Why, 'tis an office of discovery, love;

And I should be obscured.

Lor.

So are you, sweet,

Even in the lovely garnish of a boy.

But come at once;

For the close night doth play the runaway,

And we are stay'd for at Bassanio's feast.

Jes. I will make fast the doors, and gild myself With some more ducats, and be with you straight. [Exit from above.

Gra. Now, by my hood, a Gentile, and no Jew. Lor. Beshrew' me, but I love her heartily:

For she is wise, if I can judge of her ;

And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true;
And true she is, as she hath proved herself;
And therefore, like herself, wise, fair, and true,
Shall she be placed in my constant soul.

Enter JESSICA below.

What, art thou come ?-On, gentlemen; away!
Our masking mates by this time for us stay.

[Exit with Jes. and Salar.

Enter ANTONIO.

Ant. Who's there?

Gra. Signior Antonio?

Ant. Fie, fie, Gratiano! where are all the rest? 'Tis nine o'clock; our friends all stay for you :No mask to-night; the wind is come about. Bassanio presently will go aboard:

I have sent twenty out to seek for you.

Gra. I am glad on 't; I desire no more delight, Than to be under sail, and gone to-night. [Exeunt.

SCENE VII.

Belmont. A room in Portia's house.

Florish of cornets.

Enter PORTIA, with the PRINCE

OF MOROCCO, and both their trains.

Por. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover
The several caskets to this noble prince.—
Now make your choice.

Mor. The first, of gold, who this inscription

bears ;

Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men desire.'

The second, silver, which this promise carries ;— 'Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he deserves.'

This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt ;— • Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath.'

How shall I know if I do choose the right?

Por. The one of them contains my picture, prince; If you choose that, then I am yours withal.

Mor. Some god direct my judgment! Let me see; I will survey the inscriptions back again.

What says this leaden casket?

'Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath.'

Must give-For what? for lead? hazard for lead?
This casket threatens. Men, that hazard all,
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 de

serves.'

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 farther, but chose here?

Let's see once more this saying graved 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 throughfares 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 rib1 her cerecloth in the obscure grave.
Or shall I think, in silver she's immured,
Being ten times undervalued to tried 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 upon :
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,

Then I am yours.

Mor.

[he unlocks the golden casket.

O hell! what have we here?

A carrion death, within whose empty eye

There is a written scroll: I'll read the writing :

Your answer had not been inscroll'd:
Fare you well 1; your suit is cold.'

Cold, indeed, and labor lost:

Then, farewell, heat; and welcome, frost.Portia, adieu! I have too grieved a heart

To take a tedious leave: thus losers part. [Exit. Por. A gentle riddance.- -Draw the curtains;

go:

Let all of his complexion choose me so.

[Exeunt.

SCENE VIII.

Venice. A street.

Enter SALARINO and SALANIO.

Salar. Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail : With him is Gratiano gone along;

And in their ship, I am sure, Lorenzo is not.

Salan. The villain Jew with outcries raised 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 certified the duke,
They were not with Bassanio in his ship.

Salan. I never heard a passion so confused,

So strange, outrageous, and so variable, As the dog Jew did utter in the streets :— 'My daughter!-O my ducats!-O my daughter!