(More than, indeed, belong'd to such a trifle,) He begg❜d of me to steal it. Iago. Villainous whore! Emil. She give it Cassio! no, alas; I found it, And I did give't my husband. Iago. Filth, thou liest. Oth. [IAGO stabs EMILIA, then runs out. Are there no stones in heaven, But what serve for the thunder3? - Precious villain! Gra. The woman falls; sure, he has kill'd his wife. Emil. Ay, ay: O, lay me by my mistress' side! Gra. He's gone, but his wife's kill'd. Mon. 'Tis a notorious villain. Take you this weapon, Which I have here recover'd from the Moor: Come, guard the door without; let him not pass, But kill him rather; I'll after that same villain, For 'tis a damned slave. Oth. [Exeunt MONTANO and GRATIANO. But every puny whipster gets my sword: - Emil. So speaking as I think, I die, -- I die. Oth. I have another weapon in this chamber, Are there no stones in heaven, [Dies. But what serve for the thunder?] Shakspeare might mean, does heaven reserve its thunder only to make a noise? has it no implements of mischief to punish as well as terrify? 4 It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper; -* Gra. [within.] If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear; Thou hast no weapon, and perforce must suffer. Re-enter GRATIANO. Gra. What is the matter? Oth. Behold! I have a weapon; A better never did itself sustain Upon a soldier's thigh: I have seen the day, And he retires; Where should Othello gó? O cursed, cursed slave! Whip me, ye devils, the ice-brook's temper;] This ice-brook was the brook or rivulet called Salo (now Xalon,) near Bilbilis in Celtiberia. In this the Spaniards plunged all their swords and other weapons while hot from the forge; and to the icy qualities of the waters, they were indebted for their stubborn temper. Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire! - Dead? O! O! O! Enter LODOVICO, MONTANO, CASSIO, carried in a Chair, and Officers, with IAGO, prisoner. Lod. Where is this rash and most unfortunate man fable: - If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee. [OTHELLO wound's IAGO. I bleed, sir; but not kill'd. Lod. Wrench his sword from him. Iago. Oth. I am not sorry neither; I'd have thee live; For, in my sense, 'tis happiness to die. Lod. O thou Othello, that was once so good, Fall'n in the practice of a cursed slave, 6 What shall be said to thee? Oth. Why, any thing: An honourable murderer, if you will; For nought I did in hate, but all in honour. Did Lod. This wretch hath part confess'd his villainy : Cas. Dear general, I never gave you cause. know: From this time forth I never will speak word. 5 Lod. What? not to pray? towards his feet;] To see if, according to the common opinion, his feet be cloven. 6- in the practice] In the snare, by the stratagem. Gra. Torments will ope your lips. Oth. Well, thou dost best. Lod. Sir, you shall understand what hath befall'n, And here, another: the one of them imports By Roderigo. Oth. O villain! Cas. Most heathenish, and most gross! Lod. Now here's another discontented paper, Found in his pocket too; and this, it seems, Roderigo meant to have sent this damned villain: But that, belike, Iago in the interim Came in and satisfied him. Oth. Cas. O the pernicious caitiff! I found it in my chamber: And he himself confess'd, but even now, That there he dropp'd it, for a special purpose, Oth. O fool! fool! fool! Cas. There is, besides, in Roderigo's letter,— with us; Lod. You must forsake this room, and go Your power and your command is taken off, And Cassio rules in Cyprus. For this slave,If there be any cunning cruelty, That can torment him much, and hold him long, Oth. Soft you; a word or two, before you go. I have done the state some service, and they know it; No more of that: I pray you, in your letters, When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak Richer than all his tribe7; of one, whose subdu'd eyes, Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees Their medicínal gum: Set you down this: [Stabs himself. Richer than all his tribe;] The commentators are at variance on this passage, some considering it as an allusion to the story of Herod and Mariamne, and others to that of a Jew who threw away a pearl of great worth, because he could not get his price for it. We shall subjoin a remark of Mr. Steevens, which vindicates the propriety of an edition like the present.. Either we are partial to discoveries which we make for ourselves, or the spirit of controversy is contagious; for it usually happens that each possessor of an ancient copy of our author is led to assert the superiority of all such readings as have not been exhibited in the notes, or received into the text of the last edition. On this account our present republication* (and more especially in the celebrated plays) affords a greater number of these diversities than were ever before obtruded on the publick. A time however may arrive, when a complete body of variations being printed, our readers may luxuriate in an ample feast of thats and whiches; and thenceforward it may be prophecied, that all will unite in a wish that the selection had been made by an editor, rather than submitted to their own labour and sagacity. * The edition of 1803 in 21 volumes. |