Por. He knows me, as the blind man knows 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?

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

[A trumpet sounds.

Lor. Your husband is at hand; I hear his trumpet:

We are no tell-tales, madam; fear you not.

Enter BASSANIO, ANTONIO, GRATIANO, and their Followers.

Por. You are welcome home, my lord.

Bas. 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 hang'd 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 to me; whose posy was

4

this breathing courtesy.] This verbal complimentary form, made up only of breath, i. e., words.

For all the world, like cutler's poetry 5
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 the 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,

6

The clerk will ne'er wear hair on's 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,7
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
To part so slightly with your wife's first gift:
A thing stuck on with oaths upon your finger,
And so riveted with faith unto your flesh.
I gave my love a ring, and made him swear
Never to part with it; and here he stands,—
I dare be sworn for him, he would not leave it,
Nor pluck it from his finger, for the wealth
That the world masters. Now, in faith, Gratiano,
You give your wife too unkind a cause of grief;
An 'twere to me, I should be mad at it.

Bas. Why, I were best to cut my left hand off,
And swear, I lost the ring defending it.

Gra. My lord Bassanio gave his ring away
Unto the judge that begg'd it, and, indeed,
Deserv'd it, too; and then the boy, his clerk,
That took some pains in writing, he begg'd mine:
And neither man, nor master, would take aught
But the two rings.

you,

[Aside.

5 like cutler's poetry] Knives were formerly inscribed, by means of aqua fortis, with short sentences in distich.

respective,] Regardful.

a little scrubbed boy,] A stunted boy.

Por.

What ring gave you, my lord; Not that, I hope, which you receiv'd of me.

Bas. If I could add a lie unto a fault,

I would deny it; but you see, my finger
Hath not the ring upon it, it is gone.

Por. Even so void is your false heart of truth.
By heaven, I will ne'er come in your sight
Until I see the ring.

Ner.

Nor I in yours,

Sweet Portia,

Till I again see mine.

Bas.

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 nought would be accepted but the ring,
You would abate the strength of your displeasure.

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.

Bas. 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

Of my dear friend. What should I say, sweet lady?
I was enforc'd to send it after him.

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.

F

Ant. I am the unhappy subject of these quarrels.
Por. Sir, grieve not you; you are welcome notwithstanding.
Bas. Portia, forgive me this enforced wrong;
And in the hearing of these many friends,

I swear to thee, even by thine own fair eyes,
I never more will break an oath with thee.

8

Ant. I once did lend my body for his wealth; Which, but for him that had 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.
Bas. By heaven it is the same I gave the doctor!
Por. I had it of him: pardon me, Bassanio.
Ner. And pardon me, my gentle Gratiano;
For that same scrubbed boy, the doctor's clerk,
Did give me this.

Gra. Why this is like the mending of highways
In summer, when the ways are fair enough.

Por. You are all 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 doctor;
Nerissa there, her clerk: Lorenzo here

Shall witness, I set forth as soon as you,
And but e'en now return'd; I have not yet

Enter'd my house.-Antonio, you are welcome;
And I have better news in store for you
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.

Bas. Were you the doctor, and I knew

you not?

8 I once did lend my body for his wealth;] Id est., for his advantage to obtain his happiness; wealth was, at that time, the term opposed to adversity or calamity.

Gra. Were you the clerk, and I knew you not?

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 has some good comforts too for you.

Ner. Ay, and I'll give them him without a fee.— There do I give to you Jessica,

From the rich Jew a special deed of gift,

After his death, of all he dies possessed 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 inter'gatories,10
And we will answer all things faithfully.

[Exeunt.

10

inter' gatories,] A contraction of interrogatories.

THE END.