The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)

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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) Page 592

by William Shakespeare


  In peace, and he goes off to war,

  The rites for which I love him are bereft me,

  Then everything I pledged to him are taken away from me,

  And I a heavy interim shall support

  And I must bear a heavy weight

  By his dear absence. Let me go with him.

  While he is gone. Let me go with him.

  OTHELLO

  Let her have your voices.

  Please let her do this.

  Vouch with me, heaven, I therefore beg it not,

  Let me be clear: I do not ask you to do this

  To please the palate of my appetite,

  To satisfy my sexual needs

  Nor to comply with heat--the young affects

  Or lusting desires since these young characteristics

  In me defunct--and proper satisfaction.

  Are no longer in me.

  But to be free and bounteous to her mind:

  But I love her for her brilliant mind.

  And heaven defend your good souls, that you think

  And, you are wrong if you think

  I will your serious and great business scant

  That I will neglect the serious work you sent me to do

  For she is with me: no, when light-wing'd toys

  Because she is with me – this won’t happen. If heady love

  Of feather'd Cupid seal with wanton dullness

  From Cupid ever dulls

  My speculative and officed instruments,

  My capabilities as a general,

  That my disports corrupt and taint my business,

  Or makes me obsessed with pleasure, or ruins my work,

  Let housewives make a skillet of my helm,

  Then retire me and let housewives use my helmet as a frying pan.

  And all indign and base adversities

  Every unworthy and awful trait

  Make head against my estimation!

  Should thus be accounted against my reputation!

  DUKE OF VENICE

  Be it as you shall privately determine,

  Answer it yourselves in private,

  Either for her stay or going: the affair cries haste,

  But whether she stays or goes, the war won’t wait

  And speed must answer it.

  So decide quickly.

  First Senator

  You must away to-night.

  Othello must leave tonight.

  OTHELLO

  With all my heart.

  I will, certainly.

  DUKE OF VENICE

  At nine i' the morning here we'll meet again.

  We will meet here tomorrow at nine in the morning.

  Othello, leave some officer behind,

  Othello, leave an officer behind

  And he shall our commission bring to you;

  To bring your commission to you

  With such things else of quality and respect

  Alongside anythings else you need

  As doth import you.

  That you find important.

  OTHELLO

  So please your grace, my ancient;

  If you agree to it, let me leave my flagbearer and ensign, Iago.

  A man he is of honest and trust:

  He is an honest and trustworthy man

  To his conveyance I assign my wife,

  So I will leave him responsible for bringing my wife

  With what else needful your good grace shall think

  Along with whatever else you think I need

  To be sent after me.

  To be sent along after I leave.

  DUKE OF VENICE

  Let it be so.

  We will do that.

  Good night to every one.

  Goodnight, everyone.

  To BRABANTIO

  And, noble signior,

  And, noble sir,

  If virtue no delighted beauty lack,

  If good character was beautiful in itself,

  Your son-in-law is far more fair than black.

  Then your new son-in-law is much more beautiful than his skin color.

  First Senator

  Adieu, brave Moor, use Desdemona well.

  Goodbye, brave Othello. Take care of Desdemona.

  BRABANTIO

  Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:

  Be watchful, Moor, and be careful:

  She has deceived her father, and may thee.

  She tricked me: who says she won’t trick you as well?

  Exeunt DUKE OF VENICE, Senators, Officers, & c

  OTHELLO

  My life upon her faith! Honest Iago,

  I will stake my life on her faithfulness! Honest Iago,

  My Desdemona must I leave to thee:

  I must leave Desdemona to you.

  I prithee, let thy wife attend on her:

  Please, let your wife wait on her

  And bring them after in the best advantage.

  And bring them both when you can.

  Come, Desdemona: I have but an hour

  Come, Desdemona, I only have an hour,

  Of love, of worldly matters and direction,

  before attending to my duties,

  To spend with thee: we must obey the time.

  To spend loving you. We must be quick.

  Exeunt OTHELLO and DESDEMONA

  RODERIGO

  Iago,--

  Iago–

  IAGO

  What say'st thou, noble heart?

  Yes, good man?

  RODERIGO

  What will I do, thinkest thou?

  What do you think I should do?

  IAGO

  Why, go to bed, and sleep.

  You should go to bed and sleep.

  RODERIGO

  I will incontinently drown myself.

  Perhaps I will drown myself.

  IAGO

  If thou dost, I shall never love thee after. Why,

  If you do, I will never think well of you afterwards.

  thou silly gentleman!

  You are absurd!

  RODERIGO

  It is silliness to live when to live is torment; and

  No, it is absurd to live life when it is so painful,

  then have we a prescription to die when death is our physician.

  especially when we have a prescription to end the pain through death.

  IAGO

  O villainous! I have looked upon the world for four

  What an evil thought! I have lived for

  times seven years; and since I could distinguish

  28 years, and not once,

  betwixt a benefit and an injury, I never found man

  whether a man was lucky or unlucky, did I ever find

  that knew how to love himself. Ere I would say, I

  someone who could love himself. Before I would ever say something

  would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I

  like “I would drown myself because of loving this woman whom I can’t have,”

  would change my humanity with a baboon.

  I would give up my humanity and become a monkey instead.

  RODERIGO

  What should I do? I confess it is my shame to be so

  So what should I do? I know it is shameful to be so

  fond; but it is not in my virtue to amend it.

  obsessed, but it’s not in my personality to fix it.

  IAGO

  Virtue! a fig! 'tis in ourselves that we are thus

  Personality is meaningless! We have the power to become this person

  or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which

  or that person. Who we are is like a garden,

  our wills are gardeners: so that if we will plant

  and our wills are the gardeners. If we plant

  nettles, or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up

  thorns, or lettuce, or hyssop, or

  thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs, or

  thyme, plant only one k
ind of plant or

  distract it with many, either to have it sterile

  plant many different ones, if the garden produces nothing

  with idleness, or manured with industry, why, the

  because we haven’t done anything to it, or if it has been worked and manured, well

  power and corrigible authority of this lies in our

  the power and authority for how it turns out is in our

  wills. If the balance of our lives had not one

  wills. If our psychologies did not include

  scale of reason to poise another of sensuality, the

  reason to fight against our emotional desires,

  blood and baseness of our natures would conduct us

  then everything we feel would lead us

  to most preposterous conclusions: but we have

  to absurd decisions based only on emotion. But, we have

  reason to cool our raging motions, our carnal

  reason to temper our desires and fleshly

  stings, our unbitted lusts, whereof I take this that

  impulses and lusts – and I think that what

  you call love to be a sect or scion.

  you call love is just another kind of impulse.

  RODERIGO

  It cannot be.

  That’s not true.

  IAGO

  It is merely a lust of the blood and a permission of

  It’s only a strong desire that you have allowed

  the will. Come, be a man. Drown thyself! drown

  by your will. Come on, be a man. Drown yourself, how absurd! You drown

  cats and blind puppies. I have professed me thy

  cats and blind puppies. I have said before that I

  friend and I confess me knit to thy deserving with

  am your friend, and I will stay close to you

  cables of perdurable toughness; I could never

  with unbreakable bonds: but never before

  better stead thee than now. Put money in thy

  have I been a better friend than now. Make money,

  purse; follow thou the wars; defeat thy favour with

  watch how the wars turn out, and fight against your feelings

  an usurped beard; I say, put money in thy purse. It

  like a man – and make money.

  cannot be that Desdemona should long continue her

  Desdemona will not continue to be

  love to the Moor,-- put money in thy purse,--nor he

  in love with the Moor for long – make more money – nor

  his to her: it was a violent commencement, and thou

  will he keep loving her. It happened quickly and you

  shalt see an answerable sequestration:--put but

  will see them come apart quickly as well – so

  money in thy purse. These Moors are changeable in

  make money. Moors change their minds

  their wills: fill thy purse with money:--the food

  on a whim – make more money – and what he

  that to him now is as luscious as locusts, shall be

  thinks now is sweet and filling will soon

  to him shortly as bitter as coloquintida. She must

  become as bitter as a crabapple. She will

  change for youth: when she is sated with his body,

  prefer a younger man when she is tired on his body,

  she will find the error of her choice: she must

  and will think she made a wrong decision. She must

  have change, she must: therefore put money in thy

  have someone different, so keep making money.

  purse. If thou wilt needs damn thyself, do it a

  If you want to go to hell, do it

  more delicate way than drowning. Make all the money

  in a better way than drowning yourself. Make as much money

  thou canst: if sanctimony and a frail vow betwixt

  as you can: religious vows and weak promises between

  an erring barbarian and a supersubtle Venetian not

  a barbarian and a tricky Venetian girl are not

  too hard for my wits and all the tribe of hell, thou

  too difficult for me to take advantage of. If I do well, you

  shalt enjoy her; therefore make money. A pox of

  will sleep with her, so make money. And stop talking

  drowning thyself! it is clean out of the way: seek

  of drowning! It is beside the point. Instead

  thou rather to be hanged in compassing thy joy than

  try to get hanged by committing wrongs in order to be with her,

  to be drowned and go without her.

  than to drown and be without her.

  RODERIGO

  Wilt thou be fast to my hopes, if I depend on

  Can I trust you while I see what happens?

  the issue?

  IAGO

  Thou art sure of me:--go, make money:--I have told

  Yes. Now go, make money. I have told you

  thee often, and I re-tell thee again and again, I

  over and over: I

  hate the Moor: my cause is hearted; thine hath no

  hate the Moor. I have good reason to help you, just

  less reason. Let us be conjunctive in our revenge

  as you do. Let us join together to take our revenge

  against him: if thou canst cuckold him, thou dost

  on him and make it so you sleep with his wife,

  thyself a pleasure, me a sport. There are many

  which will be a great pleasure to me. Many

  events in the womb of time which will be delivered.

  things must happen next.

  Traverse! go, provide thy money. We will have more

  Now go! make more money. We will talk more

  of this to-morrow. Adieu.

  tomorrow. Goodbye.

  RODERIGO

  Where shall we meet i' the morning?

  Where shall we meet tomorrow morning?

  IAGO

  At my lodging.

  At my house.

  RODERIGO

  I'll be with thee betimes.

  I’ll be there early.

  IAGO

  Go to; farewell. Do you hear, Roderigo?

  Good, goodbye. Oh, and Roderigo?

  RODERIGO

  What say you?

  Yes, Iago?

  IAGO

  No more of drowning, do you hear?

  Stop talking of drowning, alright?

  RODERIGO

  I am changed: I'll go sell all my land.

  Yes, I have changed my mind. I will sell my land for money.

  Exit

  IAGO

  Thus do I ever make my fool my purse:

  And that is how I use fools for money.

  For I mine own gain'd knowledge should profane,

  If I didn’t have my own gain to get out of it,

  If I would time expend with such a snipe.

  I would never spend time with such a fool.

  But for my sport and profit. I hate the Moor:

  But he helps me get money and achieve my purposes: I hate the Moor,

  And it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets

  And there is a rumor that he has slept

  He has done my office: I know not if't be true;

  With my wife. I don’t know if that is true,

  But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,

  But just because of the rumor I

  Will do as if for surety. He holds me well;

  Will act as if it is. He thinks highly of me,

  The better shall my purpose work on him.

  Which will make it easier for me to trick him.

  Cassio's a proper man: let me see now:

  Now then, let me see: Cassio is a good and handsome man.

  To get his place and to plume up my will

  How can I get his rank and hurt Othello

  In double knavery--How,
how? Let's see:--

  At the same time? How?

  After some time, to abuse Othello's ear

  After a little while, I will tell Othello

  That he is too familiar with his wife.

  That Cassio is too close to Desdemona.

  He hath a person and a smooth dispose

  His personality and smooth disposition

  To be suspected, framed to make women false.

  Can easily be suspected, they already make him look like a seducer.

  The Moor is of a free and open nature,

  The Moor is a straightforward man

  That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,

  Who thinks other men are honest if they look honest enough,

  And will as tenderly be led by the nose

  And so he can be led on as easily

  As asses are.

  As donkeys are.

  I have't. It is engender'd. Hell and night

  I know what I will do. Hell and the devil

  Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light.

  Will help me work out my plans.

  Exit

  Enter MONTANO and two Gentlemen

  MONTANO

  What from the cape can you discern at sea?

  What do you see out in the ocean?

  First Gentleman

  Nothing at all: it is a highwrought flood;

  Nothing. The water is so rough

  I cannot, 'twixt the heaven and the main,

  That I cannot see between the ocean and heaven

  Descry a sail.

  A single sail.

  MONTANO

  Methinks the wind hath spoke aloud at land;

  It is windy here on the land as well.

  A fuller blast ne'er shook our battlements:

  A gust shook our fortifications:

  If it hath ruffian'd so upon the sea,

  If it is so strong out on the sea,

  What ribs of oak, when mountains melt on them,

  Why wooden whip, when mountains of water fall on them,

  Can hold the mortise? What shall we hear of this?

  Can stay together? What is going to happen?

  Second Gentleman

  A segregation of the Turkish fleet:

  The Turkish fleet will be broken up.

  For do but stand upon the foaming shore,

  Standing here on the shore,

  The chidden billow seems to pelt the clouds;

  The waves look like they will hit the clouds.

  The wind-shaked surge, with high and monstrous mane,

 

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