My soul upon the forfeit, that your lord
Will never more break faith advisedly.
Por. Then you shall be his surety. Give him this,
And bid him keep it better than the other.
Ant. Here, Lord Bassanio; swear to keep this ring.
Bass. By heaven, it is the same I gave the doctor!
Por. I had it of him: pardon me, Bassanio ;
For, by this ring, the doctor lay with me.
Ner. And pardon me, my gentle Gratiano;
For that same scrubbed boy, the doctor's clerk,
In lieu of this last night did lie with me.
Gra. Why, this is like the mending of highways
In summer, where the ways are fair enough:
What, are we cuckolds ere we have deserved it?
Por. Speak not so grossly. You are all amazed:
Here is a letter; read it at your leisure ;
It comes from Padua, from Bellario :
There you shall find that Portia was the doctor,
Nerissa there her clerk: Lorenzo here
Shall witness I set forth as soon as you,
And even but now return'd; I have not yet
Enter'd my
house. Antonio, you are welcome;
And I have better news in store for you
Than you expect: unseal this letter soon;
There you shall find three of your argosies
Are richly come to harbour suddenly :
You shall not know by what strange accident
I chanced on this letter.
Bass. Were you the doctor and I knew
Gra. Were you the clerk that is to make me cuckold? Ner. Ay, but the clerk that never means to do it, Unless he live until he be a man.
Bass. Sweet doctor, you shall be my bedfellow :
When I am absent, then lie with my wife.
Ant. Sweet lady, you have given me life and living;
For here I read for certain that my ships
How now, Lorenzo ! My clerk hath some good comforts too for you. Ner. Ay, and I'll give them him without a fee. There do I give to you and Jessica,
From the rich Jew, a special deed of gift, After his death, of all he dies possess'd of. Lor. Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way Of starved people.
It is almost morning,
I am sure you are not satisfied
Of these events at full. Let us go in ;
And charge us there upon inter❜gatories,
And we will answer all things faithfully.
Gra. Let it be so: the first interʼgatory
That my Nerissa shall be sworn on is,
Whether till the next night she had rather stay,
Or go to bed now, being two hours to day:
But were the day come, I should wish it dark,
That I were couching with the doctor's clerk.
Well, while I live I'll fear no other thing
So sore as keeping safe Nerissa's ring.
ABODE, delay; II. vi. 21.
ABRIDGED; to be a.," i.e. "at being
a."; I. i. 126.
ADDRESS'D ME, prepared myself; II.
ix. 19.
ADVICE, reflection; IV. ii. 6.
ADVISED, cautious, heedful; I. i. 142.
ADVISEDLY, intentionally; V. i. 253.
AFFECTION, feeling; II. viii. 48.
APPROVE, prove, confirm; III. ii. 79.
ARGOSIES, merchant-ships (originally
the large and richly freighted ships
of Ragusa); I. i.
ATTEMPT, tempt; IV. i. 421.
ATTENDED, attended to, marked; V.
i. 103.
BANED, poisoned; IV. i. 46.
BARE, bare-headed; II. ix. 44.
BATED, reduced; III. iii. 3 106.
BEHOLDING, beholden; I.
BEST-REGARDED, best-looking, hand-
somest; II. i. 1o.
BLENT, blended; III. ii. 183.
BLEST, used with a superlative force,
and perhaps a contracted form of
"blessed'st"; II. i. 46.
BONNET, head-gear; I. ii. 81.
BOTTOM, hold of a vessel; I. i. 42.
BREAK UP, break open; II. iv. io.
BREATHING, verbal; V. i. 141.
BURIAL, burial-place; I. i. 29.
By, at hand, near by; IV. i. 257.
CATER-COUSINS, remote relations,
good friends; "are scarce c.," i.e.
are not great friends"; II. ii. 139.
CERECLOTH, a cloth dipped in melted
wax to be used as a shroud; II. vii.51.
CEREMONY sacred object; V. i. 206.
CHARGE; on your charge," at your
expense; IV. i. 257.
CHEER, countenance; III. ii. 314.
CHILDHOOD PROOF, childhood's proof;
I. i. 144
CHOOSE,"let it alone!" I. ii. 51.
CIRCUMSTANCE, circumlocution; I. i.
154.
CIVIL DOCTOR, doctor of civil law; V.
i. 210.
CIVILITY, civilisation; II. ii. 204.
CLOSE, secret; II. vi. 47.
COMMANDMENT (in Quartos and Folios
"commandément"; clearly to be
pronounced as a quadrisyllable); IV.
COMMENDS, Commendations; II. ix.
90.
COMPLEXION, nature; III. i. 32.
COMPROMISED, (had) come to a mutual
agreement; I. iii. 79.
CONFOUND, destroy; III. ii. 278.
CONFUSIONS; Launcelot's blunder for
"conclusions"; II. ii. 39.
CONSTANT, self-possessed; III. ii. 250.
CONTAIN, retain; V. i. 201.
CONTINENT, that which contains any-
thing; III. ii. 131.
CONTRARY, wrong; I. ii. 105.
CONTRIVE, conspire; IV. i. 352.
COPE, requite; ÎV. i. 412.
COUNTERFEIT, likeness; III. ii. 115.
COUNTY, Count; I. ii. 49.
COUSIN, kinsman; III. iv. 50.
COVER, wear hats; II. ix. 44.
CURELESS (the reading of the Quartos;
the Folios read "endless"), beyond
cure; IV. i. 142.
DANGER, absolute power (to harm); | FIND FORTH, find out, seek; I. i. 143.
DEATH=death's head; II. vii. 63.
DEFACE, cancel, destroy; III. ii. 301.
DIFFERENCE, dispute; IV. i. 171.
DISABLED, crippled; I. i. 123.
DISABLING, undervaluing; II. vii. 30.
DISCOVER, reveal; II. vii. 1.
DOIT, a small coin; I. iii. 141.
DRIVE, commute; IV. i. 372.
DUCATS; the value of the Venetian
silver ducat was about that of the
American dollar; I. iii. x.
EANLINGS, lambs just born; I. iii. 80.
ENTERTAIN, maintain; I. i. 90.
EQUAL, equivalent; I. iii. 150.
ESTATE, state; III. ii. 239.
EXCESS, interest; I. iii. 63.
EXCREMENT, hair; "valour's ex.
i.e. "a brave man's beard"; III. ii.
87.
EYE;"within the eye of honour";
i.e."within the sight of h."; "with-
in the scope of honour's vision"; I.
i. 137.
FAIRNESS, beauty; III. ii. 94.
FAITHLESS, unbelieving; II. iv. 38.
FALL, let fall; I. iii. 89.
FALLS, falls out; III. ii. 204.
FANCY, love; III. ii. 63, 68.
FEAR'D, frightened; II. i. 9.
FEARFUL, filling one with fear; I. iii.
176.
FLOOD, waters, seas; I. i. 1o; IV. L
FOND, foolish; II. ix. 27.
FOOT, spurn with the foot; I. iii. 119.
FOOT, path; II. iv. 36.
FOOTING, footfall; V. i. 24.
FOR, of; III. iv. 10.
FRAUGHT, freighted; II. viii. 30.
FRETTEN, fretted; IV. i. 77.
GABERDINE, a large loose cloak of
coarse stuff; I. iii. 113.
GAGED, pledged; I. i. 130.
GAPING PIG, a roast pig with a lemon
in its mouth; IV. i. 47.
GARNISH, apparel: II. vi. 45.
GEAR;" for this g." i.e. for this matter,
business: "a colloquial expression
perhaps of no very determinate im-
port"; I. i. 110; II. ii. 175.
GELT, mutilated; V. i. 144.
GRATIFY, reward; IV. i. 406.
GROSS;" to term in gross," to sum up;
III. ii. 160.
GUARD, guardianship; I. iii. 176.
GUARDED, ornamented; II. ii. 164.
GUILED, full of guile, treacherous;
III. ii. 97.
HABIT, behaviour; II. ii. 199.
HEAVENS; "for the heavens," for
heaven's sake; II. ii. 12.
HEAVINESS, sadness; "his embraced
h."; the sadness which he hugs; II.
viii. 52.
HIGH-DAY, holiday, high-flown, ex-
travagant; II. ix. 98.
HIP; catch upon the h."; a term
taken from wrestling, meaning "to
have an advantage over"; I. iii.
HOVEL-POST, the support of the roof of
an out-house; II. ii. 71.
HUSBANDRY, government, steward-
ship; III. iv. 25.
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