Othello

Othello

ACT II SCENE I	A Sea-port in Cyprus. An open place near the quay.
	Enter MONTANO and two Gentlemen
MONTANO	What from the cape can you discern at sea?
First Gentleman	Nothing at all: it is a highwrought flood;
	I cannot, 'twixt the heaven and the main,
	Descry a sail.	5
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?	10
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-shaked surge, with high and monstrous mane,
	seems to cast water on the burning bear,	15
	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:	20
	It is impossible they 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	25
	On most part of their fleet.
MONTANO	How! is this true?
Third Gentleman	The ship is here put in,
	A Veronesa; Michael Cassio,
	Lieutenant to the warlike Moor Othello,	30
	Is come on shore: the Moor himself 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,	35
	And prays the Moor be safe; for they were parted
	With foul and violent tempest.
MONTANO	Pray heavens he be;
	For I have served him, and the man commands
	Like a full soldier. Let's to the seaside, ho!	40
	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:	45
	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,	50
	For I have lost us him on a dangerous sea.
MONTANO	Is he well shipp'd?
CASSIO	His bark is stoutly timber'd, his pilot
	Of very expert and approved allowance;
	Therefore my hopes, not surfeited to death,	55
	Stand in bold cure.
	A cry 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.	60
	Guns heard
Second Gentlemen	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 arrived.
Second Gentleman	I shall.	65
	Exit
MONTANO	But, good lieutenant, is your general wived?
CASSIO	Most fortunately: he hath achieved a maid
	That paragons description and wild fame;
	One that excels the quirks of blazoning pens,
	And in the essential vesture of creation	70
	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,	75
	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.	80
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,	85
	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!	90
	Enter DESDEMONA, EMILIA, IAGO, RODERIGO, andAttendants
	O, behold,
	The riches of the ship is come on shore!
	Ye men of Cyprus, let her have your knees.
	Hail to thee, lady! and the grace of heaven,
	Before, behind thee, and on every hand,	95
	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.	100
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 heard
Second Gentleman	They give their greeting to the citadel;
	This likewise is a friend.	105
CASSIO	See for the news.
	Exit Gentleman
	Good ancient, you are welcome.
	To EMILIA
	Welcome, mistress.
	Let it not gall your patience, good Iago,
	That I extend my manners; 'tis my breeding	110
	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'll have enough.
DESDEMONA	Alas, she has no speech.	115
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.	120
EMILIA	You have little cause to say so.
IAGO	Come on, come on; you are pictures out of doors,
	Bells in your parlors, wild-cats in your kitchens,
	Saints m your injuries, devils being offended,
	Players in your housewifery, and housewives' in your beds.	125
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.	130
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 harbour?	135
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	140
	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.	145
DESDEMONA	Well praised! 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?	150
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?	155
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	160
	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,'	165
	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,	170
	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	175
	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.	180
IAGO	Aside
	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	185
	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!	190
	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!	195
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!	200
	And let the labouring 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	205
	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!	210
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!	215
IAGO	Aside
	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.	220
	How does my old acquaintance of this isle?
	Honey, you shall be well desired 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 prithee, good Iago,	225
	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.	230
	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 tonight watches on the court of	235
	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,	240
	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	245
	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	250
	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	255
	eminent 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 compassing
	of his salt and most hidden loose affection? why,	260
	none; why, none: a slipper and subtle knave, a
	finder 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	265
	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's full of
	most blessed condition.	270
IAGO	Blessed 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?	275
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. Villanous thoughts, Roderigo! when these	280
	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	285
	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.	290
RODERIGO	Well.
IAGO	Sir, he is rash and very sudden in choler, and haply
	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	295
	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.	300
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.	305
	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	310
	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	315
	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	320
	At least into a jealousy so strong
	That judgment 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,	325
	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 practising upon his peace and quiet	330
	Even to madness. 'Tis here, but yet confused:
	Knavery's plain face is never seen tin used.
	Exit