Por. Tarry a little ;-there is something else.This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood; The words expressly are, a pound of flesh : Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of fsh;

But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed

One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods

Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate
Unto the state of Venice.

Gra. 0 upright judge!-Mark, Jew ;-0 learned judge!

Shy. Is that the law?

Por. Thyself shalt see the act:

For, as thou urgest justice, be assur'd,

Thou shalt have justice more than thou desir'st. Gra. O learned judge !-Mark, Jew ;-a learned judge!

Shy. I take this offer then ;-pay the bond thrice,

And let the Christian go.

Bass. Here is the money.
Por. Soft!

(haste ;The Jew shall have all justice ;-soft!-no He shall have nothing but the penalty. Gra. O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge!

Por. Therefore, prepare thee to cut off the flesh.

Shed thou no blood; nor cut thou less, nor

more,

But just a pound of flesh if thou tak'st more,
Or less, than a just pound,-be it but so much
As makes it light, or heavy, in the substance,
Or the division of the twentieth part
Of one poor scruple; nay, if the scale do turn
But in the estimation of a hair,-
Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate.
Gra. A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew!
Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip.

Por. Why doth the Jew pause? take the forfeiture.

Shy. Give me my principal, and let me go. Bass. I have it ready for thee; here it is. Por. He hath refus'd it in the open court; He shall have merely justice and his bond. Gra. A Daniel, still say 1; a second Daniel I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word. Shy. Shall I not have barely my principal ? Por. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture

To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.

thyself:

And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, Thou hast not left the value of a cord: Therefore, thou must be hang'd at the state's charge.

Duke. That thou shalt see the difference of our spirit,

I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it:
For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's;
The other half comes to the general state,
Which bumbleness may drive unto a fine.

Por. Ay, for the state; not for Autouio.
Shy. Nay, take my life and all, pardon not
that:

You take my house, when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house; you take my life, When you do take the means whereby I live.

Por. What mercy can you reuder him, An

tonio ?

Gra. A halter gratis; nothing else; for God'ssake.

Ant. So please my lord the duke, and all the court,

To quit the fine for one half of his goods;

I am content, so he will let me have
The other half in use,-to render it,
Upon his death, unto the gentleman
That lately stole his daughter:
Two things provided more,-That, for this fa-
your,

He presently become a Christian;
The other, that he do record a gift,
Here in the court, of all he dies possess'd,
Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.

Duke. He shall do this; or else I do recant
The pardon, that I late pronounced here.
Por. Art thou contented, Jew, what dost
thou say?

Shy. I am content.

Por. Clerk, draw a deed of gift,

Shy. I pray you, give me leave to go from hence;

I am not well; send the deed after me,
And I will sign it.

Duke. Get thee gone, but do it.

Gra. In christening thou shalt have two godfathers;

Had I been judge, thou should'st have had ten

more.

To bring thee to the gallows, not the font.

[Exit SHYLOCK. Duke. Sir, I entreat you home with me to dinner.

Por. I humbly do desire your grace of pardon; I must away this night toward Padua, And it is meet, I presently set forth.

Duke. I am sorry, that your leisure serves you not.

Antonio, gratify this gentleman;

For, in my mind, you are much bound to him. [Exeunt DUKE, Magnificoes, and Train. Bass. Most worthy gentleman, I and my

friend,

I'll stay no longer question.

Por. Tarry, Jew;

The law bath yet another hold on you.

It is enacted in the laws of Venice,

If it be prov'd against an alien,

That by direct or indirect attempts,

He seek the life of any citizen,

The party, 'gainst the which he doth contrive,

Shall seize one half his goods; the other half
Comes to the privy coffer of the state;
And the offender's life lies in the mercy
Of the duke only, 'gainst all other voice.

Three thousand ducats, due unto the Jew,
We freely cope your courteous pains withal.
Ant. And stand indebted, over and above,

In love and service to you evermore.
Por. He is well paid, that is well satisfied;
And 1, delivering you, am satisfied,
And therein do account myself well paid;
My mind was never yet more mercenary.

I pray you, know me, when we meet again;

I wish you well, and so I take my leave. Bass. Dear Sir, of force I must attempt you further;

And you in love shall not deny me this.

Bass. This ring, good Sir,-alas, it is a trifle, I will not shame myself to give you this.

Por. I will have nothing else but only this ; And now, methinks, I have a mind to it.

Bass. There's more depends on this, than on the value.

The dearest ring in Venice will I give you,
And find it out by proclamation;

Only for this, I pray, you, pardon me.

Por. I see, Sir, you are liberal in offers: You taught me first to beg; and now, methinks, You teach me how a beggar should be answer'd. Bass. Good Sir, this ring was given me by my wife;

And, when she put it on, she made me vow, That I should neither sell, nor give, nor lose it. Por. That 'scuse serves many men to save their gifts.

And if your wife be not a mad woman,
And know how well I have deserv'd this ring,
She would not hold out enemy for ever,
For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you!
[Exeunt PORTIA and NERISSA.
Ant. My lord Bassanio, let him have the
ring;

Let his deservings, and my love withal,
Be valued 'gainst your wife's commandment.

Bass. Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him, Give him the ring; and bring him, if thou can'st,

Unto Antonio's house :-away, make haste.
[Exit GRATIANO.
Come, you and I will thither presently;
And in the morning early will we both
Fly toward Belmont: Come, Antonio.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-The same.-A Street.

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA.

maid.

this deed,

And let him sign it; we'll away to-night, And be a day before our husbands bome: This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo.

Enter GRATIANO.

Gra. Fair Sir, you are well overtaken : My lord Bassanio, upon more advice, * Hath sent you here this ring, and doth entreat Your company at dinner.

Por. That cannot be:

This ring I do accept most thankfully,
And so, I pray you, tell him: Furthermore,

I pray you, show my youth old Shylock's house.

Gra. That will I do.

Ner. Sir, I would speak with you :I'll see if I can get my husband's ring,

[TO PORTIA. Which I did make him swear to keep for ever. Por. Thou may'st, I warrant: We shall have old swearing,

That they did give the rings away to men;
But we'll outface them, and outswear them too.
Away, make haste; thou know'st where I will
tarry.

Ner. Come, good Sir, will you show me to
this house?
[Exeunt.

• Reflection.

Lor. He is not, nor we have not heard from him.

But go we in, I pray thee, Jessica,
And ceremoniously let us prepare

Some welcome for the mistress of the house.

Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold; There's not the smallest orb, which thou be

hold'st,

But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-ey'd cherubims:
Such harmony is in immortal souls;
But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.-
Enter Musicians.

Come, ho, and wake Diana with a hymn;
With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' ear,
And draw her home with music.

Jes. I am never merry, when I hear sweet music. [Music. Lor. The reason is, your spirits are attentive: For do but note a wild and wanton herd, Or race of youthful and unhandled colts, Fetching mad bounds, bellowing, and neighing loud,

Which is the hot condition of their blood;
If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound,
Or any air of music touch their ears,
You shall perceive them make a mutual stand,
Their savage eyes turn'd to a modest gaze,
By the sweet power of music: Therefore, the poet
Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and
floods;

Since nought so stockish, hard, and full of rage,
But music for the time doth change his nature:
The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils ;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus :
Let no such man be trusted.-Mark the music.

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA at a distance.
Por. That light we see, is burning in my hall.
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
Ner. When the moon shone, we did not see
the candle.

Por. So doth the greater glory dim the less:
A substitute shines brightly as a king,
Until a king be by; and then his state
Empties itself, as doth an inland brook
Into the main of waters. Music! hark!
Ner. It is your music, madam, of the house.
Por. Nothing is good, I see, without respect;
Methinks, it sounds much sweeter than by day.
Ner. Silence bestows that virtue on it, madam.
Por. The crow doth sing as sweetly as the
lark,

When neither is attended; and, think,
The nightingale, if she should sing by day,
When every goose is cackling, would be thought
No better a musician than the wren.
How many things by season season'd are
To their right praise and true perfection !-
Peace, hoa! the moon sleeps with Endymion,
And would not be awak'd!

Lor. That is the voice,

[Music ceases.

Or I am much deceiv'd, of Portia.

Lor. Year husband is at hand, I hear bis trumpet;

We are no tell-tales, madam; fear you not. Por. This night, methinks, is but the day light sick,

It looks a little paler; 'tis a day,

Such as the day is, when the sun is hid.

Enter BASSANIO, ANTONIO, GRATIANO, and their Followers.

Bass. We should hold day with the Antipodes,

If you would walk in absence of the sun.
Por. Let me give light, but let me not be
light;

For a light wife doth make a heavy husband,
And never be Bassanio so for me.
But God sort all!-You are welcome home, my
lord.

Bass. I thank you, madam: give welcome to my friend.

This is the man, this is Antonio,

To whom I am so infinitely bound.

Por. You should in all sense be much bound to him,

For, as I hear, he was much bound for you.
Ant. No more than I am well acquitted of.
Por. Sir, you are very welcome to our house :
It must appear in other ways than words,
Therefore I scant this breathing courtesy.
[GRATIANO and NERISSA seem to talk apart.
Gra. By yonder moon, I swear, you do me
wrong;

In faith, I gave it to the judge's clerk :
Would he were gelt that had it, for my part,
Since you do take it, love, so much at heart.
Por. A quarrel, ho, already? what's the
matter?

Gra. About a hoop of gold, a paltry ring
That she did give me; whose posy was
For all the world, like cutler's poetry
Upon a knife, Love me, and leave me not.

Ner. What, talk you of the posy, or the value ?
You swore to me, when I did give it you,
That you would wear it till your hour of death:
And that it should lie with you in your grave:
Though not for me, yet for your vehement oaths,
You should have been respective and have
kept it.

Gave it a judge's clerk !-but well I know, The clerk will ne'er wear hair on his face that had it.

Gra. He will, an if he live to be a man. Ner. Ay, if a woman, live to be a man. Gra. Now, by this hand, I gave it to a youth,A kind of boy; a little scrubbed boy, No higher than thyself, the judge's clerk; A prating boy, that begg'd it as a fee; I could not for my heart deny it him.

Por. You were to blame, I must be plain with you,

To part so slightly with your wife's first gift;
A thing stuck on with oaths upon your finger,
And riveted so with faith unto your flesh.

the cuckoo,

By the bad voice.

Lor. Dear lady, welcome home.

Por. We have been praying for our husbands' welfare,

Which speed, we hope, the better for our words. Are they return'd?

Lor. Madam, they are not yet;

But there is come a messenger before,
To signify their coming.

Por. Go in, Nerissa,

Give order to my servants that they take
No note at all of our being absent hence;
Nor you, Lorenzo ;-Jessica, nor you.

[A tuckett sounds.

A small flat dish, used in the administration of the Eucharist-or, according to Warburton, plates of gold borne in heraldry. + A flourish on a trumpet.

↑ Regardfua

Ner. Nor I in your's, Till I again see mine.

Bass. Sweet Portia,

If you did know to whom I gave the ring,
If you did know for whom I gave the ring,
And would conceive for what I gave the ring,
And how unwillingly I left the ring,

When naught would be accepted but the ring,
You would abate the strength of your displea-

sure.

Por. If you had known the virtue of the ring, Or half her worthiness that gave the ring, Or your own honour to contain the ring, You would not then have parted with the ring. What man is there so much unreasonable, If you had pleas'd to have defended it With any terms of zeal, wanted the modesty To urge the thing held as a ceremony ? Nerissa teaches me what to believe;

I'll die for't, but some woman had the ring. Bass. No, by mine honour, madam, by my soul,

No woman had it, but a civil doctor,

Which did refuse three thousand ducats of me,
And begg'd the ring; the which I did deny him,
And suffer'd him to go displeas'd away;
Even he that had held up the very life

Ant. I once did lend my body for his wealth ;* Which, but for him that bad your husband's ring, [TO PORTIA.

Had quite miscarried: I dare be bound again,
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 high

ways

lady?

I was enforc'd to send it after him;

I was beset with shame and courtesy ;

My honour would not let ingratitude

So much besmear it: Pardon me, good lady;
For, by these blessed candles of the night,
Had you been there, I think you would have
begg'd

The ring of me to give the worthy doctor.

Por. Let not that doctor e'er come near my house;

Since he hath got the jewel that I lov'd,
And that which you did swear to keep for me,
I will become as liberal as you:

I'll not deny him any thing I have,
No, not my body, nor my husband's bed:
Know him I shall, I am well sure of it:

Lie not a night from home; watch me, like
Argus :

If you do not, if I be left alone,

Now, by mine honour, which is yet my own,
I'll have that doctor for my bedfellow.

Ner. And I his clerk; therefore be well advis'd,

How you do leave me to mine own protection. Gra. Well, do you so let me not take him then;

For, if I do, I'll mar the young clerk's pen. Ant. I am the unhappy subject of these quarrels.

Por. Sir, grieve not you; You are welcome notwithstanding.

Bass. Portia, forgive me this enforced

wrong;

And, in the hearing of these many friends,
I swear to thee, even by thine own fair eyes,
Wherein I see myself,-

Por. Mark you but that!

In both my eyes he doubly sees himself:
In each eye, one :-swear by your double self,
And there's an oath of credit.

Bass. Nay, but hear me :

Pardon this fault, and by my son I swear,
I never more will break an oath with thee.

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.

Ant. I am dumb.

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.
Ant. 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
There do I give to you, and Jessica, [fee.-
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.

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

Gra. Let it be so: The first intergatory
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.

• Advantage.

[Exeunt.