Long ago, in a grand and sunny kingdom, there lived a brave and noble knight named Othello. Everyone admired Othello for his courage and kindness. He had traveled far and wide and had many exciting adventures.

But the thing Othello loved most in the world was his wife, Desdemona. She was kind, clever, and loved Othello with all her heart.

Othello also had a group of friends who served with him in the kingdom. There was Cassio, a cheerful and trusted captain, and Iago, a clever but jealous man.

Iago wasn’t happy with Othello. “Why does he trust Cassio more than me?” Iago thought. “It’s not fair! I’ll make him pay!”

Iago came up with a sneaky plan.

One day, Iago went to Othello and said, “Othello, have you noticed how much time Desdemona spends talking to Cassio? They seem very close.”

Othello frowned. “Do you mean to say Desdemona doesn’t love me?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Iago said with a sly smile. “But if you want, I can help you find out the truth.”

Iago began to trick Othello. He planted little lies and made up stories to make Othello think Desdemona and Cassio were keeping secrets from him.

One day, Iago found a special handkerchief that Othello had given to Desdemona as a gift. It had tiny red roses embroidered on it and was very precious to her.

Iago placed the handkerchief in Cassio’s room. Then he told Othello, “I saw Desdemona give her handkerchief to Cassio. Isn’t that strange?”

Othello’s heart felt heavy. He loved Desdemona, but Iago’s lies made him feel confused and angry. “Could it be true?” he wondered.

Desdemona didn’t understand why Othello was so upset. “What’s wrong, my love?” she asked.

But Othello couldn’t explain. He was too hurt and didn’t know what to believe.

Iago’s lies kept growing, and Othello became more and more sad. He didn’t talk to Desdemona, and he pushed his friends away.

But one day, another friend of Othello’s, Emilia—who was also Iago’s wife—began to notice something strange. She overheard Iago talking about his tricks and realized he had been lying to everyone!