAGO.
Lay thy finger thus, and let
thy soul be instructed. Mark
me
with what violence she first
loved the Moor, but for bragging,
and telling her fantastical lies:
and will she love him still for
prating? let not thy discreet
heart think it. Her eye must
be
fed; and what delight shall she
have to look on the devil? When
the blood is made dull with the
act of sport, there should
be,--again to inflame it and
to give satiety a fresh appetite,--
loveliness in favour; sympathy
in years, manners, and beauties;
all which the Moor is defective
in: now, for want of these
required conveniences, her delicate
tenderness will find itself
abused, begin to heave the gorge,
disrelish and abhor the Moor;
very nature will instruct her
in it, and compel her to some
second choice. Now sir, this
granted;--as it is a most pregnant
and unforced position,--who stands
so eminently in the degree of
this fortune as Cassio does?
a knave very voluble; no further
conscionable than in putting
on the mere form of civil and
humane seeming, for the better
compass of his salt and most
hidden loose affection? why,
none; why, none;--a slipper and
subtle knave; a finder out of
occasions; that has an eye can
stamp and counterfeit advantages,
though true advantage never
present itself: a devilish knave!
besides, the knave is
handsome, young, and hath all
those requisites in him that
folly
and green minds look after: a
pestilent complete knave; and
the
woman hath found him already.
RODERIGO.
I cannot believe that in her;
she is full of most blessed
condition.
IAGO.
Blest fig's end! the wine she
drinks is made of grapes: if
she had been blessed, she would
never have loved the Moor:
blessed pudding! Didst thou not
see her paddle with the palm
of
his hand? didst not mark that?
RODERIGO.
Yes, that I did; but that was
but courtesy.
IAGO.
Lechery, by this hand; an index
and obscure prologue to the
history of lust and foul thoughts.
They met so near with their
lips that their breaths embraced
together. Villainous thoughts,
Roderigo! when these mutualities
so marshal the way, hard at
hand comes the master and main
exercise, the incorporate
conclusion: pish!--But, sir,
be you ruled by me: I have brought
you from Venice. Watch you to-night:
for the command, I'll lay't
upon you: Cassio knows you not:--I'll
not be far from you: do you
find some occasion to anger Cassio,
either by speaking too loud,
or tainting his discipline, or
from what other course you
please, which the time shall
more favourably minister.
RODERIGO.
Well.
IAGO.
Sir, he is rash, and very sudden
in choler, and haply with his
truncheon may strike at you:
provoke him, that he may; for
even
out of that will I cause these
of Cyprus to mutiny, whose
qualification shall come into
no true taste again but by the
displanting of Cassio. So shall
you have a shorter journey to
your desires by the means I shall
then have to prefer them; and
the impediment most profitably
removed, without the which there
were no expectation of our prosperity.
RODERIGO.
I will do this, if I can bring
it to any opportunity.
IAGO.
I warrant thee. Meet me by and
by at the citadel: I must
fetch his necessaries ashore.
Farewell.
RODERIGO.
Adieu.
[Exit.]
IAGO.
That Cassio loves her, I do well
believe it;
That she loves him, 'tis apt,
and of great credit:
The Moor,--howbeit that I endure
him not,--
Is of a constant, loving, noble
nature;
And, I dare think, he'll prove
to Desdemona
A most dear husband. Now, I do
love her too;
Not out of absolute lust,--though,
peradventure,
I stand accountant for as great
a sin,-
But partly led to diet my revenge,
For that I do suspect the lusty
Moor
Hath leap'd into my seat: the
thought whereof
Doth, like a poisonous mineral,
gnaw my inwards;
And nothing can or shall content
my soul
Till I am even'd with him, wife
for wife;
Or, failing so, yet that I put
the Moor
At least into a jealousy so strong
That judgement cannot cure. Which
thing to do,--
If this poor trash of Venice,
whom I trash
For his quick hunting, stand
the putting on,
I'll have our Michael Cassio
on the hip;
Abuse him to the Moor in the
rank garb,--
For I fear Cassio with my night-cap
too;--
Make the Moor thank me, love
me, and reward me
For making him egregiously an
ass
And practicing upon his peace
and quiet
Even to madness. 'Tis here, but
yet confus'd:
Knavery's plain face is never
seen till us'd.
[Exit.]
SCENE II. A street.
[Enter a Herald with a proclamation;
People following.]
HERALD.
It is Othello's pleasure, our
noble and valiant general,
that upon certain tidings now
arrived, importing the mere
perdition of the Turkish fleet,
every man put himself into
triumph; some to dance, some
to make bonfires, each man to
what sport and revels his addiction
leads him: for, besides these
beneficial news, it is the celebration
of his nuptial:--so
much was his pleasure should
be proclaimed. All offices are
open;
and there is full liberty of
feasting from this present hour
of
five till the bell have told
eleven. Heaven bless the isle
of
Cyprus and our noble general
Othello!
[Exeunt.]
SCENE III. A Hall in the Castle.
[Enter Othello, Desdemona, Cassio,
and Attendants.]
OTHELLO.
Good Michael, look you to the
guard to-night:
Let's teach ourselves that honourable
stop,
Not to out-sport discretion.
CASSIO.
Iago hath direction what to do;
But, notwithstanding, with my
personal eye
Will I look to't.
OTHELLO.
Iago is most honest.
Michael, good night: to-morrow
with your earliest
Let me have speech with you.--Come,
my dear love,--[To Desdemona]
The purchase made, the fruits
are to ensue;
That profit's yet to come 'tween
me and you.--
Good-night.
[Exeunt Othello, Desdemona,
and Attendants.]
[Enter Iago.]
CASSIO.
Welcome, Iago; we must to the
watch.
IAGO.
Not this hour, lieutenant; 'tis
not yet ten o' the clock.
Our general cast us thus early
for the love of his Desdemona;
who
let us not therefore blame: he
hath not yet made wanton the
night
with her; and she is sport for
Jove.
CASSIO.
She's a most exquisite lady.
IAGO.
And, I'll warrant her, full of
game.
CASSIO.
Indeed, she is a most fresh and
delicate creature.
IAGO.
What an eye she has! methinks
it sounds a parley to provocation.
CASSIO.
An inviting eye; and yet methinks
right modest.
IAGO.
And when she speaks, is it not
an alarm to love?
CASSIO.
She is, indeed, perfection.
IAGO.
Well, happiness to their sheets!
Come, lieutenant, I have a
stoup of wine; and here without
are a brace of Cyprus gallants
that would fain have a measure
to the health of black Othello.
CASSIO.
Not to-night, good Iago: I have
very poor and unhappy
brains for drinking: I could
well wish courtesy would invent
some
other custom of entertainment.
IAGO.
O, they are our friends; but
one cup: I'll drink for you.
CASSIO.
I have drunk but one cup to-night,
and that was craftily
qualified too, and behold, what
innovation it makes here: I am
unfortunate in the infirmity,
and dare not task my weakness
with any more.
IAGO.
What, man! 'tis a night of revels:
the gallants desire it.
CASSIO.
Where are they?
IAGO.
Here at the door; I pray you,
call them in.
CASSIO.
I'll do't; but it dislikes me.
[Exit.]
IAGO.
If I can fasten but one cup upon
him,
With that which he hath drunk
to-night already,
He'll be as full of quarrel and
offense
As my young mistress' dog. Now,
my sick fool Roderigo,
Whom love hath turn'd almost
the wrong side out,
To Desdemona hath to-night carous'd
Potations pottle-deep; and he's
to watch:
Three lads of Cyprus,--noble
swelling spirits,
That hold their honours in a
wary distance,
The very elements of this warlike
isle,--
Have I to-night fluster'd with
flowing cups,
And they watch too. Now, 'mongst
this flock of drunkards,
Am I to put our Cassio in some
action
That may offend the isle:--but
here they come:
If consequence do but approve
my dream,
My boat sails freely, both with
wind and stream.
[Re-enter Cassio; with him Montano
and Gentlemen; followed by
Servant with wine.]
CASSIO.
'Fore heaven, they have given
me a rouse already.
MONTANO.
Good faith, a little one; not
past a pint, as I am a soldier.
IAGO.
Some wine, ho!
[Sings.]
" And let me the canakin clink,
clink;
And let me the canakin clink.
A soldier's a man;
O, man's life's but a span;
Why then let a soldier drink."
Some wine, boys!
CASSIO.
'Fore God, an excellent song.
IAGO.
I learned it in England, where,
indeed, they are most
potent in potting: your Dane,
your German, and your swag-bellied
Hollander,--Drink, ho!--are nothing
to your English.
CASSIO.
Is your Englishman so expert
in his drinking?
IAGO.
Why, he drinks you, with facility,
your Dane dead drunk; he
sweats not to overthrow your
Almain; he gives your Hollander
a vomit ere the next pottle can
be filled.
CASSIO.
To the health of our general!
MONTANO.
I am for it, lieutenant; and
I'll do you justice.
IAGO.
O sweet England!
[Sings.]
" King Stephen was and a worthy
peer,
His breeches cost him but a crown;
He held them sixpence all too dear,
With that he call'd the tailor lown.
He was a wight of high renown,
And thou art but of low degree:
'Tis pride that pulls the country down;
Then take thine auld cloak about thee."
Some wine, ho!
CASSIO.
Why, this is a more exquisite
song than the other.
IAGO.
Will you hear it again?
CASSIO.
No; for I hold him to be unworthy
of his place that does
those things.--Well,--God's above
all, and there be souls must
be saved, and there be souls
must not be saved.
IAGO.
It's true, good lieutenant.
CASSIO.
For mine own part,--no offence
to the general, nor any
man of quality,--I hope to be
saved.
IAGO.
And so do I too, lieutenant.
CASSIO.
Ay, but, by your leave, not before
me; the lieutenant is to
be saved before the ancient.
Let's have no more of this;
let's to our affairs.--Forgive
us our sins!--Gentlemen, let's
look to our business. Do not
think, gentlemen, I am drunk:
this
is my ancient; this is my right
hand, and this is my left:--I
am
not drunk now; I can stand well
enough, and I speak well enough.
ALL.
Excellent well.
CASSIO.
Why, very well then: you must
not think, then, that I am
drunk.
[Exit.]
MONTANO.
To the platform, masters; come,
let's set the watch.
IAGO.
You see this fellow that is gone
before;--
He is a soldier fit to stand
by Caesar
And give direction: and do but
see his vice;
'Tis to his virtue a just equinox,
The one as long as the other:
'tis pity of him.
I fear the trust Othello puts
him in,
On some odd time of his infirmity,
Will shake this island.
MONTANO.
But is he often thus?
IAGO.
'Tis evermore the prologue to
his sleep:
He'll watch the horologe a double
set
If drink rock not his cradle.
MONTANO.
It were well
The general were put in mind
of it.
Perhaps he sees it not, or his
good nature
Prizes the virtue that appears
in Cassio,
And looks not on his evils: is
not this true?
[Enter Roderigo.]
IAGO.
[Aside to him.] How now, Roderigo!
I pray you, after the lieutenant;
go.
[Exit Roderigo.]
MONTANO.
And 'tis great pity that the
noble Moor
Should hazard such a place as
his own second
With one of an ingraft infirmity:
It were an honest action to say
So to the Moor.
IAGO.
Not I, for this fair island;
I do love Cassio well; and would
do much
To cure him of this evil.--But,
hark! What noise?
[Cry within,--"Help! help!"]
[Re-enter Cassio, driving in
Roderigo.]
CASSIO.
You rogue! you rascal!
MONTANO.
What's the matter, lieutenant?
CASSIO.
A knave teach me my duty! I'll
beat the knave into
a twiggen bottle.
RODERIGO.
Beat me!
CASSIO.
Dost thou prate, rogue?
[Striking Roderigo.}
MONTANO.
Nay, good lieutenant; I pray
you, sir, hold your hand.
CASSIO.
Let me go, sir, or I'll knock
you o'er the mazard.
MONTANO.
Come, come, you're drunk.
CASSIO.
Drunk!
[They fight.]
IAGO.
Away, I say! go out and cry a
mutiny.
[Aside to Roderigo, who goes
out.]
Nay, good lieutenant,--alas,,
gentlemen:--
Help, ho!--Lieutenant,--sir,--Montano,--sir:--
Help, masters!--Here's a goodly
watch indeed!
[Bell rings.]
Who's that that rings the bell?--Diablo,
ho!
The town will rise: God's will,
lieutenant, hold;
You will be sham'd forever.
[Re-enter Othello and Attendants.]
OTHELLO.
What is the matter here?
MONTANO.
Zounds, I bleed still; I am hurt
to the death.
OTHELLO.
Hold, for your lives!
IAGO.
Hold, ho! lieutenant,--sir,--Montano,--gentlemen,--
Have you forgot all place of
sense and duty?
Hold! the general speaks to you;
hold, hold, for shame!
OTHELLO.
Why, how now, ho! from whence
ariseth this?
Are we turn'd Turks, and to ourselves
do that
Which Heaven hath forbid the
Ottomites?
For Christian shame, put by this
barbarous brawl:
He that stirs next to carve for
his own rage
Holds his soul light; he dies
upon his motion.--
Silence that dreadful bell; it
frights the isle
From her propriety.--What is
the matter, masters?--
Honest Iago, that look'st dead
with grieving,
Speak, who began this? on thy
love, I charge thee.
IAGO.
I do not know:--friends all but
now, even now,
In quarter, and in terms like
bride and groom
Devesting them for bed; and then,
but now--
As if some planet had unwitted
men,--
Swords out, and tilting one at
other's breast
In opposition bloody. I cannot
speak
Any beginning to this peevish
odds;
And would in action glorious
I had lost
Those legs that brought me to
a part of it!
OTHELLO.
How comes it, Michael, you are
thus forgot?
CASSIO.
I pray you, pardon me; I cannot
speak.
OTHELLO.
Worthy Montano, you were wont
be civil;
The gravity and stillness of
your youth
The world hath noted, and your
name is great
In mouths of wisest censure:
what's the matter,
That you unlace your reputation
thus,
And spend your rich opinion for
the name
Of a night-brawler? give me answer
to it.
MONTANO.
Worthy Othello, I am hurt to
danger:
Your officer, Iago, can inform
you,--
While I spare speech, which something
now offends me,--
Of all that I do know: nor know
I aught
By me that's said or done amiss
this night:
Unless self-charity be sometimes
a vice,
And to defend ourselves it be
a sin
When violence assails us.
OTHELLO.
Now, by heaven,
My blood begins my safer guides
to rule;
And passion, having my best judgement
collied,
Assays to lead the way. If I
once stir,
Or do but lift this arm, the
best of you
Shall sink in my rebuke. Give
me to know
How this foul rout began, who
set it on;
And he that is approv'd in this
offensc,
Though he had twinn'd with me,
both at a birth,
Shall lose me.--What! in a town
of war
Yet wild, the people's hearts
brimful of fear,
To manage private and domestic
quarrel,
In night, and on the court and
guard of safety!
'Tis monstrous.--Iago, who began't?
MONTANO.
If partially affin'd, or leagu'd
in office,
Thou dost deliver more or less
than truth,
Thou art no soldier.
IAGO.
Touch me not so near:
I had rather have this tongue
cut from my mouth
Than it should do offence to
Michael Cassio;
Yet, I persuade myself, to speak
the truth
Shall nothing wrong him.--Thus
it is, general.
Montano and myself being in speech,
There comes a fellow crying out
for help;
And Cassio following him with
determin'd sword,
To execute upon him. Sir, this
gentleman
Steps in to Cassio and entreats
his pause:
Myself the crying fellow did
pursue,
Lest by his clamour,--as it so
fell out,--
The town might fall in fright:
he, swift of foot,
Outran my purpose; and I return'd
the rather
For that I heard the clink and
fall of swords,
And Cassio high in oath; which
till to-night
I ne'er might say before. When
I came back,--
For this was brief,--I found
them close together,
At blow and thrust; even as again
they were
When you yourself did part them.
More of this matter cannot I
report;--
But men are men; the best sometimes
forget:--
Though Cassio did some little
wrong to him,--
As men in rage strike those that
wish them best,--
Yet surely Cassio, I believe,
receiv'd
From him that fled some strange
indignity,
Which patience could not pass.
OTHELLO.
I know, Iago,
Thy honesty and love doth mince
this matter,
Making it light to Cassio. Cassio,
I love thee;
But never more be officer of
mine.--
[Renter Desdemona, attended.]
Look, if my gentle love be not
rais'd up!--
I'll make thee an example.
DESDEMONA.
What's the matter?
OTHELLO.
All's well now, sweeting; come
away to bed.
Sir, for your hurts, myself will
be your surgeon:
Lead him off.
[To Montano, who is lead off.]
Iago, look with care about the
town,
And silence those whom this vile
brawl distracted.--
Come, Desdemona: 'tis the soldiers'
life.
To have their balmy slumbers
wak'd with strife.
[Exeunt all but Iago and Cassio.]
IAGO.
What, are you hurt, lieutenant?
CASSIO.
Ay, past all surgery.
IAGO.
Marry, heaven forbid!
CASSIO.
Reputation, reputation, reputation!
O, I have lost my
reputation! I have lost the immortal
part of myself, and what
remains is bestial.--My reputation,
Iago, my reputation!
IAGO.
As I am an honest man, I thought
you had received some
bodily wound; there is more sense
in that than in reputation.
Reputation is an idle and most
false imposition; oft got without
merit and lost without deserving:
you have lost no reputation at
all, unless you repute yourself
such a loser. What, man! there
are ways to recover the general
again: you are but now cast in
his mood, a punishment more in
policy than in malice; even so
as
one would beat his offenceless
dog to affright an imperious
lion:
sue to him again, and he is yours.
CASSIO.
I will rather sue to be despised
than to deceive so
good a commander with so slight,
so drunken, and so indiscreet
an
officer. Drunk? and speak parrot?
and squabble? swagger?
swear? and discourse fustian
with one's own shadow?--O thou
invisible spirit of wine, if
thou hast no name to be known
by,
let us call thee devil!
IAGO.
What was he that you followed
with your sword?
What had he done to you?
CASSIO.
I know not.
IAGO.
Is't possible?
CASSIO.
I remember a mass of things,
but nothing distinctly; a
quarrel, but nothing wherefore.--O
God, that men should put an
enemy in their mouths to steal
away their brains! that we
should, with joy, pleasance,
revel, and applause, transform
ourselves into beasts!
IAGO.
Why, but you are now well enough:
how came you thus recovered?
CASSIO.
It hath pleased the devil drunkenness
to give place to the
devil wrath: one unperfectness
shows me another, to make me
frankly despise myself.
IAGO.
Come, you are too severe a moraler:
as the time, the place,
and the condition of this country
stands, I could heartily
wish this had not befallen; but
since it is as it is, mend it
for
your own good.
CASSIO.
I will ask him for my place again;--he
shall tell me I am a
drunkard! Had I as many mouths
as Hydra, such an answer would
stop them all. To be now a sensible
man, by and by a fool,
and presently a beast! O strange!--Every
inordinate cup is
unbless'd, and the ingredient
is a devil.
IAGO.
Come, come, good wine is a good
familiar creature, if it be
well used: exclaim no more against
it. And, good lieutenant,
I think you think I love you.
CASSIO.
I have well approved it, sir.--I
drunk!
IAGO.
You, or any man living, may be
drunk at a time, man.
I'll tell you what you shall
do. Our general's wife is now
the
general;--I may say so in this
respect, for that he hath
devoted and given up himself
to the contemplation, mark, and
denotement of her parts and graces:--confess
yourself freely to
her; importune her help to put
you in your place again: she
is of
so free, so kind, so apt, so
blessed a disposition, she holds
it
a vice in her goodness not to
do more than she is requested:
this broken joint between you
and her husband entreat her to
splinter; and, my fortunes against
any lay worth naming, this
crack of your love shall grow
stronger than it was before.
CASSIO.
You advise me well.
IAGO.
I protest, in the sincerity of
love and honest kindness.
CASSIO.
I think it freely; and betimes
in the morning I will
beseech the virtuous Desdemona
to undertake for me; I am
desperate of my fortunes if they
check me here.
IAGO.
You are in the right. Good-night,
lieutenant; I must to the
watch.
CASSIO.
Good night, honest Iago.
[Exit.]
IAGO.
And what's he, then, that says
I play the villain?
When this advice is free I give
and honest,
Probal to thinking, and, indeed,
the course
To win the Moor again? For 'tis
most easy
The inclining Desdemona to subdue
In any honest suit: she's fram'd
as fruitful
As the free elements. And then
for her
To win the Moor,--were't to renounce
his baptism,
All seals and symbols of redeemed
sin,--
His soul is so enfetter'd to
her love
That she may make, unmake, do
what she list,
Even as her appetite shall play
the god
With his weak function. How am
I, then, a villain
To counsel Cassio to this parallel
course,
Directly to his good? Divinity
of hell!
When devils will the blackest
sins put on,
They do suggest at first with
heavenly shows,
As I do now: for whiles this
honest fool
Plies Desdemona to repair his
fortune,
And she for him pleads strongly
to the Moor,
I'll pour this pestilence into
his ear,--
That she repeals him for her
body's lust;
And by how much she strives to
do him good,
She shall undo her credit with
the Moor.
So will I turn her virtue into
pitch;
And out of her own goodness make
the net
That shall enmesh them all.
[Enter Roderigo.]
How now, Roderigo!
RODERIGO.
I do follow here in the chase,
not like a hound that
hunts, but one that fills up
the cry. My money is almost
spent; I have been to-night exceedingly
well cudgelled; and I
think the issue will be--I shall
have so much experience for my
pains: and so, with no money
at all and a little more wit,
return
again to Venice.
IAGO.
How poor are they that have not
patience!
What wound did ever heal but
by degrees?
Thou know'st we work by wit,
and not by witchcraft;
And wit depends on dilatory time.
Does't not go well? Cassio hath
beaten thee,
And thou, by that small hurt,
hast cashier'd Cassio;
Though other things grow fair
against the sun,
Yet fruits that blossom first
will first be ripe:
Content thyself awhile.--By the
mass, 'tis morning;
Pleasure and action make the
hours seem short.--
Retire thee; go where thou art
billeted:
Away, I say; thou shalt know
more hereafter;
Nay, get thee gone.[Exit Roderigo.]--
Two things are to be done,--
My wife must move for Cassio
to her mistress;
I'll set her on;
Myself the while to draw the
Moor apart,
And bring him jump when he may
Cassio find
Soliciting his wife. Ay, that's
the way;
Dull not device by coldness and
delay.
[Exit.]
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