The prefent money to difcharge the Iew,
He would not take it: neuer did I know
A creature that did beare the shape of man,
So keene and greedy to confound a man.
He plies the Duke at morning and at night,
And doth impeach the freedome of the ftate
If they deny him iuftice.Twenty Merchants,
The Duke himselfe, and the Magnificoes
Of greatest port haue all perfwaded with him,
But none can driue him from the enuious plea
Of forfeyture,of iuftice, and his bond,
Leffica. When I was with him, I haue heard him fweare
To Tuball and to Chus, his Country-men,
That he would rather haue Anthonios Alefh,
Then twenty times the value of the fumme
That he did owe him: and I know my Lord,
law,authority,and power deny not,
It will go hard with poore Anthonio.
Por. Is it your deare friend that is thus in trouble? Baff. The deereft friend to me,the kindeft man, The best condition'd and vnwearied fpirit
In doing courtefies: and one in whom
The ancient Romane honour more appeares,
Then any that drawes breath in Italy.
Por.What fumme owes he the Jew?
Bal.For me three thousand Ducats.
Por. What no more,pay him fix thousand & deface the bond, Double fixe thousand,and then treble that,
Before a friend of this defcription
Shall lofe a haire through Bassanios fault.
First go with me to Church, and call me wife,
And then away to Venice to your friend;
For neuer fhall you lye by Portia fide
With an vnquiet foule. You fhall haue gold
To pay the petty debt twenty times ouer.
When it is paid,bring your true friend along;
My maide Nerrissa, and my felfe meane time
Will liue as maides and widdowes; come away,
For you fhall hence vpon your wedding day.
Bid your friends welcome, fhew a merry cheere,
Since you are deere bought, I will loue you deere,
But let me heare the letter of your friend.
Sweet Baffanio, My ships haue all miscarried,my Creditors grow cruell, my estate is very low my band to the Iew is forfet, and fince in paying it, it is impoffible fhould lime, all debts are cleered betweene you and I if I might but fee you at my death. Notwithstanding, use your pleasure; if your loue dos not perfwade you to come, let not my
O Loue! dispatch all businesse,and be gone.
Baff. Since I haue your good leaue to go away,
I will make haft. But till I come againe,
No bed fhall ere be guilty of my stay,
No rest be interposer twixt vs twaine.
Enter the low, and Salarino, and Anthonio,
and the laylor.
Iew Taylor, looke to him, tell not me of mercy,
This is the foole that lent out money gratis.
Taylor, looke to him.
An. Heare me yer good Shylocks.
Iew. Ile haue my bond, fpeake not against my bond:
I haue fworne an oath, that I will haue my bond.
Thou cald'ft me dogge before thou hadft a cause,
But fince I am a dogge, beware my fangs.
The Duke hall grant me iuftice I do wonder
Thou naughty laylor that thou art fo fond
To come abroad with him at his requeft.
An. I prethee heare me fpeake.
Iew. Ile haue my bond; I will not heare thee speake;
Ile haue my bond, and therefore fpeake no more,
Ile not be made a foft and dull. ey'd foole,
To shake the head, relent, and figh,and yeeld
To Chriftian interceffors: follow not,
Ile haue no speaking, I will haue my bond.
Sol. It is the most impenetrable curre
That euer kept with men.
Ant. Let him alone,
Ile follow him no more with bootleffe prayers.
He feckes my life, his reason well I know:
I oft deliuer'd from his forfeitures
Many that haue at times made mone to mee,
Therefore he hates me.
Sal. I am fure the Duke will neuer grant
This forfeyture to hold.
An. The Duke cannot deny the courfe of Law: For the commodity that ftrangers haue
With vs in Venice, if it be denied,
Will much impeach the iuftice of his state,
Since that the trade and profit of the City
Confifteth of all Nations. Therefore goe,
Thefe greefes and loffes haue fo bated me,
That I fhall hardly spare a pound of flesh
To morrow, to my bloody Creditor.
VVell Taylor on, pray God Baffanio come
To fee me pay his debt,and then I care not. Exeunt.
Enter Partia, Nerriffa, Lorenzo, Ieffica, and a
man of Portias.
Lor.Madam,although I speake it in your presence,
You haue a noble and a true conceite
OfGod-like amity, which appeares most strongly,
In bearing thus the abfence of your Lord.
But if you knew to whom you fhew this honour,
How true a Gentleman you fend releefe,
How deere a louer of my Lord your husband,
I know you would be prouder of the worke,
Then cuftomary bounty can enforce you.
Por. I neuer did repent for doing good,
Nor fhall not now: for in companions
That do conuerfe and waste the time together,
Whose foules do beare an equall yoke of loue,
There must be needs a like proportion
Oflincaments, of manners, and of fpirit
Which makes me thinke, that this Anthonie
(Being the bofome-louer of my Lord)t
Muft needs be like my Lord. Ifit befo,
How little is the coft I haue bestowed
In purchafing the femblance of my foule,
From out the state of hellish mifery.
This comes too neere the praifing of my felfe,
Therefore no more of it: heere other things
Lorenzo I commit into your hands,
The husbandry and mariage of my house,
Vntill my Lords returne. For mine owne part,
I haue toward heauen breath'd a fecret vow,
To liue in prayer and contemplation,
Onely attended by Nerriffa heere,
Vntill her husband,and my Lords returne.
There is a Monaftery two miles off,
And there will we abide. I do defire you,
Not to deny this impofition,
The which my love and fome neceffity
Now layes vpon you.
Lor. Madame, with all my heart,
I fhall obey you in all faire commands.
Por. My people do already know my mind,
And will acknowledge you and leffica,
In place of Lord Bafanio and my felfe.
And fo farewell till we fhall meete againe.
Lor.Faire thoughts & happy hours attend on you.
Jef. I wish your Lady-fhip all hearts content.
Por. I thanke you for your wifh, and am well pleasd
To with it backe on you: farewell leffica.
Now Balthafer, as I haue ener found thee honeft true,
So let me finde thee ftill: Take this fame Letter,
And vfe thou all th'indeuour of a man
In fpeede to Mantua; see thou render this
Into my Cofins hands, Doctor Belario,
And looke what notes and garments he doth giue thee,
Bring them I pray thee with imagin'd fpeede
Vnto the Tranect, to the common Ferry
Which trades to Venice: wafte ho time in words,
But get thee gone, I fhall be there before thee.
Bai, Madam, I go with all conuenient speede.
Por. Come on Nerriffa, I haue worke in hand
That you yet know not of. Wee'l fee our husbands
Before they thinke of vs.
Por. They fhall Nerriffa: but in fuch a habite,
That they fhall thinke we are accomplished
With that we lacke. Ile hold thee any wager,
When we are both apparreld like yong men,
Ile proue the prettier fellow of the two,
And weare my dagger with the brauer grace,
And speake betweene the change of man and boy,
With a reede voice, and turne two mincing steps
Into a manly ftride; and speake of frayes
Like a fine bragging youth; and tell quaint lyes,
How honourable Ladies fought my loue,
Which I denying, they fell ficke and dyed:
I could not doe withall. Then ile repent,
And wifh for all that, that I had not kill'd them;
twenty of thefe punie lies ile tell,
And
That men fhall fweare I haue difcontinued schoole
Aboue a twelue-month. I haue within my
A thousand raw trickes of these bragging iackes,
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