No Fear Shakespeare
Othello
Get this No Fear to go!
Act 3, Scene 4
Original Text | Modern Text | |
Enter DESDEMONA,
EMILIA, and CLOWN
|
DESDEMONA, EMILIA
and the CLOWN enter. | |
|
DESDEMONA
Do you know, sirrah, where Lieutenant Cassio lies?
|
DESDEMONA
Excuse me, do you know which room Lieutenant Cassio lies in?
| |
|
CLOWN
I dare not say he lies anywhere.
|
CLOWN
I wouldn’t dare say he lies anywhere.
| |
|
DESDEMONA
Why, man?
|
DESDEMONA
Why do you say that?
| |
|
CLOWN
He’s a soldier, and for one to say a soldier lies,
’tis stabbing.
|
CLOWN
He’s a soldier. If I accused a soldier of lying,
he’d stab me.
| |
5 |
DESDEMONA
Go to. Where lodges he?
|
DESDEMONA
Oh, come on. Where does he sleep?
|
|
CLOWN
To tell you where he lodges is to tell you where I lie.
|
CLOWN
Telling you where he’s sleeping is like telling you
where I’m lying.
| |
|
DESDEMONA
Can anything be made of this?
|
DESDEMONA
What on earth does that mean?
| |
|
CLOWN
I know not where he lodges, and for me to devise a lodging and say
he lies here, or he lies there, were to lie in mine own
throat.
|
CLOWN
I don’t know where he’s staying, so if I
told you he’s sleeping here or there, I’d be
lying.
| |
|
DESDEMONA
Can you inquire him out and be edified by report?
|
DESDEMONA
Can you ask around and find out?
| |
10 |
CLOWN
I will catechize the world for him, that is, make questions, and
by them answer.
|
CLOWN
I’ll go ask questions everywhere.
|
|
DESDEMONA
Seek him, bid him come hither. Tell him I have moved my lord on
his behalf, and hope all will be well.
|
DESDEMONA
Find him and tell him to come here. Tell him I’ve
spoken to my husband on his behalf, and I think everything will be
all right.
| |
|
CLOWN
To do this is within the compass of man’s wit, and
therefore I will attempt the doing it.
|
CLOWN
I think I can do that. It’s not too much to ask.
| |
Exit |
CLOWN exits. |
