Shy. 'Three thousand ducats,a—well?
Bass. Ay, sir, for three months.

Shy. For 'three months;-well?

Bass. For the which, as I told you, Antonio shall be bound. Shy. 'Antonio shall become bound ;—well!

Bass. Your 'answer to that?

Shy. Antonio is a 'good' man.

Bass. Have you heard any imputation to the 'contrary? Shy. O! no, no, no, no:-my meaning, in saying he is a good man, is to have you 'understand me,-that he is 'sufficient: yet his means are in 'supposition. He hath... an argosy bound to Tripolis, another to the Indies;d I understand, moreover, upon the Rialto, he hath a third at Mexico,' a fourth for England, and ... other ventures he hath, 'squandered abroad. But ships are but 'boards, sailors but 'men: there be 'land-rats and 'water-rats, land-thieves and 'water-thieves, I mean 'pirates; and then, there is the 'peril of waters, winds, and rocks: the man is, notwithstanding, sufficient. 'Three thousand ducats?-I 'think I may take his bond.

Bass. Be 'assured you may.

Shy. I 'will be assured I may; and, that I 'may be assured, I will bethink me.... May I 'speak with Antonio? Bass. If it please you to 'dine with us.

Shy. Yes, to smell 'pork!... I will 'buy with you, 'sell with you, 'talk with you, 'walk with you, and so following: but I will not 'eat with you, 'drink with you,-nor 'pray with you! What news on the Rialto?-Who is he comes here? [approach

Antonio

approaches.

Bass. 'This is Signior Antonio.

Bassanio hastens to meet his friend.

Shy. Aside.] How like a fawning 'publican" he looks!
I 'hate him for he is a 'Christian;

But 'more, for that, in low simplicity,

'He lends out money 'gratis,' and brings down
The rate of usance here with us in Venice.
If I can catch him once upon the hip,*

coins struck by a Duke-the average Venetian silver ducat was worth about a dollar or four shillings, stg.: the gold, about double.

ca country and city in Northern Africa.

b wealthy, reliable. a India (the East Indies. fin North America.

the Venetian Exchange; on the chief island of the city. glavishly dispersed. collector of the public taxes. igratuitously, without charge.

jinterest (usury).

kat a disadvantage.

I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.
He hates our sacred nation; and he rails,—
Even there where merchants most do congregate,—
On me, my bargains, and my well-won 'thrift,-
Which 'he calls 'interest. Curséd be my 'tribe
If I forgive him!

Bass.

Bassanio returns with Antonio the Merchant:

...

Shylock,.. do you hear?
Shy... I am debating of my present store,
And, by the near guess of my memory,
I cannot, 'instantly, raise-up the 'gross

Of full three thousand ducats. What of that?
Tubal, a wealthy Hebrew of my tribe,

Will furnish me. But soft! How 'many months
Do you desire?-[T] Rest you fair, good Signior;
Your worship was the last man in our mouths.
Ant. Shylock, albeit I neither lend, nor 'borrow,
By taking nor by giving of 'excess,"

Shy.

Yet, to supply the ripe wants of my friend,
I'll break a custom.-Is he yet possessed"
How much you would?

Ant. And for three months.

Ay, ay, three thousand ducats.

Shy. I had forgot:-'three months; 'you told me so.
Ant. Well, Shylock, shall we be beholden to you?
Shy.... Signior Antonio, many a time, and oft
In the 'Rialto, you have rated me
About my moneys and my usances:
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug;
For "Sufferance" is the badge of all 'our tribe.
You call me misbeliever! 'cut-throat dog!
And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine,"

And all for use of that which is mine 'own.
Well then, it now appears you need my 'help :
Go to, then; you come to me, and you say,
"Shylock, we would have moneys," you say so;
You, that did void your rheum1 upon my beard,
And foot me, as you spurn a stranger cur
Over your threshold: moneys is your suit.
What 'should I say to you? Should I not say,
"Hath a 'dog money? Is it possible

d informed. ha coarse cloak or jkick.

the entire amount. b high (excessive) interest. cimmediate.
abused, vilified. fusurious charges. (). R. spet.
outer garment.

i discharge your spittle.

A cur 'can lend three thousand ducats?" or
Shall I bend low; and in a bondman's key,
With 'bated breath and whispering humbleness,
Say this:-

"Fair sir, you 'spit on me on Wednesday last;
You 'spurned me such a day; another time
You called me 'dog; and for these... 'courtesies,
I'll 'lend you thus much moneys"?
Ant. I am as like to call thee so 'again,

Shy.

To 'spit on thee again, to spurn thee too.
If thou 'wilt lend this money, lend it not
As to thy 'friend; but rather to thine 'enemy;
Who, if he break," thou may'st, with better face,
'Exact the penalty.

Why, look you, how you storm!
I would be 'friends with you, and have your love;
'Forget the shames that you have stained me with,
Supply your present wants, and take no 'doit

Of usance for my moneys-and you 'll not 'hear me !
This is 'kind I offer?

Bass. This 'were kindness.

Shy.

This kindness will I 'show.
Go with me to a Notary, seal me there
'Your 'single bond; and, in a merry sport,
If you repay me not on such a day,
In such a place, such sum or sums as are
Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit
Be nominated for... an equal pound
Of your fair 'flesh;-to be cut off and taken
In what part of your body pleaseth me.
Ant. Content, in faith: I'll seal to such a bond,
And say there is 'much kindness in the Jew.
Bass. You shall not seal to such a bond for 'me:
I'll rather dwell' in my necessity.

Ant. Why, fear not, man; I will not forfeit it:
Within these 'two months (that 's a month 'before
This bond expires,) I do expect return

Of 'thrice three times the value of this bond.
Shy. O father Abram," what these 'Christians are,
Whose own hard dealings teach them to suspect
The thoughts of others!-Pray you, tell me this:

inserted word.

bfail, become bankrupt.

O. R. penalties. imallest piece of money. e would be. fcontinue, remain. 8 Ab.aham, hO. R. Whose owne hard dealing teaches them suspect.

If he should 'break his day, what should I gain
By the 'exaction of the forfeiture?

A pound of 'man's flesh, taken from a man,
Is not so estimable, profitable neither,
As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say,
To 'buy his favour, I extend this friendship:
If he will take it, so; if not, adieu;

And for my 'love, I pray you, 'wrong me not.
Ant. Yes, Shylock, I 'will seal unto this bond.
Shy. Then meet me 'forthwith at the Notary's;
Give 'him direction for this merry bond,
And 'I will go and purse the ducats straight;
See to my house-left in the fearful' guard
Of an unthrifty knave ;- and presently
I will be with you.

Ant.

Exit

[Shylock.

Hie thee, gentle Jew.
This Hebrew will turn 'Christian: he grows 'kind.
Bass. I like not fair 'terms,a and a 'villain's 'mind.
Ant. Come on; in this there can be 'no dismay;

[Exeunt.

My ships come home a month 'before the day. In this manner Bassanio gets the Jew's three thousand ducats, and Shylock is the possessor of Antonio's bond.

This comedy is no less remarkable for this eccentric "bond" of Shylock than for the whimsical" last Will and Testament" of the Lady Portia's father. By this extraordinary document, his daughter, with her immense dowry, is to be disposed of in marriage, somewhat according to the chances of a 'lottery. Three casketsof gold, of silver, and of lead,—are to be placed before those suitors who were admitted as competitors; and the contents of the chosen casket were to determine the fortunes of the adventurer; who, before selecting, was obliged to swear-to keep his own secret, and farther-never to speak to a lady afterwards in way of marriage.

The Lady Portia, and her attendant Nerissa, are thus heard discussing the situation and a few of the suitors.

Por. By my troth, Nerissa, my little 'body is a-weary of this great 'world.

Ner. You'would be, sweet madam, if your

'miseries were in the same abundance as your 'good fortunes are. And yet, for aught I see, 'they are as sick that surfeit with too 'much, as they that 'starve with 'nothing. It is no 'mean happiness, therefore, to be seated 'in the mean: superfluity comes 'sooner by 'white hairs-but competency lives 'longer.

O. R. beefes.
⚫O. R. smal.

bunreliable.

Launcelot Gobbo. d good words. f in the middle state-neither rich nor poor.

Por. Good sentences, and well 'pronounced.
Ner. They would be 'better, if well 'followed.

Por. If to 'do were as easy as to know what were 'good to do, 'chapels had been 'churches, and poor men's 'cottages-princes' 'palaces. It is a 'good divine that follows his own instructions: I can easier 'teach twenty what were 'good to be done, than be 'one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching. But this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me a 'husband.-O me, the word "choose!" I may neither 'choose whom I would, nor 'refuse whom I dislike; so is the 'will' of a 'living 'daughter curbed by the will' of a 'dead 'father. -Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot 'choose one, nor 'refuse none?

Ner. Your father was ever virtuous; and holy men, at their death, have 'good inspirations; therefore, the lottery that he hath devised in these three chests, of gold, silver, and lead, (whereof who chooses 'his meaning chooses 'you,) will, no doubt, never be chosen by any 'rightly, but one whom you shall rightly 'love.But 'what warmth is there in your affection, towards 'any of these princely suitors that are 'already come? Por. I pray thee, over-name them; and 'as thou namest them, I will 'describe them; and, according to my description, level at my affection.

Ner. First, there is the Neapolitan Prince.

Por. Ay, that's a colt indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horse; and he makes it a great appropriation to his 'own good parts, that he can shoe him himself! Ner. Then is there the County 'Palatine.'

Por. 'He doth nothing but 'frown; as who should say, "An you will not have 'me, 'choose." He hears merry tales, and smiles not; I fear, he will prove the 'weeping philosophers when he grows 'old, being so full of unmannerly sadness in his 'youth. I had rather be married to a Death's-head with a 'bone in his mouth, than to either of these.

Ner. How say you by the 'French lord, Monsieur le Bon? Por. Heaven made him, and therefore let him 'pass for a

man.

O. R. this reason. a play upon will, a wish, and will, a testamentary document. good men dying were believed to have mental prospective powers.

d take a direct aim. ea wild sportive youth, like a young unbroken horse, f a Count with palatial (royal) privileges. (O R. the Countie Palentine,) g like Heraclitus.