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THE MOOR:

We visited Verona, in Italy accidentally. We were tired of driving. It was a good place tostop, and we headed for the city. It turned out to be a GREAT place to visit. We foundthe 3

. largest Roman circus, called La Arena di Verona, which was a great venue towatch an opera on a summer night. We visited La Basilica, a beautiful Romanesque-stylecathedral, we climbed the tower at the Piazza dei Signori, to be captivated by vistas of the city, and we finished visiting La Casa di Giulietta, (Juliet’s house). Every one wants tosee the balcony where Juliet stood to make her call, “Romeo, Romeo, where art thou”. Of course the house was never owned by the Capulets. It was a bordello which waspurchased by the city to transform it into the city’s greatest money-making attraction.We enjoyed it just the same, and still enamored with the city, we proceeded to Venice.In Venice we visited museums, churches, and piazzas. We took a trip on a gondola towatch the sun-set and boarded the Vaporetto, a small water bus which is the main meansof transportation for the locals. One of our stops was the islet of Murano, famous for itsgrass industry. We noticed DHL, Federal Express, and UPS representatives hauling bigcargoes to their boats, and we visited the glass-blowers room in one of the biggestfactories in town. The place was called Desdemona’s, and it had a small museum of pieces manufactured through the last 450 years.A showcase displayed a picture of a black dude holding a white woman. Except for thetight-fitting leggings, he could have been a successful black man in modern Europe orthe U.S. The lady’s attire was definitely 14

. Century. She was dressed in a loose gownheld by a sash - Empire Style - under her breasts. Next to the picture there was a signwhich said “Desdemona and Othello”.I smiled when I saw the sign, recalling the scam of Juliet’s house in Verona. There wasalso a small leather-bound book next to the picture labeled “Il diario di Othello”. An olderlady had been observing my interest in the showcase and approached me. I opened theconversation using my New-Jersey-mafia-hoodlum version of Italian. She listenedattentively and responded in British-accented English.I had asked if the picture was from a Shakespearean play ad, and if the diary was a fake.She said that the picture was a photograph of a real painting, and that they were realpeople. Back in 1584, Giraldo Cinthio had visited Venice and met the couple. He thenused their names on a novel titled ‘Il Moro di Venezia’. Shakespeare must have inspiredhis work on that novel, though he added characters and innuendo. I enquired again,“and the diary, is it real too?” She said “Yes, of course, would you like to borrow it? ”.“Of course”, I replied. The lady, who introduced herself as Dessie, asked where I wasstaying in town, and I mentioned the Albergo San Marco. She knew the place andsuggested that I take the diary to read, and bring it back in the morning. She placed thediary in a zip-loc plastic bag and admonished me. Please be careful. It is a familytreasure and it is a bit of history. That evening I perused through the diary and found the first 2 or 3 pages devoted tomilitary jargon. Othello had been a general of a small army which defended the interestsof Venice and ventured to Crete and Cyprus to protect the financial interests of the City-State. My beloved was at my elbow to help me interpret any passage difficult tounderstand. When we got to the personal notations, this is what we found:Day 1: Yesterday, my friend, lieutenant Cassio, obtained an invitation to a very exclusiveball. He was at my side to introduce me to luminaries of the city. Among them we met arich senator, Signore Barbantio and his lovely daughter, Desdemona. She is a lovely girl.

Apparently she is one of the choice young ladies in town because every young manwanted to guide her to the dance floor each time the music started. I glanced at herfrom time to time but my interest lay in making contacts with the rich merchants of thecity.During a lull in the music I retreated to a table where drinks were being served.Suddenly I noticed that Desdemona was right at my side. I enquired if I could fetch herdrink and she smiled in the affirmative. I fetched drinks and joined her. Since she is lessthan half my age, I assumed her conversation would be banal, but she surprised measking about my responsibilities as the defender of the city, and then making wiseresponses when I explained what my duties were. We were interrupted by a youth, whoasked her to dance, but she declined stating that she had already promised to dance withme. I extended my arm in her direction, she grabbed my forearm and we headed for thedance floor. I enjoyed dancing and talking with her until the end of the party, but I keptan eye out to ensure that her father would not be alarmed.Day 2: Today I can not get Desdemona out of my mind.Several subsequent entries stated the same message. Othello was thinking constantly of her.Months passed and after a trip to the isles Othello requested and obtained a meetingwith Signore Barbantio. When they met the Moor expressed, in an earnest oration, thathe was very impressed with young Desdemona, and if the Senator would accept him hewould like to obtain his permission to court her. Barbantio seemed unaffected by theMoor’s request. He sat silently for a while and finally called a servant and asked her tosummon Desdemona. The time elapsed slowly while the gentlemen waited, sinceBarbantio remained silent and austere. When she arrived Barbantio addressed her andsaid, “Daughter, the General has come to ask my permission to visit you and to courtyou. I feel that it should be your decision. However, I must remind you that since youtalked to him at the ball, your conversation becomes animated and happy only when yourefer to the General so, if you allow me, I would suggest that you consent to his request”.Desdemona blushed as she pinched the corners of her handkerchief, and then addressedher father. “Dear father, please grant the General his request, I would so like to be ableto visit with him again”.Barbantio turned to the Moor and exclaimed, “Well, General, we would be very happy tohave you visit Desdemona and we would like to invite you to dinner on Saturday nights”.Othello visited Desdemona almost nightly and within a month they asked Barbantio forhis blessing to get married. The wedding was arranged, they were married and for allpractical purposes we could give this story a happy ending except that:Othello had another assistant called Iago, who was somewhat egotistic and thought heshould always be selected for promotion or for special treatment from the General. Atthe time of the wedding Othello asked Cassio to be his best man and Iago felt bothinsulted and dejected. He mentioned his frustration to his own wife, Emilia, whoreminded him of all the occasions when the General had selected him for special duties,and even made him his confidant. Iago feigned that he was reconciled with herassessment, but inside he was incensed and decided to discredit Cassio and eliminateany future challenge for the General’s attention.In time, Emilia befriended Desdemona since both ladies spent idle time waiting for theirhusbands to return from military assignments. They shared an interest in glass, and hadvisited together an old glass blower who made very artistic pieces. Desdemona askedold Roderigo if he would teach them to work glass. The old man said that blowing glass

was a man’s job, and women should not be allowed near the furnaces. It was dangerousenough for them to get close to the fire in their own kitchens. The 2 ladies were about totwist his scrawny neck when he agreed to their request.Emilia and Desdemona spent days on end at Roderigo’s while their husbands were away. Their efforts at learning the art of working with glass turned into a competition.At home Desdemona was regaled with stories about Othello’s childhood in Kenya, where,at 13, he had to prove that he was a man. His father had taught him to handle the lanceand the bow and he had proved his skill killing rabbits, and hyenas while he guarded thefamily flock. On the eve of his test his father walked him to a meadow where lions,cheetahs, and jaguars competed for pray. Othello was left alone, and waited for nightfall. All the beasts came out to hunt. Packs of lions ganged up on antelope herds,cheetahs virtually chased impala to death and jaguars stealthily closed in on big gameand overpowered them with their fierce attacks. Othello identified with the jags. Hemoved stealthily from one death scene to the next watching each meat eater lustilygnaw at its dinner while keeping guard so no other beast would dare share its meal.After one jag had sated its hunger, it dragged the remains of its victim to the highestbranches of a tree. The jag came down, growled, marked its territory and then leapedback up to find a resting place along the lower branches. Othello took aim and as the jagleaped, so did Othello’s arrow which found its target in the jag’s throat. The jag roared. Then it felt the arrow shaft protruding from both sides if its throat and tried to dislodge itwhile groaning in pain. Othello remained silent and watchful till dawn. He checked hispray which had torn its throat trying to extricate the arrow. Othello picked up thebloodied arrow, wiped it on the grass and plunked it back in its quiver. Then he ran tothe village to waken his dad and ask his assistance to bring back his pray and the jag’spray as well. Othello summoned his closest friends and they walked with him and his dadto bring back the booty.Desdemona tried, for months, to make a medallion in glass to resemble a jag with anarrow at its throat. Finally she completed one that she liked and offered it to Othello ontheir anniversary. He was so proud of her, and so pleased with the medallion that heasked her to hang it from a chain around his neck.Iago found the gift an ideal excuse to apply his cunning devices to get rid of Cassio. Hewent to Roderigo and asked him if he could duplicate the medallion that Desdemona hadmade. His pretext was that his General wanted a copy to send back to his family inKenya.Roderigo offered to have a copy ready in a week and agreed to secrecy at Iago’s request.After Iago had secured the duplicate he approached Cassio and, with hypocrite guile,convinced him that the General wanted his right-hand lieutenant to display one as well.He suggested that he wear it hidden and display it at the next ball. Cassio waspleasantly surprised and asked Iago to help him hang it around his neck.Iago proceeded to report to the General that he suspected a liaison between Cassio andDesdemona, and reported that he had seen Cassio wear – in secret – a medallion likeOthello’s. Othello was distraught, and quietly dismissed Iago, who went home pleasedwith the result of his intrigue.Othello thought that fair Desdemona could not so betray him, but then he had heardIago’s statement, and Iago was an honorable man. He proceeded calmly to questionDesdemona if she had made a duplicate of the medallion, and she said that she hadmade many, trying to make the one she had given to him. Then she proceeded to showhim a box full of medallions, and laughingly derided some for being so poorly made.

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