When she shall lack it.
When she sees she does not have it.
IAGO
Be not acknown on 't; I have use for it.
Do not admit you know where it is. I need it for a reason.
Go, leave me.
Go, leave me.
Exit EMILIA
I will in Cassio's lodging lose this napkin,
I will place this napkin in Cassio’s place
And let him find it. Trifles light as air
And make sure he finds it. Such a little thing
Are to the jealous confirmations strong
Becomes the confirmation of a jealous man’s thoughts,
As proofs of holy writ: this may do something.
As if they were holy proof. This might work.
The Moor already changes with my poison:
The Moor is already affected by what I said to him.
Dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons.
Evil ideas are really just like poisons:
Which at the first are scarce found to distaste,
At first, they aren’t even distasted,
But with a little act upon the blood.
But then they get into the blood.
Burn like the mines of Sulphur. I did say so:
There they burn like mines of sulphur.
Look, where he comes!
Look, here he comes!
Re-enter OTHELLO
Not poppy, nor mandragora,
No flower
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Or medicine in all the world
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Will ever force you into the sweet sleep
Which thou owedst yesterday.
That you had yesterday.
OTHELLO
Ha! ha! false to me?
Ah! Is she cheating on me?
IAGO
Why, how now, general! no more of that.
What? Now, general, no more of that!
OTHELLO
Avaunt! be gone! thou hast set me on the rack:
Go away! You have place me on the torture rack.
I swear 'tis better to be much abused
It is better to be taken advantage of completely
Than but to know't a little.
Than to know about it at all.
IAGO
How now, my lord!
What are you saying, my lord!
OTHELLO
What sense had I of her stol'n hours of lust?
Did I know anything of the hours she spent cheating on me?
I saw't not, thought it not, it harm'd not me:
I didn’t see it or think it, and it didn’t hurt me.
I slept the next night well, was free and merry;
I slept well, and was happy.
I found not Cassio's kisses on her lips:
I never tasted Cassio on her lips.
He that is robb'd, not wanting what is stol'n,
Whoever is robbed but does not notice it
Let him not know't, and he's not robb'd at all.
Should never be told, since he is not really robbed at all.
IAGO
I am sorry to hear this.
I am sorry to hear this.
OTHELLO
I had been happy, if the general camp,
I would have been happier if the entire squadron,
Pioners and all, had tasted her sweet body,
Even the lowest ranking soldiers, had had sex with her,
So I had nothing known. O, now, for ever
As long as I didn’t know. And now, forever,
Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!
Goodbye peaceful mind! Goodbye happiness!
Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars,
Goodbye to the soldiers and wars
That make ambition virtue! O, farewell!
That make one great! O, goodbye!
Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump,
Goodbye to the neighing horse and loud trumpet,
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
The patriotic drum, the flute,
The royal banner, and all quality,
The royal flag and all the glory,
Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war!
The pride, festivity, and situations of war!
And, O you mortal engines, whose rude throats
And you, the cannons whose sounds
The immortal Jove's dead clamours counterfeit,
Rival Jove’s thunderbolts,
Farewell! Othello's occupation's gone!
Goodbye! My career is ruined!
IAGO
Is't possible, my lord?
Is that possible, my lord?
OTHELLO
Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore,
Villain, you had better be sure that you can prove my love is a whore.
Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof:
Be sure of it and give me visible proof,
Or by the worth of man's eternal soul,
Or I swear by a man’s eternal soul
Thou hadst been better have been born a dog
That you would rather have been born a dog
Than answer my waked wrath!
Than stand in front of my anger!
IAGO
Is't come to this?
Has it come to this?
OTHELLO
Make me to see't; or, at the least, so prove it,
Make me see it, or at the least, prove it
That the probation bear no hinge nor loop
So that there is no possible explanation
To hang a doubt on; or woe upon thy life!
That doubts it, or your life will be destroyed!
IAGO
My noble lord,--
My noble lord –
OTHELLO
If thou dost slander her and torture me,
If you are speaking poorly of her in order to torture me,
Never pray more; abandon all remorse;
Then you should stop praying. Do not think you can repent.
On horror's head horrors accumulate;
On your head evil deeds will be numbered,
Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed;
So do such awful things that heaven cries and all of the earth is stunned.
For nothing canst thou to damnation add
Nothing can add to the damnation
Greater than that.
You would already receive.
IAGO
O grace! O heaven forgive me!
O God! O God forgive me!
Are you a man? have you a soul or sense?
Are you still a man, and do you still have sense?
God be wi' you; take mine office. O wretched fool.
Please, I resign my rank. I am a fool,
That livest to make thine honesty a vice!
For living to tell the truth and then seeing that it is a vice!
O monstrous world! Take note, take note, O world,
O awful world! O world, be forewarned:
To be direct and honest is not safe.
It is not safe to be honest and straightforward.
I thank you for this profit; and from hence
Thank you for teaching me this, and from now on
I'll love no friend, sith love breeds such offence.
I will give such love to no one, since it only hurts them.
OTHELLO
Nay, stay: thou shouldst be honest.
No, stay, you should be honest.
IAGO
I should be wise, for honesty's a fool
No, I should be wise. Honesty is foolish
And loses that it works for.
And loses the friendship it works to serve.
OTHELLO
By the world,
By God,
I think my wife be honest and think she is not;
/>
I think my wife is honest and dishonest,
I think that thou art just and think thou art not.
And that you are trustworthy and untrustworthy.
I'll have some proof. Her name, that was as fresh
I need proof. Her name, that was as pure
As Dian's visage, is now begrimed and black
As the Goddess Diana, is now tainted and as black
As mine own face. If there be cords, or knives,
As my face. As long as there are ropes or knives
Poison, or fire, or suffocating streams,
Or poison or fire or streams to drown in,
I'll not endure it. Would I were satisfied!
I won’t stand for this. I wish I knew the truth!
IAGO
I see, sir, you are eaten up with passion:
Sir, you are consumed by passion and strong feeling,
I do repent me that I put it to you.
And I feel sorry that I did this.
You would be satisfied?
You really want to know?
OTHELLO
Would! nay, I will.
Want! No, I will know.
IAGO
And may: but, how? how satisfied, my lord?
And you might, but how? How will you know, my lord?
Would you, the supervisor, grossly gape on--
Will you try to hide and watch –
Behold her topp'd?
Watch her have sex?
OTHELLO
Death and damnation! O!
Curses!
IAGO
It were a tedious difficulty, I think,
It seems like it would be very difficult
To bring them to that prospect: damn them then,
To make sure you do that. Damn them
If ever mortal eyes do see them bolster
If anyone else’s eyes see them
More than their own! What then? how then?
Do what they shouldn’t be! So what can we do?
What shall I say? Where's satisfaction?
What can I say, how can you find proof?
It is impossible you should see this,
It seems impossible that you will see them having sex,
Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys,
Even if they were as ready as goats or as hot as monkeys,
As salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross
As horny as wolves, and as foolish as
As ignorance made drunk. But yet, I say,
Drunken morons. But, I wonder,
If imputation and strong circumstances,
If calculations and circumstantial evidence,
Which lead directly to the door of truth,
Which in inference lead towards the truth,
Will give you satisfaction, you may have't.
Might give you the proof you need, you would accept it.
OTHELLO
Give me a living reason she's disloyal.
Give me a good reason that she is disloyal to me.
IAGO
I do not like the office:
I do not like this task,
But, sith I am enter'd in this cause so far,
But, since I am already this far in,
Prick'd to't by foolish honesty and love,
Led to it by foolish honesty and my love for you,
I will go on. I lay with Cassio lately;
I will continue. I slept near Cassio lately
And, being troubled with a raging tooth,
And, in pain from a toothache,
I could not sleep.
I could not sleep.
There are a kind of men so loose of soul,
Some men have a loose soul
That in their sleeps will mutter their affairs:
That causes them to talk in their sleep –
One of this kind is Cassio:
Cassio is a man like that.
In sleep I heard him say 'Sweet Desdemona,
While he was asleep I heard him say, “Sweet Desdemona,
Let us be wary, let us hide our loves;'
Let us be careful and hide our love”
And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand,
And then, sir, he grabbed and held onto my hand,
Cry 'O sweet creature!' and then kiss me hard,
Crying “Sweet darling!” and then kissing me hard
As if he pluck'd up kisses by the roots
As if he were taking the kisses out by force
That grew upon my lips: then laid his leg
From my lips. Then he placed his leg
Over my thigh, and sigh'd, and kiss'd; and then
Over my thigh, and sighed, and kisse me again,
Cried 'Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moor!'
And cried out “How awful that you belong to the Moor!”
OTHELLO
O monstrous! monstrous!
O awful! awful!
IAGO
Nay, this was but his dream.
No, this was only a dream.
OTHELLO
But this denoted a foregone conclusion:
But it marks something that already happened.
'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream.
It’s a good reason to doubt, even though it is only a dream.
IAGO
And this may help to thicken other proofs
It may help support other proofs,
That do demonstrate thinly.
If they are not very convincing on their own.
OTHELLO
I'll tear her all to pieces.
I will destroy her!
IAGO
Nay, but be wise: yet we see nothing done;
No, be smart. We do not know anything yet,
She may be honest yet. Tell me but this,
She might be honest. Tell me this:
Have you not sometimes seen a handkerchief
Have you seen a handkerchief
Spotted with strawberries in your wife's hand?
Spotted with strawberries, held by your wife?
OTHELLO
I gave her such a one; 'twas my first gift.
I gave it to her, it was my first gift to her.
IAGO
I know not that; but such a handkerchief--
I did not know about that, but this handkerchief –
I am sure it was your wife's--did I to-day
I am sure it was your wife’s – I saw today,
See Cassio wipe his beard with.
And Cassio wiped his beard with it.
OTHELLO
If it be that--
If that was hers–
IAGO
If it be that, or any that was hers,
If it was hers, or anything else that belonged to her,
It speaks against her with the other proofs.
Then it speaks strongly against her alongside the other proofs.
OTHELLO
O, that the slave had forty thousand lives!
O, if Cassio had forty thousand lives!
One is too poor, too weak for my revenge.
One life is too few for me to get my revenge.
Now do I see 'tis true. Look here, Iago;
Now I see it is true. Look, Iago,
All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven.
I am getting rid of all of my love for Desdemona.
'Tis gone.
It’s gone.
Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell!
Come to me, vengeance!
Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne
My Love, give up your spot in my life
To tyrannous hate! Swell, bosom, with thy fraught,
To Hate instead! O, my chest, fill with pain
For 'tis of aspics' tongues!
As if you are full of snakes’ tongues!
IAGO
Yet be content.
Please, be calm.
OTHELLO
&nb
sp; O, blood, blood, blood!
O, blood!
IAGO
Patience, I say; your mind perhaps may change.
Be patient. Your mind might change.
OTHELLO
Never, Iago: Like to the Pontic sea,
No, Iago, never. Like a river to the sea
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Whose cold stream and steady course
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
Never fades away but continues on
To the Propontic and the Hellespont,
To the seas in front of it,
Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace,
So too my revengeful thoughts violently
Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love,
never look back or calm to love
Till that a capable and wide revenge
Until a they are able to have their full revenge
Swallow them up. Now, by yond marble heaven,
And let that swallow them up. Now, I swear by the sky
Kneels
In the due reverence of a sacred vow
In a sacred, holy vow,
I here engage my words.
To make my words lead to action.
IAGO
Do not rise yet.
Do not get up yet.
Kneels
Witness, you ever-burning lights above,
Heaven, be my witness,
You elements that clip us round about,
Everything that surrounds us daily,
Witness that here Iago doth give up
Witness that I, Iago, give up
The execution of his wit, hands, heart,
The power of my mind, my hands, and my heart
To wrong'd Othello's service! Let him command,
To Othello who has been wronged! Let him command,
And to obey shall be in me remorse,
And I will obey him,
What bloody business ever.
No matter what happens.
They rise
OTHELLO
I greet thy love,
I thank you for your love,
Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance bounteous,
Not vainly, but with devoted acceptance.
And will upon the instant put thee to't:
This instant I will task you:
Within these three days let me hear thee say
Within the next three days, I must hear you say
That Cassio's not alive.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) Page 600