DESDÈMÓNA and EMÌLÌA.
DESDÈMÓNA:
Where is my lord? He has not been seen since
The afternoon. He has dined with the King's men.
EMÌLÌA:
He seems distraught, madam. Something has changed him.
DESDÈMÓNA:
The handkerchief was not found. There is a foreboding fear.
Sing that song, Emìlia; it is old and plain.
The song of the Willow. My mother’s maid did sing it.
(She sings the "Willow Song" mournfully.)
DESDÈMÓNA:
(Sighing)
The Ori (destiny) is clouded now.
You should have never seen him, Emìlia.
EMÌLÌA:
The King commands your presence at the feast, madam.
You must be merry, though your heart be sad.
DESDÈMÓNA:
The heart is heavy, but the face smiles.
May Othèllò find peace, though it is not found.
(Exeunt.)
ACT IV
SCENE I. Before the castle. A street by night.
Enter ÌJÀGÓ and RODERÌGÓ.
ÌJÀGÓ:
The hour has come. Cassíò approaches now.
He thinks that his place will be gained.
Hide behind the wall. Strike when he appears.
If he lives, the plot unravels.
RODERÌGÓ:
The mettle for this deed is not present.
ÌJÀGÓ:
Fool! If you want the lady, strike him dead!
(Ìjàgó hides. Enter CASSÍÒ, humming a tune.)
CASSÍÒ:
The air is fresh tonight.
RODERÌGÓ:
(Attacks him from behind)
Villain, take that!
(He stabs Cassío, but the stab is weak, and Cassio is barely hurt.)
CASSÍÒ:
I am maim'd for life! Help, ho! Murder, murder!
(Cassio draws his own sword. Iago emerges from his hiding place, stabs Cassio deeply, and runs away. Roderìgò runs in panic.)
(Enter OTHÈLLÒ from a distance, hearing the cries.)
OTHÈLÒ:
The voice of Cassíò. Ìjàgó works with speed and honesty.
He keeps his word. Now for my part.
Justice is calling, and it must be obeyed.
(Exit Othèllò toward the castle. Enter ÌJÀGÓ and EMÌLÌA, with lights.)
ÌJÀGÓ:
What noise is this? Murder in the street?
EMÌLÌA:
Alas, a cry of death!
ÌJÀGÓ:
(Seeing the wounded Cassio)
Othèllò’s man, good Cassíò, is wounded!
(Seeing Roderìgò hiding)
O villain! Here's a cry!
(Ìjàgó stabs Roderìgò dead and then attends to Cassio.)
ÌJÀGÓ:
They bleed well, both! This night will end my woes,
And start Othèllò’s reign of jealous might.
The truth is buried with this foolish lord.
(Emìlia screams and runs for help.)
SCENE II. A bedchamber in the castle. Desdèmona asleep in her bed. A lamp burns.
Enter OTHÈLLÒ.
OTHÈLÒ:
It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul.
Let it not be named to you, you chaste stars!
It is the cause. Yet her blood will not be shed,
Nor that whiter skin scarred than snow.
But she must die, or she'll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light.
(He kisses her)
O balmy breath, that almost persuades
Justice to break her sword! One more, one more.
Be thus when you are dead, and I will kill you,
And love you after.
(He shakes her awake)
Desdèmóna, wake!
DESDÈMÓNA:
Will you come to bed, my lord?
OTHÈLÒ:
Have you pray'd tonight, Desdèmóna?
DESDÈMÓNA:
Yes, my lord.
OTHÈLÒ:
If you think of any crime
Unreconcil'd as yet to heaven and grace,
Solicit for it straight.
DESDÈMÓNA:
Alas, my lord, what may you mean by that?
OTHÈLÒ:
Think on your sins.
DESDÈMÓNA:
The loves are borne to you.
OTHÈLÒ:
Yes, and for that you die.
DESDÈMÓNA:
I never did offend you in my life.
I never loved Cassíò but with general love.
Send for him, and ask him.
OTHÈLÒ:
He is dead, and his confession stops your mouth.
DESDÈMÓNA:
Othèllò, the Lord have mercy on me!
OTHÈLÒ:
I say, amen.
DESDÈMÓNA:
A guiltless death I die!
(OTHÈLLÒ strangles her. She struggles and dies.)
OTHÈLÒ:
She's dead. It is done. The oracle is fulfilled.
The betrayal is purged.
(A noise at the door. Enter EMÌLÌA, distraught.)
EMÌLÌA:
My lord, the prince, Bàbá-Ìya, has arrived!
A terrible truth is found! The villain Ìjàgó...
OTHÈLÒ:
(Coldly)
He is honest, and has done my bidding. My wife was false.
EMÌLÌA:
O, my lord, she was chaste! And Ìjàgó, O, Ìjàgó! He did this!
He made me steal her handkerchief! He planted it!
He is a villain, a most wicked slave!
OTHÈLÒ:
(Stunned into silence)
No...
EMÌLÌA:
He lied! The Odu Ìrosùn’s betrayal was his own, not hers!
You have killed the purest thing alive!
(Othèllò realizes the truth. He draws his sword.)
OTHÈLÒ:
O fool! O fool! Othèllò's occupation's gone!
I am undone!
(Enter BÀBÁ-ÌYA, the DUKE, OFFICERS, and the wounded CASSÍÒ.)
BÀBÁ-ÌYA:
See how the Moor hath killed my innocent child!
OTHÈLÒ:
(Staring at the body, then at the company)
A word or two before you go. The state has been served, and they know ‘t.
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought
Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe.
(He turns to his wife’s body)
I kissed you before I killed you. There is no way but this,
Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.
(OTHÈLLÒ stabs himself and falls dead upon the body of DESDÈMÓNA. The court is silent in horror.)
CASSÍÒ:
Othèllò was a noble lord.
DUKE:
The tragedy of Ogbè-Àtè warned the King, but this Ìrosùn tale warns the heart.
Take the villain Ìjàgó for his justice. The day is indeed dark.
(Curtain falls on the tragic scene.)
Enter EMÌLÌA, carrying a handkerchief.
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