ACT III.-SCENE III. And I have reason for it. Commends him to you. Bass. I did, my lord, Signior Antonio [Gives BASSANIO a letter. Ere I ope his letter, I pray you tell me how my good friend doth. Sale. Not sick, my lord, unless it be in mind; Nor well, unless in mind: his letter there Will shew you his estate. Gra. Nerissa, cheer yon' stranger; bid her welcome. Of any constant man. What, worse and worse? Bass. And not one vessel 'scape the dreadful touch Sale. Not one, my lord. Besides, it should appear, that if he had The present money to discharge the Jew, He would not take it: Never did I know A creature, that did bear the shape of man, So keen and greedy to confound a man: He plies the duke at morning, and at night; And doth impeach the freedoin of the state, If they deny him justice: twenty merchants, The duke himself, and the magnificoes Of greatest port, have all persuaded with him; But none can drive him from the envious plea Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond. les When I was with him, I have heard him swear, To Tubal, and to Chus, his countrymen, 201 Por. Is it your dear friend, that is thus in trouble? Bass. The dearest friend to me, the kindest man, The best condition'd and unwearied spirit In doing courtesies; and one in whom The ancient Roman honour more appears, Than any that draws breath in Italy. Por. What sum owes he the Jew? Bass. For me, three thousand ducats. Por. What, no more! Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond; Double six thousand, and then treble that, Before a friend of this description Shall lose a hair through Bassanio's fault. First, go with me to church, and call ine wife: And then away to Venice to your friend; For never shall you lie by Portia's side With an unquiet soul. You shall have gold To pay the petty debt twenty times over; When it is paid, bring your true friend along: My maid Nerissa, and myself, mean time, Will live as maids and widows. Come, away; For you shall hence upon your wedding-day: Bid your friends welcome, shew a merry cheer: Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear. But let me hear the letter of your riend. Bass. [Reads.] Sweet Bassanio, my ships have all miscarried, my creditors grow cruel, my estate is very low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit; and since, in paying it, it is impossible I should live, all debts are cleared between you and I, if I might but see you at my death: notwithstanding, use your pleasure: if your love do not persuade you to come, let not my letter. Por. O love, despatch all business, and be gone. Bass. Since I have your good leave to go away, I will make haste: but, till I cone again, No bed shall e'er be guilty of my stay, No rest be interposer 'twixt us twain. [Exeunt. SCENE III-Venice. A Street. Enter SHYLOCK, SALANIO, ANTONIO, and Gaoler. Shy. Gaoler, look to him; Tell not me of mercy ;This is the fool that lent out money gratis;Gaoler, look to him. Ant Hear me yet, good Shylock Shy. I'll have my bond; speak not against my bond I have sworn an oath, that I will have my bond: Thou call'dst me dog, before thou had'st a cause: But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs : The duke shall grant me justice.-I do wonder, Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond To come abroad with him at his request. Ant. I pray thee, hear me speak. Shy. I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak Ant. I oft deliver'd from his forfeitures Many that have at times made moan to me; Salan. Ant. The duke cannot deny the course of law; Will much impeach the justice of the state; Well, gaoler, on :-Pray God, Bassanio come SCENE IV.-Belmont. A Room in Portia's House. Enter PORTIA, NERISSA, LORENZO, JESSICA, and BALTHAZAR. Lor. Madam, although I speak it in your presence, You have a noble and a true conceit Of god-like amity; which appears most strongly Por. I never did repent for doing good, Until her husband and my lord's return: And there we will abide. I do desire you, The which my love, and some necessity, Lor. Madam, with all my heart, I shall obey you in all fair commands. Por. My people do already know my mind, And will acknowledge you and Jessica In place of lord Bassanio and myself. So fare you well, till we shall meet again. Lor. Fair thoughts, and happy hours, attend on you! Jes. I wish your ladyship all heart's content. Por. I thank you for your wish, and am well pleas'd To wish it back on you: fare you well, Jessica.[Exeunt JESSICA and LORENZO. Now, Balthazar, As I have ever found thee honest, true, Into my cousin's hand, doctor Bellario; And, look, what notes and garments he doth give thee [Ent. Por. Come on, Nerissa; I have work in hand, That you yet know not of: we'll see our husbands, Before they think of us. Ner. Shall they see us? Por. They shall, Nerissa; but in such a habit, That they shall think we are accomplished With what we lack. I'll hold thee any wager, When we are both accouter'd like young men, I'll prove the prettier fellow of the two, And wear my dagger with the braver grace; And speak, between the change of man and boy, With a reed voice; and turn two mincing steps Into a manly stride; and speak of frays, Like a fine bragging youth. and tell quaint lies, How honourable ladies sought my love, Which I denying, they fell sick and died; I could not do with all: then I'll repent, And wish, for all that, that I had not kill'd them. And twenty of these puny lies I'll tell, That men should swear, I have discontinued school Above a twelvemonth :-I have within my mind A thousand raw tricks of these bragging Jacks Which I will practise. Ner. Why, shall we turn to men? Por. Fye! what a question's that, If thou wert near a lewd interpreter ? But come, I'll tell thee all my whole device When I am in my coach, which stays for us At the park gate; and therefore haste away, For we must measure twenty miles to day. [Exeunt. SCENE V.-The same. A Garden. Enter LAUNCElot and JessiCA. Laun. Yes, truly ;-for, look you, the sins of the father are to be laid upon the children; therefore, I promise you, I fear you. I was always plain with you, and so now I speak my agitation of the matter: Therefore, be of good cheer; for, truly, I think, you are damn'd. There is but one hope in it that can do you any good; and that is but a kind of bastard hope neither. Jes. And what hope is that, I pray thee? Laun. Marry, you may partly hope that your father got you not, that you are not the Jew's daughter. Jes. That were a kind of bastard hope, indeed; so the sins of my mother should be visited upon me. Laun. Truly then I fear you are damned both by father and mother: thus when I shun Scylla, your father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother ; well, you are gone both ways. Jes. I shall be saved by my husband; he hath made me a Christian. Laun. Truly, the more to blame he: we were Christians enough before; e'en as many as could well live, one by another: This making of Christians will raise the price of hogs; if we grow all to be pork-eaters, we shall not shortly nave a rasher on the coals for money. Enter LORENZO. Jes. I'll tell my husband, Launcelot, what you say; here he comes. Lor. I shall grow jealous of you shortly, Launcelot, if you thus get my wife into corners. Jes. Nay, you need not fear us, Lorenzo; Launcelot and I are out: he tells me flatly, there is no mercy for me in heaven, because I am a Jew's daughter and he says, you are no good member of the commonwealth, for, in converting Jews to Christians, you raise the price of pork. Lor. I shall answer that better to the commonwealth, than you can the getting up of the negro's belly; the Moor is with child by you, Launcelot. Laun. It is much, that the Moor should be more than reason but if she be less than an honest woman, she is, indeed, more than I took her for. Lor. How every fool can play upon the word! I think, the best grace of wit will shortly turn into silence; and discourse grow commendable in none only but parrots.-Go in, sirrah; bid them prepare for dinner. Laun. That is done, sir, they have all stomachs. Lor. Goodly lord, what a wit-snapper are you! then bid them prepare dinner. Luun. That is done, too, sir: only, cover is the word. Lor. Will you cover then, sir. Laun. Not So, sir, neither; I know my duty. Lor. Yet more quarrelling with occasion! Wilt thou shew the whole wealth of thy wit in an instant? pray thee, understand a plain man in his plain meaning; go to thy fellows; bid them cover the table, serve in the meat, and we will come in to dinner. I Laun. For the table, sir, it shall be served in; for the meat, sir, it shall be covered; for your coming in to dinner, sir, why, let it be as humours and conceits shall govern. [Exit LAUNCELOT. Lor. O dear discretion, how his words are suited! The fool hath planted in his memory An army of good words; And I do know A many fools, that stand in better place, Garnish'd like him, that for a tricksy word Defy the matter. How cheer'st thou, Jessica? And now, good sweet, say thy opinion, How dost thou like the lord Bassanio's wife? Jes. Past all expressing: It is very meet, The lord Bassanio live an upright life; For, having such a blessing in his lady, He finds the joys of heaven here on earth; And, if on earth he do not mean it, it Is reason he should never come to heaven. Why, if two gods should play some heavenly match, And on the wager lay two earthly women, And Portia one, there must be something else Pawn'd with the other; for the poor rude world Hath not her fellow. Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court, Duke. Make room, and let him stand before our Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, [face.That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice To the last hour of act; and then, 'tis thought, Thou 'lt shew thy mercy and remorse, more strange Than is thy strange apparent cruelty: And where thou now exact'st the penalty, (Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh,) Thou wilt not only lose the forfeiture, But touch'd with human gentleness and love, Forgive a moiety of the principal; Glancing an eye of pity on his losses That have of late so huddled on his back, Enough to press a royal merchant down, And pluck commiseration of his state From brassy bosoms, and rough hearts of flint, From stubborn Turks, and Tartars, never train'd To offices of tender courtesy. We all expect a gentle answer, Jew. Shy. I have possess'd your grace of what I purpose; Of what it likes, or loaths: Now, for your answer, Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my answer. Bass. Do all men kill the things they do not love? Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill ? Bass. Every offence is not a hate at first. [twice? Shy. What, would'st thou have a serpent sting thee Ant. I pray you, think you question with the Jew: You may as well go stand upon the beach, And bid the main flood bate his usual height; Buss. For thy three thousand ducats here is six. none ? Shy. What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong? Whom I have sent for to determine this, Salur. Duke. Bring us the letters; call the messenger. Bass. Good cheer, Antonio! What, man? courage yet! The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all, Fre thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood. Ant. I am a tainted wether of the flock, Meetest for death; the weakest kind of fruit Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me : You cannot better be employ'd, Bassanio, Than to live still, and write mine epitaph. Enter NERISSA, dressed like a lawyer's clerk. Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario? Ner. From both, my lord: Bellario greets your grace. [Presents a letter. Bass. Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly? Shy. To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there. Gra. Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, Thou mak'st thy knife keen: but no metal can, No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee? Shy. No, none that thou hast wit enough to make. Gra. O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dog! And for thy life let justice be accus'd. Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith, To hold opinion with Pythagoras, That souls of animals infuse themselves Into the trunks of men: thy currish spirit Govern'd a wolf, who, hang'd for human slaughter, Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet, And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallow'd dam, Infus'd itself in thee; for thy desires Are wolfish, bloody, starv'd, and ravenous. Shy. Till thou can'st rail the seal from off my bond Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud: Repair thy wit, good youth; or it will fall To cureless ruin, I stand here for law. A Duke. This letter from Bellario doth commend young and learned doctor to our court :-Where is he? Ner. To know your answer, whether you'll admit him. Duke. With all my heart: - some three or four of you, He attendeth here hard by, Go give him courteous conduct to this place.- [Clerk reads.] Your grace shall understand, that, instant that your messenger came, in loving visitation at the receipt of your letter, I am very sick: but in the was with me a young doctor of Rome, his name is Bulthasar: I acquainted him with the cause in controversy between the Jew and Antonio the merchant: we turned 'er many books together: he is furnish'd with my opinion; which, better'd with his own learning, (the greatness whereof I cannot enough commend,) comes with him, at my importunity, to fill up your grace's request in my stead. I beseech you, let his lack of years be no impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation; for I never knew so young a body with so old a head. I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial shall better publish his commendation. Duke. You hear the learned Bellario, what he And here, I take it, is the doctor come.- [writes Enter PORTIA, dressed like a doctor of laws. Give me your hand: Came you from old Bellario? Por. I did, my lord. Duke. You are welcome: take your place Are you acquainted with the difference That holds this present question in the court? Por. I am informed throughly of the cause. Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew? Duke. Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth Por. Is your name Shylock? Shy. Shylock is my name. Por. Of a strange nature is the suit you follow; Yet in such a rule, that the Venetian law Cannot impugn you, as you do proceed.You stand within his danger, do you not? Ant. Ay, so he says. Por. [TO ANTONIO. Do you confess the bond? Por. Then must the Jew be merciful. Shy. On what compulsion must I ? tell me that. Por. The quality of mercy is not strain'd; It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd, It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shews the force of temporal powe., The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. But mercy is above this scepter'd sway, It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then shew likest God's When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider thisThat in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy I have spoke thus much, To mitigate the justice of thy plea; Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Por. Is he not able to discharge the money? That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you, To view with hollow eye, and wrinkled brow, An age of poverty; from which lingering penance Bass. Antonio, I am married to a wife, Por. It must not be; there is no power in Venice I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all Can alter a decree established: 'Twill be recorded for a precedent; And many an error, by the same example, Shy. A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel ! Por. I pray you, let me look upon the bond. No, not for Venice. Por. Why, this bond is forfeit ; Shy. When it is paid according to the tenour.- Hath been most sound: I charge you by the law, Aut. Most heartily I do beseech the court Por. Why then, thus it is. You must prepare your bosom for his knife. Shy. O noble judge! O excellent young man! Por. For the intent and purpose of the law Hath full relation to the penalty, Which here appeareth due upon the bond. Shy. "Tis very true: O wise and upright judge! How much more elder art thou than thy looks! Por. Therefore, lay bare vour bosom. Shy. So says the bond;-Doth. ac... Nearest his heart, those are t Por. It is so. Are there balance The flesh? I have them ready. Av, his breast: udge?ǝrds. e, to weigh Shy. [charge, Por. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed do death. Shy. Is it so nominated in the bond? Por. It is not so express'd; But what of that? Twere good you do so much for charity. Shy. I cannot find it; 'tis not in the bond. Por. Come, merchant, have you any thing to say? Ant But little; I am arm'd, and well prepar'd.— Give ine your hand, Bassanio; fare you well! Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you; For herein fortune shews herself more kind Than is her custom: it is still her use, To let the wretched man out-live his wealth, Here to this devil, to deliver you. Por. Your wife would give you little thanks for that If she were by, to hear you make the offer. Gra. I have a wife, whoin, I protest I love; I would she were in heaven, so she could Shy. These be the Christian husbands: I have a 'Would, any of the stock of Barrabas [daughter; Had been her husband, rather than a Christian! prepare. Por. Tarry a little ;-there is something else.- One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods Gra. O upright judge!-Mark, Jew;-O learned Thyself shall see the act. judge! Shy. I take this offer then,-pay the bond thrice, And let the Christian go. Here is the money. Bass. Por. Soft; The Jew shall have all justice;-soft;-no haste ;-He shall have nothing but the penalty. Gra. O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge! Por. Therefore, prepare thee to cut off the flesh. Shed thou no blood; nor cut thou less, nor more, But just a pound of flesh if thou tak'st more, Or less, than a just pound,-be it but so much As makes it light, or heavy, in the substance, Or the division of the twentieth part Of one poor scruple: nay, if the scale do turn But in the estimation of a hair,Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate Gra. A second Danie!, a Daniel, Jew! Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip. Por. Why doth the Jew pause? take thy forfeiture. Shy. Give me my principal, and let me or |