Ant. Content, in faith: I'll seal to such a bond, That won three fields of Sultan Solyman,— And say, there is much kindness in the Jew. I would out-stare the sternest eyes that look, Bass. You shall not seal to such a bond for me, Out-brave the heart most daring on the earth, I'll rather dwell1 in my necessity. Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear, Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey, To win thee, lady: But, alas the while! If Hercules, and Lichas, play at dice Which is the better man, the greater throw May turn by fortune from the weaker hand: So is Alcides beaten by his page;

Ant. Why, fear not, man; I will not forfeit it;
Within these two months, that's a month before
This bond expires, I do expect return

Of thrice three times the value of this bond.
Shy. O father Abraham, what these Christians

are;

Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect
The thoughts of others! Pray you, tell me this;
If he should break his day, what should I gain
By the exaction of the forfeiture?

A pound of man's flesh, taken from a man,
Is not so estimable, profitable neither,
As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say,
To buy his favour, I extend this friendship:
If he will take it, so; if not, adieu;
And, for my love, I pray you, wrong me not.
Ant. Yes, Shylock, I will seal unto this bond.
Shy. Then meet me forthwith at the notary's;
Give him direction for this merry bond,
And I will go and purse the ducats straight;
See to my house, left in the fearful guard
Of an unthrifty knave; and presently
I will be with you.

[Exit.

Hie thee, gentle Jew.

And so may I, blind fortune leading me,
Miss that which one unworthier may attain,
And die with grieving.

Por.
You must take your chance;
And either not attempt to choose at all,
Or swear, before you choose,-if you choose wrong,
Never to speak to lady afterward

In way of marriage; therefore, be advis'd.
Mor. Nor will not; come, bring me unto my

chance.

Por. First, forward to the temple; after dinner
Your hazard shall be made.
Mor.

Good fortune then! [Cornets. [Exeunt. SCENE II.-Venice. A street. Enter Launcelot Gobbo.

To make me bless'd'st, or cursed'st among men.

Ant. This Hebrew will turn Christian; he grows kind. Bass. I like not fair terms, and a villain's mind. Ant. Come on: in this there can be no dis-run from this Jew, my master: The fiend is at mine may,

My ships come home a month before the day.

Laun. Certainly my conscience will serve me to

elbow; and tempts me, saying to me, Gobbo, Launcelot Gobbo, good Launcelot, or good Gobbo, or [Exeunt. good Launcelot Gobbo, use your legs, take the start, run away: My conscience says,-no; take heed, honest Launcelot; take heed, honest Gobbe; or, as aforesaid, honest Launcelot Gobbo, do noi run; scorn running with thy heels: Well, the most SCENE I.-Belmont. A room in Portia's house. courageous fiend bids me pack; via! says the Flourish of cornets. Enter the Prince of Mo-fiend; away! says the fiend, for the heavens; rouse rocco, and his train; Portia, Nerissa, and other up a brave mind, says the fiend, and run. Well, of her attendants.

ACT II.

Mor. Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadow'd livery of the burnish'd sun,
To whom I am a neighbour, and near bred.
Bring me the fairest creature northward born,
Where Phoebus' fire scarce thaws the icicles,
And let us make incision for your love,
To prove whose blood is reddest, his or mine.
I tell thee, lady, this aspéct of mine
Hath fear'd' the valiant; by my love, I swear,
The best-regarded virgins of our clime
Have lov'd it too: I would not change this hue,
Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle queen.
Por. In terms of choice I am not solely led
By nice direction of a maiden's eyes:
Besides, the lottery of my destiny
Bars me the right of voluntary choosing.
But, if my father had not scanted me,
And hedg'd me by his wit, to yield myself

His wife, who wins me by that means I told you,
Yourself, renowned prince, then stood as fair,
As any comer I have look'd on yet,

For my affection.

Mor.

Even for that I thank you;
Therefore, I pray you, lead me to the caskets,
To try my fortune. By this scimitar,-
That slew the Sophy, and a Persian prince,

(1) Abide.

(2) Allusion to the eastern custom for lovers to testify their passion by cutting themselves in their mistresses' sight.

my conscience, hanging about the neck of my heart, says very wisely to me,-my honest friend Launcelot, being an honest man's son,-or rather an honest woman's son ;-for, indeed, my father did something smack, something grow to, he had a kind of taste;-well, my conscience says, Launcelot, budge not; budge, says the fiend; budge not, says my conscience: Conscience, say Ì, you counsel well; fiend, say I, you counsel well: to be ruled by my conscience, I should stay with the Jew my master, who (God bless the mark!) is a kind of devil; and, to run away from the Jew, I should be ruled by the fiend, who, saving your reverence, is the devil himself: Certainly, the Jew is the very devil incarnation; and, in my conscience, my conscience is but a kind of hard conscience, to offer to counsel me to stay with the Jew: The fiend gives the more friendly counsel: I will run, fiend; my heels are at your commandment, I will run,

Enter old Gobbo, with a basket.

Gob. Master, young man, you, I pray you; which is the way to master Jew's?

Laun. [Aside.] O heavens, this is my true begotten father! who, being more than sand-blind, high-gravel blind, knows me not:-I will try conclusions with him.

Gob. Master young gentleman, I pray you, which is the way to master Jew's?

Laun. Turn up on your right hand, at the next

lowers.

turning, but, at the next turning of all, on your Enter Bassanio, with Leonardo, and other fol left; marry, at the very next turning, turn of no hand, but turn down indirectly to the Jew's house. Gob. By God's sonties, 'twill be a hard way to hit. Can you tell me whether one Launcelot, that dwells with him, dwell with him, or no?

Laun. Talk you of young master Launcelot ?Mark me now; [aside.] now will I raise the waters-Talk you of young master Launcelot?

Gob. No master, sir, but a poor man's son; his father, though I say it, is an honest exceeding poor man, and, God be thanked, well to live.

Laun. Well, let his father be what he will, we talk of young master Launcelot.

Bass. You may do so;-but let it be so hasted,
that supper be ready at the farthest by five of the
clock: See these letters deliver'd; put the liveries
to making; and desire Gratiano to come anon to
my lodging.
[Exit a servant.

Laun. To him, father.
Gob. God bless your worship!

Bass. Gramercy; Would'st thou aught with me?
Gob. Here's my son, sir, a poor boy,-

Laun. Not a poor boy, sir, but the rich Jew's man; that would, sir, as my father shall specify,Gob. He hath a great infection, sir, as one would say, to serve

Gob. Your worship's friend, and Launcelot, sir.
Laun. But I pray you ergo, old man, ergo, I be-| Laun. Indeed, the short and the long is, I serve
seech you; Talk you of young master Launcelot? the Jew, and I have a desire, as my father shall
Gob. Of Launcelot, an't please your mastership. specify,

Laun. Ergo, master Launcelot; talk not of Gob. His master and he (saving your worship's master Launcelot, father; for the young gentleman reverence,) are scarce cater-cousins:

(according to fates and destinies, and such odd Laun. To be brief, the very truth is, that the sayings; the sisters three, and such branches of Jew having done me wrong, doth cause me, as my learning,) is, indeed, deceased; or, as you would father, being I hope an old man, shall frutify unto say, in plain terms, gone to heaven.

Gob. Marry, God forbid! the boy was the very staff of my age, my very prop.

Laun. Do I look like a cudgel, or a hovel-post, a staff, or a prop ?-Do you know me, father? Gob. Alack the day, I know you not, young gentleman: but, I pray you, tell me, is my boy (God rest his soul!) alive, or dead?

Laun. Do you not know me, father?

Gob. Alack, sir, I am sand-blind, I know you not. Laun. Nay, indeed, if you had your eyes, you might fail of the knowing me: it is a wise father that knows his own child. Well, old man, I will tell you news of your son: Give me your blessing: truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long, a man's son may; but, in the end, truth will out. Gob. Pray you, sir, stand up; I am sure, you are not Launcelot, my boy.

Laun. Pray you, let's have no more fooling about it, but give me your blessing; I am Launcelot, your boy that was, your son that is, your child that shall be.

Gob. I cannot think you are my son. Laun. I know not what I shall think of that: but I am Launcelot, the Jew's man; and, I am sure, Margery, your wife, is my mother.

you,

Gob. I have a dish of doves, that I would bestow upon your worship; and my suit is,

Laun. In very brief the suit is impertinent to myself, as your worship shall know by this honest old man; and, though I say it, though old man, yet, poor man, my father.

Bass. One speak for both;-What would you?
Laun. Serve you, sir.

Gob. This is the very defect of the matter, sir.
Bass. I know thee well, thou hast obtained thy
suit:

Shylock, thy master, spoke with me this day,
And hath preferr'd thee, if it be preferment,
To leave a rich Jew's service, to become
The follower of so poor a gentleman.

Laun. The old proverb is very well parted between my master Shylock and you, sir; you have the grace of God, sir, and he hath enough.

Bass. Thou speak'st it well: Go, father, with
thy son:-
:-

Take leave of thy old master, and inquire
My lodging out:-Give him a livery

[To his followers. More guarded than his fellows': See it done. Laun. Father, in:-I cannot get a service, no ;Gob. Her name is Margery, indeed: I'll be sworn, I have ne'er a tongue in my head.-Well; [lookif thou be Launcelot, thou art mine own flesh and ing on his palm.] if any man in Italy have a fairer blood. Lord worshipp'd might he be! what a beard table, which doth offer to swear upon a book.-hast thou got! thou hast got more hair on thy chin, I shall have good fortune; Go to, here's a simple than Dobbin my thill-horse1 has on his tail.

Laun. It should seem then, that Dobbin's tail grows backward; I am sure he had more hair on his tail, than I have on my face, when I last saw him. Gob. I.ord, how art thou chang'd! How dost thou and thy master agree? I have brought him present; How 'gree you now?

a

I

Laun. Well, well; but, for my own part, as have set up my rest to run away, so I will not rest till I have run some ground: my master's a very Jew: Give him a present! give him a halter: am famish'd in his service; you may tell every finger I have with my ribs. Father, am glad you are come; give me your present to one master Bassanio, who, indeed, gives rare new liveries: if I serve not him, I will run as far as God has any ground.-O rare fortune! here comes the man;to him, father; for I am a Jew, if I serve the Jew any longer.

(1) Shaft-horse (2) Ornamented.

an eye.

line of life! here's a small trifle of wives: Alas,
fifteen wives is nothing; eleven widows, and nine
maids, is a simple coming-in for one man: and
then, to 'scape drowning thrice; and to be in peril
of my life with the edge of a feather-bed;-here
are simple 'scapes! Well, if fortune be a woman,
she's a good wench for this gear.-Father, come;
I'll take my leave of the Jew in the twinkling of
[Exeunt Laun. and old Gob.
Bass. I pray thee, good Leonardo, think on this;
These things being bought, and orderly bestow'd,
Return in haste, for I do feast to-night
My best-esteem'd acquaintance; hie thee, go.
Leon. My best endeavours shall be done herein.
Enter Gratiano.
Gra. Where is your master?
Leon.

Yonder, sir, he walks.
Exit Leonardo.

(3) The palm of the hand extended.

then it was not for nothing that my nose fell a bleed-Albeit I'll swear that I do know your tongue. ing on Black-Monday last, at six o'clock i'the morning, falling out that year on Ash-Wednesday was four year in the afternoon.

What, art thou come?-On, gentlemen, away, Enter Gratiano and Our masquing mates by this time for us stay.

Do it in hope of fair advantages:

A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross
I'll then nor give, nor hazard, aught for lead.
What says the silver, with her virgin hue?
Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he deserves.
As much as he deserves?-Pause there, Morocco,
And weigh thy value with an even hand:
If thou be'st rated by thy estimation,
Thou dost deserve enough; and yet enough
May not extend so far as to the lady;
And yet to be afeard of my deserving,
Were but a weak disabling of myself.
As much as I deserve!-Why, that's the lady:
I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes,
In graces, and in qualities of breeding;
But more than these, in love I do deserve.
What if I stray'd no further, but chose here;-
Let's see once more this saying grav'd in gold:
Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men desire.
Why, that's the lady; all the world desires her:
From the four corners of the earth they come,
To kiss this shrine, this mortal breathing saint.
The Hyrcanian deserts, and the vasty wilds
Of wide Arabia, are as through-fares now,
For princes to come view fair Portia :
The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar
To stop the foreign spirits; but they come,
As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia.
One of these three contains her heavenly picture.
Is't like, that lead contains her? 'Twere damnation,
To think so base a thought; it were too gross
To rib her cerccloth in the obscure grave.
Or shall I think, in silver she's immur'd,
Being ten times undervalued to try'd gold?
O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem
Was set in worse than gold. They have in England
A coin, that bears the figure of an angel
Stamped in gold: but that's insculp'd
But here an angel in a golden bed
Lies all within.-Deliver me the key;
Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may!
Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lie
there,

upon;

Then I am yours. [He unlocks the golden casket.
Mor.
O hell! what have we here?
A carrion death, within whose empty eye
There is a written scroll? I'll read the writing.

All that glisters is not gold,
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold,
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms infold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,
Your answer had not been inscroll'd
Fare you well; your suit is cold.
Cold, indeed; and labour lost:

Then, farewell, heat; and, welcome, frost.-
Portia, adieu! I have too griev'd a heart
To take a tedious leave: thus losers part. [Exit.
Per. A gentle riddance:-Draw the curtains,
go

Let all of his complexion choose me so. [Exeunt.
SCENE VIII.-Venice. A street. Enter Sala-

Salan. The villain Jew with outcries rais'd the duke;

Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship.

Salar. He came too late, the ship was under sail
But there the duke was given to understand,
That in a gondola were seen together
Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica :
Besides, Antonio certify'd the duke,
They were not with Bassanio in his ship.
Salan. I never heard a passion so confus'd,
So strange, outrageous, and so variable,
As the dog Jew did utter in the streets:
My daughter!-O my ducats!-O my daughter!
Fled with a Christian ?-O my Christian ducats!
Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter!
A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,
Of double ducats, stol'n from me by my daughter!
And jewels; two stones, two rich and precious

stones,

Stol'n by my daughter!-Justice! find the girl.
She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats!

Salar. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him,
Crying,-his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.
Salan. Let good Antonio look he keep his day,
Or he shall pay for this.

Salar.

Marry, well remember'd :
I reason'd' with a Frenchman yesterday;
Who told me,-in the narrow seas, that part
The French and English, there miscarried
A vessel of our country, richly fraught:
I thought upon Antonio, when he told me;
And wish'd in silence, that it were not his.
Salan. You were best to tell Antonio what you
hear;

Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.

Salar. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth.
I saw Bassanio and Antonio part:
Bassanio told him, he would make some speed
Of his return; he answer'd-Do not so,
Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio,
But stay the very riping of the time;
And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me,
Let it not enter in your mind of love:
Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts
To courtship, and such fair ostents of love
As shall conveniently become you there:
And even there, his eye being big with tears,
Turning his face, he put his hand behind him,
And with affection wondrous sensible
He wrung Bassanio's hand, and so they parted.
Salan. I think, he only loves the world for him.
I pray thee let us go, and find him out,
And quicken his embraced heaviness
With some delight or other.

Salar.

Do we so.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IX.-Belmont. A room in Portia's
house. Enter Nerissa, with a servant.
Ner. Quick, quick, I pray thee, draw the cur
tain straight;

The prince of Arragon has ta'en his oath,
And comes to his election presently.

Flourish of cornets. Enter the prince of Arragon,
Portia, and their trains.

Por. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince:
If you choose that wherein I am contain'd,
Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemniz'd;
But if you fail, without more speech, my lord,
You must be gone from hence immediately.

Ar. I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three things

(5) Shows, tokens.

(6) The heaviness he is fond of.