Enter EMILIA. 1 Emil. Good morrow, good lieutenant; I am sorry For your displeasure; but all will soon 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 saf'st occasion by the front, If Cas. Yet, I beseech you,— you think fit, or that it may be done,Give me advantage of some brief discourse With Desdemona alone. Emil. 'Pray you, come in; I will bestow you where you shall have time To speak your bosom freely. Cas. I am much bound to you.3 [Exeunt. SCENE II. A Room in the Castle. Enter OTHELLO, IAGO, and Gentlemen. Oth. These letters give, lago, to the pilot; Iago. [Exeunt. Cassio means to say, I never experienced more honesty and kindness even in one of my own countrymen. 1 i. e. the displeasure you have incurred from Othello. 2 This line is wanting in the folio. 3 This speech is omitted in the first quarto. 4 Thus the quarto 1622; folio, “to the senate.” SCENE III. Before the Castle. Enter DESDEMONA, CASSIO, and EMILIA. Des. Be thou assured, good Cassio, I will do All my abilities in thy behalf. Emil. Good madam, do; I know it grieves my husband, As if the case1 were his. Des. O, that's an honest fellow.-Do not doubt, Cassio, But I will have my lord and you again As friendly as you were. Cas. Bounteous madam, Whatever shall become of Michael Cassio, He's never any thing but your true servant. Des. O sir, I thank you. You do love my lord; You have known him long; and be you well assured He shall in strangeness stand no further off Than in a politic distance. Cas. Ay, but, lady, That, I being absent, and my place supplied, Des. Do not doubt that; before Emilia here, To the last article: my lord shall never rest; With Cassio's suit. Therefore be merry, Cassio; Than give thy cause away. Folio reads, "As if the cause were his." 2 Thus the quarto of 1622. The folio reads, "I know't, I thank you.' 3 Hawks and other birds are tamed by keeping them from sleep. And hear me speak. Cas. Madam, not now; I am very ill at ease; Unfit for mine own purposes. Des. Do your discretion. Iago. Well, well, [Exit CASSIO. Ha! I like not that. Oth. What dost thou say? Iago. Nothing, my lord; or if-I know not what. Oth. Was not that Cassio, parted from my wife? Iago. Cassio, my lord? No, sure, I cannot think it, That he would steal away so guiltylike, Seeing you coming. Oth. I do believe 'twas he. Des. How now, my lord? I have been talking with a suitor here, A man that languishes in your displeasure. Oth. Who is't you mean? Des. Why, your lieutenant, Cassio. Good my lord, For, if he be not one that truly loves you, I pr'ythee call him back. Oth. Went he hence now? Des. Ay, sooth; so humbled, That he hath left part of his grief with me; I suffer with him. Good love, call him back. Oth. Not now, sweet Desdemona; some other time. Des. But shall't be shortly? Oth. The sooner, sweet, for you. 1 i. e. "take his present atonement," or submission. The words were formerly synonymous. 2 Cunning here signifies knowledge, the ancient sense of the word. Des. Shall't be to-night at supper? Des. To-morrow dinner, then? No, not to-night. I shall not dine at home; I meet the captains at the citadel. Des. Why then, to-morrow night; or Tuesday morn; To incur a private check. When shall he come? What you could ask me, that I should deny, 2 Or stand so mammering on. What, Michael Cassio, Hath ta'en your part; to have so much to do Des. To your own person. Nay, when I have a suit, It shall be full of poize and difficulty, And fearful to be granted. Oth. I will deny thee nothing; Whereon, I do beseech thee, grant me this, To leave me but a little to myself. Des. Shall I deny you? no. Farewell, my lord. Oth. Farewell, my Desdemona; I will come to thee straight. 1 The severity of military discipline must not spare the best men of the army, when their punishment may afford a wholesome example. 2 So hesitating, in such doubtful suspense. 3 See Act i. Sc. 2. 4 i. e. of weight. Des. Emilia, come.-Be it as your fancies teach you; Whate'er you be, I am obedient. [Exit with EMILIA. Oth. Excellent wretch! Perdition catch Perdition catch my soul, But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again. Iago. My noble lord, Oth. What dost thou say, lago? Iago. Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady, Know of your love? Oth. He did, from first to last. Why dost thou ask? Iago. But for a satisfaction of my thought; No further harm. Oth. Why of thy thought, Iago? Iago. I did not think he had been acquainted with her.. Oth. O yes; and went between us very oft. Oth. Indeed! ay, indeed.-Discern'st thou aught Think, my lord! Oth. What dost thou think? Iago. Oth. 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 but 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 1 "The meaning of the word wretch is not generally understood. It is now in some parts of England a term of the fondest and softest tenderness. It expresses the utmost degree of amiableness, joined with an idea, which perhaps all tenderness includes, of feebleness, scftness, and want of protection." Sir W. Davenant, in his Cruel Brother, uses the word twice with the same meaning::-"Excellent wretch! with a timorous modesty she stifleth up her utterance." 2 Ere I cease to love thee, the world itself shall be reduced to its primitive chaos. |