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I swear to thee, even by thine own fair Wherein I see myself,

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Bass.

Nay, but he Pardon this fault, and by my soul I sw I never more will break an oath with the Anth. I once did lend my body i wealth ;5

Which, but for him that had your hus

[To

ring, Had quite miscarry'd: I dare be bound My soul upon the forfeit, that your lord Will never more break faith advisedly. Por. Then you shall be his surety : him this;

And bid him keep it better than the othe Anth. Here, lord Bassanio; swear to this ring.

4

3 In each eye, one :] i. e. one self. E. -swear by your double self,] Double used for full of duplicity. MALONE.

5

-for his wealth;] For his advanta obtain his happiness. Wealth was, at that tin term opposite to adversity, or calamity. JOH So in the Litany : "In all time of our tribu "in all time of our wealth." STEEVENS.

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.6

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 highways7

In

6 For by this ring the doctor lay with me.] By means of this ring, considered as the proof of Bassanio's infidelity, having used it, it may be supposed, as a kind of token or passport by which he obtained admission to her bed. E.

7 Why this is like the mending of highways, &c.] The aptitude of this comparative illustration is not, at first view, very discoverable: The purpose of mending roads, or highways, even when they stand but little in need of repair, must be that of rendering them still, in some degree, better; but how a wife can expect that her husband will be improved by a treatment of the kind here alluded to, it is difficult to say. Perhaps, as behaviour of this nature in wives has been sometimes considered as a punishment inflicted for the misconduct of their husbands, Gratiano may mean to remark, that the unkindness done to them, upon the present occasion, is premature and unnecessary, and like mending highways in summer, forasmuch. as they have not, certainly, as yet merited it, and, perchance, never may hereafter; or, possibly, in a somewhat grosser sense, that, in so suddenly providing themselves with gallants, the ladies have exhibited a kind of superfluous caution, and, as it were,

thrown

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Por. Speak not so grossly.-You amaz'd:

Here is a letter, read it at your leisure; [ It comes from Padua, from Bellario: There you shall find, that Portia was the Nerissa there, her clerk: Lorenzo here Shall witness, I set forth as soon as you, And but even now return'd; I have not Enter'd my house. --Anthonio, you are we And I have better news in store for

thrown away their pains, having had so little c nity of experiencing any demerit in their spo

When may, to some persons, appear a more term to follow summer, than where, but th heightens the comparison by leaving us to c that this absurd "mending of the ways in su was of such, as did not want it at any time.

Viewed in this light, the thought is cons strengthened by the mention of summer, the when the inconvenience even of bad roads paratively speaking, little felt. E.

8 And I have better news in store for you, is not, perhaps, to be found in the dramatic of any poet a more lame, awkard, and in expedient, for suddenly, bringing on a gener faction in the catastrophe, than that which had recourse to. How Portia should pos means of acquiring intelligence respecting t py reverse of Anthonio's fortune, earlier tha self, who is just arrived from the very sam

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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.

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Bass. Were you the doctor, and I knew you

not?

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. Anth. Sweet lady, you have given me life, and living;

For here I read for certain, that my ships
Are safely come to road.

Por.

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

is a matter wonderful to be conceived, and that she should desire to conceal from the knowledge of the company, a circumstance, in its nature so singular and curious, is little less extraordinary. E.

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From the rich Jew, a special deed of gi After his death, of all he dies possessed Lor. Fair ladies, you drop manna in Of starved people.

Por. It is almost morning And yet, I am sure, you are not satisfy'd Of these events at full: Let us go in ; And charge us there upon interrogator And we will answer all things faithfully

Gra. Let it be so: the first interrogat That my Nerissa shall be sworn on, is, Whether till the next night she had rath Or go to bed now, being two hours to But were the day come, I should wish That I were couching9 with the doctor's Well, while I live, I'll fear no other thi So sore, as keeping safe Nerissa's ring [Exeunt

9 That I were couching, &c.] For the m mon and natural phraseology-" That I couching, &c." but, in one one of th copies, the folios, and five succeding edito according to Mr. Capell,

Till I were couching," &c. E.

I So sore, as keeping safe, &c.] Sore is place, used adverbially, to signify-with a anxiety. E.

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