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