ill certainly hold his tongue
about the plot against Hamlet, while, if he is wounded, he may confess
the truth; for it is no doubt quite evident to the King that Laertes has
fenced tamely because his conscience is greatly troubled by the
treachery he is about to practise. The King therefore, as soon as he
sees the exchange of foils, cries out, 'Part them; they are incensed.'
But Hamlet's blood is up. 'Nay, come, again,' he calls to Laertes, who
cannot refuse to play, and _now_ is wounded by Hamlet. At the very same
moment the Queen falls to the ground; and ruin rushes on the King from
the right hand and the left.

The passage, therefore, should be printed thus:

_Laer._ Have at you now!

[_Laertes wounds Hamlet; then, in scuffling,
they change rapiers._

_King._ Part them; they are incensed.

_Ham._ Nay, come, again.

[_They play, and Hamlet wounds Laertes. The Queen falls._

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 264: So Rowe. The direction in Q1 is negligible, the text
being different. Q2 etc. have nothing, Ff. simply 'In scuffling they
change rapiers.']

[Footnote 265: Capell. The Quartos and Folios have no directions.]

NOTE I.

THE DURATION OF THE ACTION IN _OTHELLO_.

The quite unusual difficulties regarding this subject have led to much
discussion, a synopsis of which may be found in Furness's Variorum
edition, pp. 358-72. Without detailing the facts I will briefly set out
the main difficulty, which is that, according to one set of indications
(which I will call A), Desdemona was murdered within a day or two of her
arrival in Cyprus, while, according to another set (which I will call
B), some time elapsed between her arrival and the catastrophe. Let us
take A first, and run through the play.

(A) Act I. opens on the night of Othello's marriage. On that night he is
despatched to Cyprus, leaving Desdemona to follow him.

In Act II. Sc. i., there arrive at Cyprus, first, in one ship, Cassio;
then, in another, Desdemona, Iago, and Emilia; then, in another, Othello
(Othello, Cassio, and Desdemona being in three different ships, it does
not matter, for our purpose, how long the voyage lasted). On the night
following these arrivals in Cyprus the marriage is consummated (II. iii.
9), Cassio is cashiered, and, on Iago's advice, he resolves to ask
Desdemona's intercession 'betimes in the morning' (II. iii. 335).

In Act III. S