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.

[Exeunt.

SCENE THE FIRST.-VENICE. A Court of Justice.

Enter the DUKE, the MAGNIFICOES, ANTONIO, BASSANIO, GRATIANO, SALARINO, SOLANIO, and others.

DUKE. What, is Antonio here?

ANT. Ready, so please your grace.

DUKE. I am sorry for thee; thou art come to answer

A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch

Uncapable of pity, void and empty

From any dram of mercy.

Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify

His rigorous course; but since he stands obdurate,
And that no lawful means can carry me
Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose
My patience to his fury; and am arm'd
To suffer, with a quietness of spirit,
The very tyranny and rage of his.

DUKE. Go one, and call the Jew into the court.

SOLAN. 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
To the last hour of act; and then, 'tis thought
Thou 'lt show 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,)

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 bosoms, 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.

SHY. I have possess'd your grace of what I purpose;

And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn,

To have the due and forfeit 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 choose 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 ban'd? What, are you answer'd yet?
Some men there are love not a gaping pig;
Some, that are mad if they behold a cat ;
And others, when the bagpipe sings i' the nose,
Cannot contain their urine for affection,

Master of passion, sways it to the mood

Of what it likes, or loathes. Now, for your answer.
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 bagpipe,—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 Antonio, that I follow thus

A losing suit against him. Are you answer'd?
BASS. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,

To excuse the current of thy cruelty.

SHY. I am not bound to please thee with my answer.
BASS. Do all men kill the things 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! wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?

ANT. I pray you, think you question with the Jew,

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 anything 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,

I would not draw them,-I would have my bond.

DUKE. How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none?