Could turn so much the constitution
Of any constant man. What, worse and worse?-
With leave, Bassanio; I am half yourself,
And I must freely have the half of any thing
That this same paper brings you.
Bass. O sweet Portia,
Here are a few of the unpleasant'st words,
That ever blotted paper! Gentle lady,
When I did first impart my love to you,
I freely told you, all the wealth I had
Ran in my veins, I was a gentleman;
And then I told you true: and yet, dear lady,
Rating myself at nothing, you shall see
How much I was a braggart: When I told you
My state was nothing, I should then have told you
That I was worse than nothing; for, indeed,
I have engag'd myself to a dear friend,
Engag'd my friend to his meer enemy,
To feed my means. Here is a letter, lady;
The paper as the body of my friend,
And every word in it a gaping wound,
Issuing life-blood.-But it is true, Salerio ?
Have all his ventures fail'd? What, not one hit?
From Tripolis, from Mexico, and England,
From Lisbon, Barbary, and India?
And not one vessel 'scape the dreadful touch
Of merchant-marring rocks?
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,
5 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 friend.
10 Bass. [Reads.] "Sweet Bassanio, my ships have
"all miscarry'd, 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 me, 15" 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, dispatch all business, and be gone. Bass. Since I have your good leave to go away,
I will make haste: but, 'till I come again,
No bed shall e'er be guilty of my stay,
No rest be interposer 'twixt us twain. [Exeunt.
SCENE III.
Salanio. Anthonio, and the
Gaoler.
Shy. Gaoler, look to him ;-Tell not me of
mercy;This is the fool that lent out money gratis;— 30 Gaoler, look to him.
Anth. Hear me yet, good Shylock.
Shy. I'll have my bond; speak not against my
I have sworn an oath, that I will have my bond:
Thou call'dst me dog, before thou had'st a cause;
35 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.
Sale. Not one, my Jord.
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 freedom 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. [swear, 40
Jes. When I was with him, I have heard him
To Tubal, and to Chus, his countrymen,
That he would rather have Anthonio's flesh,
Than twenty times the value of the sum
That he did owe him: and I know, my lord,
If law, authority, and power deny not,
It will go hard with poor Anthonio.
Por. Is it your dear friend that is thus in trou-
Bass. The dearest friend to me, the kindest man,
The best condition'd and unweary'd 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 thorough Bassanio's fault.
First, go with me to chuch, and call me wife;
And then away to Venice to your friend;
For never shall you lie by Portia's side
Anth. I pray thee, hear me speak. [speak:
Shy. I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee
I'll have my bond; and therefore speak no more.
I'll not be made a soft and dull-ey'd fool',
To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield
To christian intercessors. Follow not;
45 I'll have no speaking; I will have my bond.
[Exit Shylock.
Sal. It is the most impenetrable cur,
That ever kept with men.
50P'll follow him no more with bootless prayers. He seeks my life; his reason well I know;
I oft deliver'd from his forfeitures
Many that have at times made moan to me,
Therefore he hates me
Sala. I am sure, the duke
That I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh
To-morrow to my bloody creditor.—
Well, gaoler, on:-Pray God, Bassanio come
To see me pay his debt, and then I care not!
[Exeunt.
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
In bearing thus the absence of your lord.
But, if you knew to whom you shew this honour,
How true a gentleman you send relief,
How dear a lover of my lord your husband,
I know, you would be prouder of the work,
Than customary bounty can enforce you.
Por. I never did repent for doing good,
Nor shall not now: for in companions
That do converse and waste the time together,
Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There must needs be a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit;
Which makes me think, that this Anthonio,
Being the bosom lover of my lord,
Must needs be like my lord: If it be so,
How little is the cost I have bestow'd,
In purchasing the semblance of my soul
From out the state of hellish cruelty?
This comes too near the praising of myself;
Therefore, no more of it: hear other things.
Lorenzo, I commit into your hands
The husbandry and manage of my house,
Until my lord's return: for mine own part,
I have toward heaven breath'd a secret vow,
To live in prayer and contemplation,
Only attended by Nerissa here,
Until her husband and my lord's return:
There is a monastery two miles off,
And there we will abide. I do desire you,
Not to deny this imposition;
The which my love, and some necessity,
Now lays upon you.
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.
In speed to Padua; see thou render this
Into my cousin's hand, doctor Bellario;
And, look, what notes and garments he doth give
Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd speed,
5 Unto the traject, to the common ferry [words,
Which trades to Venice-waste no time in
But get thee gone; I shall be there before thee.
Balth. Madam, I go with all convenient speed.
[Exit.
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.
Por. They shall, Nerissa; but in such a habit,
15 That they shall think we are accomplished
With what we lack. I'll hold thee any wager,
When we are both apparell'd like young men,
I'll prove the prettier fellow of the two,
And wear my dagger with the braver grace;
20 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,
25 Which I denying, they fell sick and dy'd;
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,
So save you well, till we shall meet again. [you!
Lor. Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on
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.
As I have ever found thee honest, true,
So let me find thee still: Take this same letter,
And use thou all the endeavour of a man,
That men shall swear I have discontinued school
30 Above a twelvemonth:-1 have within my mind
A thousand raw tricks of these bragging jacks,
Which I will practise.
Ner. Why, shall we turn to men?
Por. Fie! what a question's that,
35 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." [Ex.
SCENE V.
Enter Launcelot and Jessica.
Laun. Yes, truly:-for, look you, the sins of the father are to be laid upon the children; there45 fore, 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 50 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.
55 Jes. That were a kind of bastard hope, indeed; so the sins of my mother shall be visited Jupon me.
Laun. Truly then I fear, you are damn'd both by father and mother: thus when I shun Scylla, 60 your father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother: well, you are gone both ways.
For the sense of the word do in this place, see note 4, p. 77.
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 have a rasher on the coals for money.
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 15 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 common-20 wealth, 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. [machs. 30 Laun. That is done, sir; they have all stoLor. Goodly lord, what a wit-snapper are you! then bid them prepare dinner.
Laun. 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? I 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.
Laun. For the table, sir, it shall be serv'd in;
for the meat, sir, it shall be covered; for your
coming in to dinner, sir, why, let it be as humours
land conceit shall govern.
[Exit Laun.
Lor. O dear discretion, how his words are suit-
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 heavenlymatch,
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.
Lor. Even such a husband
Hast thou of me, as she is for a wife.
Jes. Nay, but ask my opinion too of that.
Lor. I will anon; first let us go to dinner.
Jes. Nay, let me praise you, while I have a
stomach,
Lor. No, pray thee, let it serve for table-talk;
Then, howsoe'er thou speak'st, 'mong other things
I shall digest it.
Jes. Well, I'll set you forth,
SCENE I.
The Senate-house in Venice.
To suffer, with a quietness of spirit,
The very tyranny and rage of his.
Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court.
Sal. He's ready at the door: he comes, my lord.
Enter Shylock.
Duke. Make room, and let him stand before
our face.--
Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice 55 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) 60 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 bosons, 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.
[pose;
Shy. I have possess'd your grace of what I pur-
And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn,
To have the due and forteit of my bond:
If you deny it, let the danger light
Upon your charter, and your city's freedom."
You'll ask me, why I rather chuse to have
A weight of carrion flesh, than to receive
Three thousand ducats: I'll not answer that:
But, say, it is my humour; Is it answer'd?
What if my house be troubled with a rat,
And I be pleas'd to give ten thousand ducats
To have it band? What, are you answer'd yet?
Some men there are, love not a gaping pig;
Some, that are mad, if they benold a cat;
And others, when the bag-pipe sings i' the nose,
Cannot contain their urine; For affections,
Masters of passion, sway it to the mood
Of what it likes, or loaths: Now for your an
As there is no firm reason to be render'd,
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig;
Why he, a harmless necessary cat;
Why he, a woollen bag-pipe; but of force
Must yield to such inevitable shame,
As to offend himself, being offended;
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodg'd hate, and a certain loathing,
I bear Anthonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answer'd?
I would not draw them, I would have my bond. Duke. How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend'ring [wrong?
Shy. What judgment shall I dread, doing no
5 You have among you many a purchas'd slave,
Which, like your asses, and your dogs and mules,
You use in abject and in slavish parts,
Because you bought them:-Shall I say to you,
Let then be free, marry them to your heirs?
10 Why sweat they under burdens? let their beds
Be made as soft as yours, and let their palates
Be season'd with such viands? you will answer,
The slaves are ours:-So do I answer you:
The pound of flesh, which i demand of him,
15ls dearly bought, is mine, and I will have it:
If you deny me, fie upon your law!
There is no force in the decrees of Venice':
I stand for judgment: answer; shall I have it?
Duke. Upon my power, I may dismiss this court,
20 Unless Bellario, a learned doctor,
Whom I have sent for to determine this,
Come here to-day.
Sala. My lord, here stays without
A messenger with letters from the doctor, 25 New come from Padną.
Duke. Bring us the letters; Call the messenger.
Bass. Good cheer, Anthonio! What, man?
[all,
courage yet!
The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and
30 Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood.
Anth. 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,
35 Than to live still, and write mine epitaph.
Bass. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
To excuse the current of thy cruelty. [answers.
Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my 40
Bass. Do all men kill the thing they do not love?
Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
Bass. Every offence is not a hate at first.
Shy. What, would'st thou have a serpent sting
thee twice?
[Jew:45
Anth. I pray you, think you question 3 with the
You may as well go stand upon the beach,
And bid the main flood 'bate his usual height;
You may as well use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops, and to make no noise,
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven;
You may as well do any thing most hard,
As seek to soften that (than which what's harder?)
His Jewish heart:--Therefore I do beseech you,
Make no more offers, use no farther means,
But, with all brief and plain conveniency,
Let me have judgment, and the Jew his will.
Bass. For thy three thousand ducats here is six.
Shy. If every ducat in six thousand ducats
Were in six parts, and every part a ducat,
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Enter Nerissa, dess'd like a lawyer's clerk.
Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario?
Ner. From both, my lord: Bellario greets your
grace.
Bass. Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?
Shy. To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt
there.
Gra. Not on thy soal, but on thy soul, harsh
Thou mak'st thy knife keen: but no metal can,
No, not the hangman's ax, 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,
50Thou 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,
55 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. [bond,
Shy. Till thou can'st rail the seal from off my
60 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,
? Perhaps we should read a swelling or swollen bag* i. e. hatred. Duke.
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,
5 Though justice be thy plea, consider this,—
That, 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,
10 To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
"Your grace shall understand, that, at the re"ceipt of your letter, I am very sick: but at the in"stant that your messenger came, in loving visita"tion was with me a young doctor of Rome, his name is Balthazar: I acquainted him with the "cause in controversy between the Jew and An-15) "thonio the merchant: we turn'd o'er many "books together: he is furnish'd with my opi"nion; which, bettered with his own learning, (the greatness whereof I cannot enough com "mend) comes with him, at my importunity, to "fill up your grace's request in my stead. Ibe"seech you, let his lack of years be no impedi"ment to let him lack a reverend estimation; for "I never knew so young a body with so old an "head. I leave him to your gracious acceptance, "whose trial shall better publish his commenda"tion."
Enter Portia, dress'd like a doctor of laws.
Which it thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence'gainst the merchant there.
Shy. My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.
Por. Is he not able to discharge the money?
Bass. Yes, here I tender it for him in the court;
Yeaj twice the sum: if that will not suffice,
I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er,
On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart.
If this will not suffice, it must appear
Tat malice bears down truth. And I beseech
Wrest once the law to your authority:
To do a great right, do a little wrong;
And curb this cruel devil of his will.
Por. It must not be; there is no power in VeCan alter a decree established:
Twill be recorded for a precedent;
And many an error, by the same example,
Will rush into the state: it cannot be.
Duke. You hear the learn'd Bellario, what he 30 Shy. A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a
And here, I take it, is the doctor come.
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 thoroughly of the cause.
Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?
Duke. Anthonio and old Shylock, both stand 40
forth.
Por. Is your name Shylock?
Shy. Shylock is my name.
Por. Of a strange nature is the suit you follow;
Yet in such rule, that the Venetian law
Cannot impugn' you, as you do proceed.-
You stand within his danger, do you not?
Por. Do you confess the bond?
Anth. I do.
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 scepter shews the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But inercy is above the scepter'd sway,
Shy. An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven;
Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?
No, not for Venice.
Por. Why, this bond is forfeit;
And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant's heart:-Be merciful;
Take thrice the money; bid me tear the bond.
45 Shy. When it is paid according to the tenour.—
It doth appear you are a worthy judge;
You know the law, your exposition
Hath been most sound: I charge you by the law,
Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar,
Proceed to judgment; by my soul I swear,
There is no power in the tongue of man
To alter me: I stay here on my bond.
Anth. Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.
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,
60 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 your bosom.
i. e. oppose you. 2 Meaning, that malice oppresses honesty,
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