And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace; For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, Till now some nine moons wasted, they have us'd Their dearest action in the tented field; And little of this great world can I speak, More than pertains to feats of broil and battle; In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience, Of my whole course of love; what drugs, what charms, What conjuration, and what mighty magic, For such proceeding I am charg'd withal, I won his daughter. Bra. A maiden never bold; Of spirit so still and quiet, that her motion To fall in love with what she fear'd to look on! Why this should be. I therefore vouch again He wrought upon her. Duke. To vouch this, is no proof, Without more wider and more overt test Did you by indirect and forced courses Subdue and poison this young maid's affections; Oth. I do beseech you, Send for the lady to the Sagittary, And let her speak of me before her father: If you do find me foul in her report, The trust, the office I do hold of you, Not only take away, but let your sentence Duke. Fetch Desdemona hither. Oth. Ancient, conduct them; you best know the Exeunt IAGO and Attendants. place. And, till she come, as truly as to heaven I do confess the vices of my blood, So justly to your grave ears I'll present Duke. Say it, Othello. Oth. Her father lov'd me; oft invited me; I ran it through, even from my boyish days Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach, And sold to slavery, of my redemption thence And portance in my travels' history; Wherein of antres vast and deserts idle, Rough quarries, rocks and hills whose heads touch heaven, It was my hint to speak, such was the process; And of the Cannibals that each other eat, But still the house-affairs would draw her hence; Which ever as she could with haste dispatch, She wish'd she had not heard it, yet she wish'd That heaven had made her such a man; she thank'd me, And bade me, if I had a friend that lov'd her, I should but teach him how to tell my story, And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake : She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd, And I lov'd her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft I have us'd: Here comes the lady; let her witness it. Enter DESDEMONA, IAGO, and Attendants. Duke. I think this tale would win my daughter too. Good Brabantio, Take up this mangled matter at the best; Men do their broken weapons rather use Than their bare hands. Bra. I pray you, hear her speak : If she confess that she was half the wooer, Destruction on my head, if my bad blame Light on the man! Come hither, gentle mistress : Where most you owe obedience? Des. I do perceive here a divided duty: My noble father, To you I am bound for life and education; How to respect you; you are the lord of duty; Bra. I here do give thee that with all my heart To hang clogs on them. I have done, my lord. Duke. Let me speak like yourself, and lay a sentence, Which, as a grize or step, may help these lovers Into your favour. When remedies are past, the griefs are ended By seeing the worst, which late on hopes depended. To mourn a mischief that is past and gone Is the next way to draw new mischief on. What cannot be preserv'd when fortune takes Patience her injury a mockery makes. The robb'd that smiles steals something from the thief; He robs himself that spends a bootless grief. Bra. So let the Turk of Cyprus us beguile; That, to pay grief, must of poor patience borrow. Being strong on both sides, are equivocal: Oth. The tyrant custom, most grave senators, I find in hardness, and do undertake As levels with her breeding. Duke. Be 't at her father's. Bra. Oth. Nor I. Des. If you please, I'll not have it so.. Nor I; I would not there reside, To put my father in impatient thoughts Duke. What would you, Desdemona? |