Enter Antonio, Salarino, and Solanio.
In sooth I know not why I am so sad.
It wearies me, you say it wearies you.
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,
I am to learn.
And such a want-wit sadness makes of me
That I have much ado to know myself.
Your mind is tossing on the ocean,
There where your argosies with portly sail
(Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood,
Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea)
Do overpeer the petty traffickers
That curtsy to them, do them reverence,
As they fly by them with their woven wings.
Believe me, sir, had I such venture forth,
The better part of my affections would
Be with my hopes abroad. I should be still
Plucking the grass to know where sits the wind,
Piring in maps for ports and piers and roads;
And every object that might make me fearSALARINO
ANTONIO
SOLANIO
ANTONIO
SOLANIO
Misfortune to my ventures, out of doubt
Would make me sad.
My wind cooling my broth
Would blow me to an ague when I thought
What harm a wind too great might do at sea.
I should not see the sandy hourglass run
But I should think of shallows and of flats,
And see my wealthy Andrew docked in sand,
Vailing her high top lower than her ribs
To kiss her burial. Should I go to church
And see the holy edifice of stone
And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks,
Which, touching but my gentle vessel's side,
Would scatter all her spices on the stream,
Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks,
And, in a word, but even now worth this
And now worth nothing? Shall I have the thought
To think on this, and shall I lack the thought
That such a thing bechanced would make me sad?
But tell not me: I know Antonio
Is sad to think upon his merchandise.
Believe me, no. I thank my fortune for it,
My ventures are not in one bottom trusted,
Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate
Upon the fortune of this present year:
Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad.
Why then you are in love.
Fie, fie!
Not in love neither? Then let us say you are sad
Because you are not merry; and 'twere as easy
For you to laugh and leap, and say you are merry
Because you are not sad. Now, by two-headedNERISSA
Do you not remember, lady, when your father was still
alive, there was a young Venetian, a scholar and a soldier,
who came here in company with the Marquis of
Montferrat?
PORTIA
Yes, yes, Bassanio! ... I think that was his name.
NERISSA
True, madam: he, of all the men that ever my foolish
eyes looked upon, was best deserving of a fair lady.
PORTIA
I remember him well, and he was worthy of such praise.
But with these rich lords and princelings cluttering my
porch, I fear that such a man of great worth and small
title will never find my door.
Enter a servant.
How now! what news?
SERVANT
The four strangers seek for you, madam, to take their
leave: and there is a forerunner come from a fifth, the
Prince of Morocco, who brings word the prince his master
will be here to-night.
PORTIA
If I could bid the fifth welcome with so good a heart as I
can bid the other four farewell, I should be glad of his
approach.
NERISSA
But he's as dark of skin as a funeral costume.
PORTIA
Then he should treat me like a corpse and bury me rather
than marry me.
NERISSA
No, treat you like a cow and drive you rather than wive
you.
PORTIA
No, treat me like a baker and bread me rather than wed
me!
NERISSA
Treat you as a horse treats an unwelcome rider —
PORTIA
Come, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before. While we shut the gates
upon one wooer, another knocks at the door.SHYLOCK
Yes, to smell pork; to eat of the habitation which your
prophet the Nazarene conjured the devil into. I will buy
with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, lend
to you, but I will not eat with you, drink with you, or pray
with you. What news on the Rialto? Who is he comes
here?
Enter ANTONIO
BASSANIO
This is Signior Antonio.
SHYLOCK
[Aside] How like a fawning publican he looks!
I hate him, as I hate all Christian blood,
But more particularly him, because
He lends out money gratis and brings down
The rate of interest here with us in Venice.
If I can catch his toe and make him trip,
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 usury! Cursed be my tribe,
If I forgive him!
BASSANIO
Shylock, do you hear?
SHYLOCK
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? [To Antonio] Rest you fair, good signior;
It was your worship we were speaking of.
ANTONIO
Shylock, although I neither lend nor borrow
By taking nor by giving interest,
Yet, to supply the ripe wants of my friend,
I'll break my custom. Has he told you yet
How much he needs?
SHYLOCK
Ay, ay, three thousand ducats.
ANTONIO
And for three months.
SHYLOCK
I had forgot; three months; you told me so.
Well then, your bond; and let me see; but hear you;
Methought you said you neither lend nor borrow
With a charge of interest.Enter BASSANIO and SHYLOCK
SHYLOCK
Three thousand ducats; well.
BASSANIO
Ay, sir, for three months.
SHYLOCK
For three months; well.
BASSANIO
For which, as I told you, Antonio shall be bound.
SHYLOCK
Antonio shall become bound; well.
BASSANIO
Will you lend the money? Shall I know your answer?
SHYLOCK
Three thousand ducats for three months, and Antonio
bound.
BASSANIO
Your answer to that.
SHYLOCK
Antonio is a good man.
BASSANIO
Have you heard any imputation to the contrary?
SHYLOCK
Oh, no, no, no, no: my meaning in saying he is a good
man is to have you understand me that he is sufficient for
your bond. Yet his means are in supposition: he has an
argosy bound to Tripoli, another to the Indies; I
understand moreover, upon the Rialto, he has a third at
Mexico, a fourth for England, and other ventures he has,
squandered abroad. But ships are but boards, sailors but
men: there be land-rats and water-rats, water-thieves and
land-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.
BASSANIO
Be assured you may.
SHYLOCK
So that I may be assured, may I speak with Antonio?
BASSANIO
If it please you to dine with us.ANTONIO
Charity
Forbids to profit from another's need.
SHYLOCK
When Jacob grazed his uncle Laban's sheep —
ANTONIO
What of him? Did he take interest?
SHYLOCK
No, not take interest, not, as you would say,
Directly interest: mark what Jacob did.
He promised Laban he would tend his flocks.
The payment Laban granted Jacob was
That every year, when the newborn lambs were weaned,
The dappled, spotted, striped and pied were his.
Laban thought the number would be few,
But in the season when the rams and ewes
Were at the making of the next year's lambs,
Before their gaze young Jacob put up sticks
That he had carven into stripes and spots.
The ewes conceived so many dappled lambs
That Jacob had, in seven years, a herd
To rival Laban's own. Yet it was won
By strict adherence to the terms agreed.
This was a way to thrive, and he was blest:
And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not.
ANTONIO
Jacob labored hard, the sheep conceived
By law of nature, and the hand of heaven
Chose how many dappled lambs should be —
The opposite of sinful usury,
By which a lender takes what he did not earn.
Or is your gold and silver ewes and rams?
SHYLOCK
I cannot tell; I make it breed as fast:
But note me, signior.
ANTONIO
Mark you this, Bassanio,
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart:
O, what a goodly outside falsehood has.
SHYLOCK
Three thousand ducats; 'tis a good round sum.
Three months from twelve; then, let me see; the rate —
ANTONIO
Well, Shylock, will you give the loan or not?
SHYLOCK
Signior Antonio, many a time and oft
In the Rialto you have lectured me
About my lendings and my usury.ANTONIO
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.
BASSANIO
His "merry penalty" is not a jest.
SHYLOCK
O father Abram, what these Christians are,
Whose own hard dealings teach them to suspect
The thoughts of others! Pray you, tell me this;
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 useful, profitable neither,
As flesh of mutton, beef, or goat. I say,
To buy his favor, I extend this friendship.
If he will take it, so; if not, adieu;
But never say that I refused to lend!
ANTONIO
Yes, Shylock, I will sign and seal this bond.
SHYLOCK
Then meet me forthwith at the notary's;
Give him direction for this merry bond,
And I will go and purse the ducats straight.
Then to my house, which I left in the wretched care
Of a worthless ninny, and within the hour
I will be with you.
ANTONIO
We'll be there, gentle Jew.
Exit Shylock
The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind.
BASSANIO
I like not fair terms and a villain's mind.
ANTONIO
Come on: in this there can be no dismay;
My ships come home a month before the day.Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
For patience is the badge of all our tribe.
You call me unbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine,
And all because I charge, as landlords do,
For others to make use of what is mine.
Well then, it now appears you need my help:
"Shylock, we would have moneys" — this you say,
You, that did spit your mucus on my beard,
And foot me as you spurn a mangy stray
Over your threshold — moneys is your suit.
What should I say to you? Should I not say
"Has a dog money? Is it possible
A cur can lend three thousand ducats?" Or
Shall I bend low, and in a servants' whine,
With bated breath and whispering humbleness,
Say, "Sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last;
You spurn'd me Thursday; Saturday
You call'd me dog; and for these courtesies
I'll lend you all the coin you say you want.
ANTONIO
I am as like to call you so again,
To spit on you again, to spurn you too.
If you will lend this money, lend it not
As to your friends; for when did friendship charge
A fee for barren metal from his friend?
But lend it rather to your enemy,
And if he break the terms, you can with joy
And no regrets exact the penalty.
SHYLOCK
Why, look you, Christian, how you fret and storm!
I would be friends with you and have your love,
Forget the shames that you have stain'd me with,
Supply your present wants and take no drop
Of interest for my moneys — and you won't hear me!
Am I not kind?
BASSANIO
Indeed! And generous!
SHYLOCK
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
Express'd in the note, then let the forfeit be ...
An equal pound of your body's gentle flesh,
To be cut off and by me taken from ...
Whatever part of your body I may please.
ANTONIO
Content, in faith: I'll seal to such a bond
And say there is much kindness in the Jew.
BASSANIO
You shall not seal to such a bond for me:
I'd rather do without, and face my lossMislike me not for my complexion.
My people, dwelling neighbors to the sun,
Are given shadowed skin for our relief.
Now, seeing thee, so wondrous fair, I wish
To be the cloth of black or sable fur
On which the jeweler sets his fairest stone,
The better to display its dazzlement.
PORTIA
I have no fear of unfamiliar hues.
A woman's heart will sooner judge the face
By graces only seen in words and deeds.
Besides, the lottery of my destiny
Bars me the right of voluntary choosing:
By matching wits against my father you,
Not I, will choose what face my husband wears.
MOROCCO
But thou art not indifferent to the choice?
PORTIA
In sober truth I tell you, sir, that I
Am pleased no less by you than any other
Of the wooers who have come to call on me.
MOROCCO
For that I thank you, lady. Now, I pray,
Lead me to the caskets, to the test
That will decide my future happiness.
PORTIA
Lesser men have left without attempting it,
For there's a penalty to choosing wrong.
MOROCCO
I've faced down death upon the battlefield,
I've plucked young sucking cubs from the mother bear,
I've mocked the lion when he roars for prey!
Am I a man to fear a choice of boxes?
PORTIA
Then swear, before you choose, if you choose wrong,
You'll never speak of marriage to any lady.
MOROCCO
No lady but yourself will do. I swear.
And after dinner, when the choice is made,
I'll be most blest or most accursed of men.GUINEVERE
Turn up on your right hand at the next turning,
But at the next turning of all, on your left.
Marry, at the very next turning, turn of no hand,
But turn down indirectly to the Jew's house.
GOBBO
Even if I had a pair of goodly eyes
I couldn't follow such directions. Listen, girl,
Have you ever heard of my daughter, Guinevere Gobbo?
GUINEVERE
Talk you of the fair and gentle Lady Guinevere?
[Aside] I tell her only what I ought to be, by nature.
GOBBO
No lady. A poor man's daughter, a servant girl, like you,
Though I hope she's smarter, and better at giving
directions.
GUINEVERE
Guinevere Gobbo, and you say her father's poor?
GOBBO
In truth I cannot say. I know her mother's poor,
Poor but honest — and made sure that she is too.
GUINEVERE
[Aside] That cuts me deep, to praise her daughter's
honesty
As I stand here lying to her. I know! I'll cease to stand,
And thereby show myself to be in truth a lie-er.
GOBBO
You must be the laziest wench who ever lived.
Get up and tell me where to find my Guinevere.
GUINEVERE
If you seek the gracious, charming, educated
Lady Guinevere de Gobbo, do not look
Among the sweat-soaked kitchen wenches, Madam.
GOBBO
I tell you, she's no lady, she's a Gobbo, without a "de."
GUINEVERE
Spell the lady's name with "dee" or "gee" or "zed,"
It hardly matters, since the beauteous lady's dead.
GOBBO
God forbid! The girl was my very staff of life,
The only thing on earth I ever cared about!
GUINEVERE
You lean on me like a staff right now, and know me not.
GOBBO
Alack the day! My daughter Guinevere! Gone!
At least she died an honest girl, and a good worker.GUINEVERE
My conscience ought to be a Christian, like myself.
But here I am, employed as servant to a Jew,
And does my conscience tell me that I ought to run away?
Oh, no. A fiend is at my elbow tempting me
By saying, "Guinevere, good Christian Guinevere,
By all your work, for which you're scandalously paid,
You help maintain the household of a miser Jew,
And thereby make the world worse and yourself no richer."
My conscience at my other elbow answers him,
"Obey the law. Remain a servant. Work until you die."
The fiend says, "Why did God bestow on you two legs,
If not for running? Why is night so very dark
If not to cover your escape? Pick up and go!"
But inconvenient conscience says — in a screechy voice
That sounds a little like my mother, with a cold —
"No Gobbo ever ran away from work!"
Which isn't even true — my conscience is a liar:
Father Gobbo ran away from work, and wife,
And baby daughter, too — which was my darling self.
So now I say to my nagging conscience, "Where were you
When Father left us so impoverished that I
Was forced to sell my labor to a Jew who pays
As little as he can, while squeezing out of me
All the sweat my body manufactures in a day?"
But conscience is a talker, not a listener,
And I, who have all kinds of excellent things to say,
Must listen to them all, both fiend and conscience,
And master Shylock most of all, the fiend of fiends.
But wait. If Shylock is the devil, which he is,
And the devil says to run away, then I am bound
To do what the devil says, because he is my master!
Go, legs! Run! Scamper off like bunnies!
It's no use. My conscience seems to own my legs.
Enter Old Widow GOBBO, with a basket
GOBBO
Missy! Girl! Tell me the way to the house of the Jew!
GUINEVERE
[Aside] O heavens, this is my half-blind mother herself.
Since she has to push her face halfway into the soup
To see if it's boiling or not, of course she doesn't know me.
It's all her fault, you know, that I'm a servant here.
If she hadn't married my father, worthless Arthur Gobbo,
Famous runner-away, abandoner of babies,
I would have been not-born, not-poor, and therefore not-
here.
GOBBO
Wench, open your mouth, tell me the way to the Jew's!GUINEVERE
Oh, there's an epitaph that's well worth dying for.
Mother, don't you know me? Look closer. See?
GOBBO
I know you. You're the lazy wench who gave me bad
Directions, lay in the street, and said my daughter's dead.
GUINEVERE
Well, if you don't believe your eyes, then trust your ears.
Isn't this the voice of your daughter, Guinevere?
GOBBO
It's a poor joke to lie to a blind old woman.
GUINEVERE
[Aside] Now do you hear it? That's the voice in which my
conscience speaks.
[to Gobbo] Mother, I'm done with jests, I'm telling you the
truth,
I'm your Guinevere, and not a lady after all.
For proof of what I say, take hold of my hair.
GOBBO
It never did any good to put a comb in this,
You'd never get it out again with all its teeth,
Or else you'd tear a clump of hair and scalp away.
My Guinevere!
GUINEVERE
Mother!
GOBBO
How's it going with the Jew?
I brought a present. He'll like you better, when he sees it.
GUINEVERE
You bring a dish of doves to him, and none for me?
GOBBO
I bought it with all the money you send home to me.
GUINEVERE
He cuts my wages every time I break a pot.
GOBBO
That's justice for you. You're clumsy, and I starve.
GUINEVERE
Oh, Mother, I didn't miss you a bit.
GOBBO
And you're the disappointment you've always been.
They embrace.
GUINEVERE
Mother, take me away from here. Take me home!GOBBO
The Jew paid off our debts in trade for your indenture.
I can't take you home without the Jew's consent.
GUINEVERE
Another day of his railing at me, beating me,
Paying less than nothing, and working me too hard,
And I'll be a Jew myself, for all the Christian parts
Will have worn away.
GOBBO
The only hope that I can see
Is if I found a better master to buy your contract.
GUINEVERE
Here comes one now! Look how fat his servants are!
GOBBO
You know that I can't see that far.
Enter Bassanio, with servants.
GUINEVERE
Then take my word,
They're fat and well rested and richly dressed and all of
them smiling.
BASSANIO
Tell Cook that supper's to be ready by five o'clock.
See these letters are delivered; and invite
Gratiano to come to my lodging to eat tonight.
Now that my debts are paid, I can afford
To take my honest turn as host again.
Exit a Servant
GUINEVERE
To him, Mother. He's paid his debts. He can afford me.
GOBBO
God bless your worship!
BASSANIO
Why thank you, old mother. Do I know you?
GOBBO
Here's my daughter, sir, a poor girl —
GUINEVERE
Not just any poor girl, sir, but the rich Jew's maid,
That keeps his house with hardly any servants else.
BASSANIO
Oh yes, I think I might have heard him speak of you.
GUINEVERE
And as my mother is about to specify —GOBBO
She has
A great infection, sir, as one would say, to serve —
GUINEVERE
Indeed, the short and the long of it is, I serve the Jew,
And have a desire, as my mother shall specify —
GOBBO
Her master and she, poor girl, saving your worship's
reverence,
Do ill together — not that my girl does ill, but the Jew —
GUINEVERE
To be brief, the very truth is that the Jew my master,
Having done me wrong, as my mother shall frutify —
GOBBO
I have here a lovely dish of doves that I
Would bestow upon your worship, and my suit is —
GUINEVERE
In very brief, the suit is impertinent to myself,
As your worship shall know by the word of this honest old
woman,
Who being poor but honest, and also old, and poor —
BASSANIO
One speak for both. What do you want?
GUINEVERE
To serve you, sir.
GOBBO
That is the very defect of the matter, sir.
BASSANIO
I know thee well; thou hast obtain'd thy suit:
Shylock thy master spoke with me this day,
And from what he said, I think he'd part with thee,
And the cost of your indenture can't be much.
To leave a rich man's service and come to me
Is not the best of trades, I fear you'll find,
For I am not a wealthy gentleman.
GUINEVERE
You have the grace of God, sir, and he has money,
But never parts with none of it to me!
BASSANIO
Thou speakest well. Go, mother, with thy daughter.
Take leave of thy old master and inquire
My lodging out; I'll make it right with Shylock.
GUINEVERE
Oh Mother! Happy day when you come to visit me!
You talked him into my petition and I'm free!
GOBBO
It was you, my talkety girl, I barely spoke a word.GUINEVERE
Well, Fortune must be a woman, and a bonny wench,
For she has served me well. Come along, Mother,
I'll take my leave of the Jew in the twinkling of an eye.
Exeunt Guinevere and Old Gobbo
BASSANIO
[to a servant] Shylock lent to meet my need, and now
I take from him a servant he despises.
If he treated servants well, he'd have
Their better service and their loyalty.
Go home in haste and find a place for her.
SERVANT
We'll make her welcome, sir, if she likes to work.
Enter GRATIANO
GRATIANO
Where is your master?
SERVANT
Yonder, sir, he walks.
Exit Servant
GRATIANO
Signior Bassanio!
BASSANIO
Gratiano!
GRATIANO
I have a favor to ask.
BASSANIO
I grant it, friend.
GRATIANO
Do not deny me: I must go with you to Belmont.
BASSANIO
Why then you must. But hear me, Gratiano;
You are too wild, too rude and bold of voice;
I like those things about you, for myself,
And in my eyes they don't appear as faults;
But those who do not know you, take them ill.
So please, take pain to put a tether on
Your skipping spirit, lest through wild behavior
I be misconstrued by my lady love,
And lose my hopes.GRATIANO
Signior Bassanio, hear me:
If I do not put on a sober habit,
Talk with respect and swear but now and then,
Wear prayer-books in my pocket, look demurely,
Nay more, while grace is saying, hood mine eyes
Thus with my hat, and sigh and say "amen,"
Use all the observance of civility,
As if my grandmother were watching me —
Look at my knuckles, where they bear the scars
Of all the times she disapproved of me —
Then you can call me names and kick my dog.
BASSANIO
Well, I shall watch how you behave, my friend.
GRATIANO
Nay, but I don't include tonight in the vow.
You shall not judge me by what we do to-night.
BASSANIO
No, tonight I would entreat you to put on
Your boldest suit of mirth, for we have friends
who come for merriment. But fare you well:
I have some things to do before we dine.
GRATIANO
And I must to Lorenzo and the rest:
But we will visit you at supper-timeJESSICA
I am sorry you will leave my father so:
Our house is hell, and you, a merry devil,
Did rob it of some taste of tediousness.
But fare you well, here is a ducat for you:
And, Guinevere, soon at supper you will see
Lorenzo, who is your new master's guest:
Give him this letter; do it secretly;
And so farewell: I would not have my father
See me talking with you — you know his wrath.
GUINEVERE
Adieu! Tears exhibit my tongue.
Most beautiful pagan, and sweetest Jew, beware!
I fear some Christian man might play the knave,
Thinking promises he makes to Jews don't count.
JESSICA
He did not make a promise to a Jew,
Nor to the daughter of a money-lender.
What he might have said, he would have said to me,
And I'm not quick to trust in any man.
GUINEVERE
You treated me, a servant, like a friend.
I'm now a friend who gladly serves you still.
Adieu: I fear that I might drown in tears.
JESSICA
Farewell, good Guinevere.
Exit Guinevere
Alack, what heinous sin is it in me
To be ashamed to be my father's child!
But though I am a daughter to his blood,
I am not to his manners. O Lorenzo,
Keep your promise, and I'll end this strife,
Become a Christian and thy loving wife.SALARINO
But you're not dressed for dinner yet, I think.
GRATIANO
True, for I am only thinly clad,
And since we eat Bassanio's food at last,
I need to hide myself in thicker clothes.
SALANIO
Meaning that he means to glut himself.
GRATIANO
Nay, but to disguise myself as one who eats.
LORENZO
I'll take this narrow person home with me,
Disguise him in some vastly wider clothes,
And meet you at Bassanio's welcoming door.
SALARINO
We have not spoke us yet of torchbearers.
SALANIO
Because, you know, it will be dark by then.
GRATIANO
You know, that happened yesterday as well.
LORENZO
'Tis now but four. We have two hours to change.
Enter GUINEVERE, with a letter
Friend Guinevere, what's brings you here?
GRATIANO
A rhyme!
GUINEVERE
A scrap I found that has a name upon it.
GRATIANO
But not mine. It's never mine, Lorenzo.
LORENZO
I know the hand: in faith, 'tis a fair hand.
GRATIANO
Do you compliment the writing or the writer?
I think this hand has brought him news of love.
GUINEVERE
By your leave, sir.LORENZO
Whither goest thou?
GUINEVERE
Marry, sir, to bid my old master the Jew
To sup tonight with my new master the Christian.
LORENZO
Hold here, take this: tell gentle Jessica
I will not fail her; speak it privately.
GUINEVERE
More privately than you have spoken here.
Exit Guinevere
LORENZO
Ladies, fear not — I'll bring torchbearers.
We'll meet and walk together to the feast.
SALARINO
Then like the younger ladies of the town,
We'll hope for young Lorenzo at our doors.
Exeunt SALARINO and SALANIO
GRATIANO
Was that letter from fair Jessica?
LORENZO
I hardly need to tell, if you guess it all.
Her letter has laid out the plans for me,
How I shall take her from her father's house,
What gold and jewels she is furnished with,
What page's suit she has in readiness.
GRATIANO
Is this an honest wedding, or a tryst?
LORENZO
Would I defile an angel? She will wed —
And be baptized before, on the very day.
If ever the Jew her father come to heaven,
It will be because his daughter pled for him.
Mortals see her beauty, angels her virtue —
GRATIANO
While you, you devil, you see both at once.
LORENZO
Come, go with me; peruse this as we walk.
Fair Jessica shall be my torch-bearer.SHYLOCK
You're trading masters, then — Bassanio
For Shylock. You'll see the difference soon enough.
Perhaps you thought my wages were too little?
At least I pay them weekly, and in full.
Perhaps you thought the food I serve too plain?
Bassanio serves too much, runs out, then nothing.
Did I work you hard? Compared to him,
I ask for little, since my needs are few,
But he'll demand a thousand luxuries.
Where's Jessica? — she's hiding, have no doubt.
Jessica! — You'll find Bassanio
Won't let you sleep and snore, and when you tear
Your clothes or break a pot — Jessica! —
You'll have a taste of Christian patience then!
Why, Jessica, I say!
GUINEVERE
Why, Jessica!
SHYLOCK
Who asked you to call for her? Who asked you to screech
My daughter's name in such a raucous voice —
As if she were the servant of a kitchen wench?
GUINEVERE
Your worship always railed at me because
I never did a thing until you asked.
Enter Jessica
JESSICA
Did you call me, father? What's your will?
SHYLOCK
I'm invited to a supper, Jessica:
Here are my keys. I don't know why I'm going.
They don't love my company, I know;
My money's what they love; they flatter me.
But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon
The prodigal Christian. Jessica, my girl,
Look to my house. For all I know, they plot
To send some thief to rob me while I'm gone.
JESSICA
I'll guard your treasure like my own, Father.
GUINEVERE
I beg you, sir, to come with me at once;
My youthful master waits for your reproach.
SHYLOCK
I'm sure he does — I've had enough of his.GUINEVERE
And if my master and his friends conspire,
It's not to plan a burglary, unless
They stand outside your house and serenade
Your money till it climbs out by itself.
SHYLOCK
So there is a plot against me, do you say?
GUINEVERE
These tenors never break the glass to get inside,
They woo at windows, singing of their love.
Why steal what maidens freely give — their hearts!
JESSICA
Beware of burglars singing baritone.
SHYLOCK
Why Jessica, you do me proud, to show
That you're as clever as a kitchen slut.
Between your witticisms, hear me well:
Lock up my doors; and if some imbecile
Should come to serenade, I give consent
For you to pour a chamber pot upon his head.
Otherwise keep the windows tightly shut;
Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter
My sober house. By Aaron's rod I swear
I'm in no mood for a foolish Christian feast.
But go ahead, disloyal wench, and say
That Shylock's coming quickly, with a smile.
GUINEVERE
I'll fly ahead and give your message, sir.
Look out your window, Mistress, when it's dark:
You'll see a Christian tenor by and by,
Who looks to sing duets with a lady Jew.
Exit
SHYLOCK
What did that lazy smartmouth lackwit say?
JESSICA
She said farewell for the last time ever, Father.
SHYLOCK
Bassanio's welcome to her — yes, she's kind,
But a huge feeder, snail-slow on errands,
A sleeper whenever she finds some level ground.
This hive of mine is not a home for drones,
Therefore I part with her — and part with her
To one who wasted his own estate, and now
Will waste a borrowed one, with her to help.
Well, Jessica, go inside and wait —
Perhaps not long; I may return at once.
Do as I bid you; shut doors after you:
"Strong lock, no talk."
JESSICA
"Fast bind, fast find."SHYLOCK
"Trust never, keep ever."
Proverbs never stale in a thrifty mind.
Exit
JESSICA
Now at the end of all, you make me sad
With the fatherly game that once I took for love.
But I will not deceive myself about
Your heart: you gave it long ago to gold.
A warmer treasure will be mine tonight.
By morning, if my fortune be not crost,GRATIANO
This is the window where Lorenzo said
We were to stand, disguised in masks, and sing.
SALARINO
He's late, I think. And he didn't say to sing.
GRATIANO
Lorenzo's love is like a corpse: both late.
We have to sing — why else do we wear these masks?
SALARINO
I can sing without a mask.
GRATIANO
But with a mask,
No one can tell which singer has which voice.
SALARINO
I see. You want to steal my reputation.
[Sings]
The poet writes of love,
The singer sings of love,
While lovers love to love:
Love always rhymes with love.
GRATIANO
Whoever wrote that miserable verse
Should wear the mask. But I will claim the voice.
SALARINO
No one will think you sing so high and sweet.
GRATIANO
But I'll tell everyone you sing like this:
[Sings]
I'll give you a mighty wallop
If you say my love's a trollop.
SALARINO
No one will believe I sang such agony.
GRATIANO
But I rhymed different words. That's the challenge —
Finding a rhyme for the Roman goddess of love.
Help me, fair Salarino! My mind's a blank!
SALARINO
Here comes Lorenzo: I'll have to slap you later.
Enter LORENZO
LORENZO
Sweet friends, forgive my keeping you so long.
I had too many things to do beforeWe hide aboard a ship and sail away —
Clothing, food, and then a quiet priest
To baptize her and make us man and wife.
When you decide to steal a wife — or husband —
I'll stand watch for you in turn. And now,
This is the house of the Jew, my father-to-be,
The maker and the keeper of my treasure.
Ho! Within!
Enter JESSICA, above, in boy's clothes
JESSICA
Who are you? Tell me, for more certainty,
Although I'd swear I know your tongue.
LORENZO
Lorenzo.
JESSICA
Many men in Venice have that name.
LORENZO
I'm the Lorenzo who saw you, Jessica,
For any man who sees you, loves you,
And if you answer love for love, my love,
I'll be a happy exile for your sake —
The blessedest Lorenzo in the world.
GRATIANO
And that's the idiotic song of love.
JESSICA
Lorenzo, certain, and my love indeed.
Here, catch this casket; it is worth the pains.
I'm glad it's night, so you can't see me well,
For in these boyish clothes I'm not myself,
And you would not have loved me as I am.
But love is blind and lovers cannot see
The shames and follies they endure for love.
LORENZO
Come down, for you must be my torchbearer.
JESSICA
What, must I hold a candle to my shame?
It is an office of discovery,
And I should be obscured.
LORENZO
And so you are,
Appareled as a very pretty boy,
And passersby will only see the light,
And take no notice of the boy who bears it.
But come, for night is running quickly out,
And we're expected at Bassanio's feast.
JESSICA
I'll lock the doors, and underneath these clothes
Put on more ducats, and be with you straight.
I'll have a father, you a daughter, lost.GRATIANO
She'll make a thief of you again, when you
Behold the gold she puts against her skin.
LORENZO
She is the gold that stirs my greedy heart.
For she is wise, if I can judge her fairly;
Fair she is, if eyes that love be true,
And true she is, as she has wisely shown,
And therefore, like herself, wise, fair and true,
She has entrusted all she has to me,
And all she needs and hopes for, I will be.
Enter JESSICA, below
You've finally come? These servants dally,
So a gentleman can't find a ready page.
GRATIANO
Delay is fine with me, if they wear gold.
SALARINO
You are a brave and trusting girl — no, boy.
LORENZO
Come on at once — we're late, we're late.
Exit Lorenzo with Jessica and Salarino
Enter ANTONIO
ANTONIO
Who's there?
GRATIANO
Signior Antonio!
ANTONIO
Fie, fie, Gratiano! where are all the rest?
It's nine o'clock, and now there'll be no feast,
Because the wind has come about and so
Bassanio must sail at once for Belmont,
Where his hope of love awaits him now.
Bassanio will go aboard by ten,
And if you wish to travel with him, haste!
I sent out twenty men to seek for you.
GRATIANO
I'm glad indeed — I wish no more delight
Than to be under sail and gone to-night.PORTIA
Reveal the caskets to this noble prince.
Now make your choice.
MOROCCO
The first, of gold, which this inscription bears:
"Who chooses me shall gain what many men desire";
The second, silver, which this promise carries:
"Who chooses me shall get as much as he deserves";
This third, dull lead, with warning just as blunt:
"Who chooses me must give and hazard all he has."
But how will I know if I have chosen right?
PORTIA
But one of them contains my picture, prince:
If you choose that, then I am yours by right.
MOROCCO
May God direct my judgment! Let me see;
"Who chooses me must give and hazard all he has."
Must give: for lead? hazard all for lead?
This casket threatens. Men that hazard all
Do it in hope of fair advantages:
A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross;
I'll neither give nor risk a thing for lead.
What says the silver with her moonlike hue?
"Who chooses me shall get as much as he deserves."
I weigh my value with an even hand:
If I am rated by my estimation,
Then I deserve enough; and yet "enough"
May not extend so far as to this lady:
And yet to be afraid of my deserving
Is but a weak disabling of myself.
I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes,
In graces and in qualities of breeding —
But more, in love for her I do deserve.
What if I strayed no further, but chose here?
Let's see once more this saying carved in gold:
"Who chooses me shall gain what many men desire."
Why, that's the lady; all the world desires her;
From the four corners of the earth they come,
To kiss this shrine, this mortal-breathing saint:
Through desert, over mountains, crossing seas
With waves that spit against the heavens, these
They mount as readily as stepping stones,
Or cross as lightly as a brook, and all
To see the beauty of fair Lady Portia.
One of these three contains her heavenly picture.
Would such a portrait be encased in lead?
Nor devils would despise her beauty so.
Or shall I think in silver she's concealed,
A metal that will tarnish in a week?
Impossible — a jewel such as this
Is never set in less than purest gold.
Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may!PORTIA
Here, take the key, my prince, and open it.
If there you find my form, then I am yours.
He unlocks the golden casket
MOROCCO
O hell! what have we here? The head of death,
Within whose empty eye there is a scroll!
[Reads]
All that glitters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life has sold
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,
Your answer had not been inscrolled:
Fare you well; your suit is cold.
Cold, indeed; and all my labor's lost:
My word of honor's given, to my cost:
I'll never speak of marriage to a maid
And so my bed will be as cold as frost.
Portia, adieu. I have too grieved a heart
To take a tedious leave: thus losers part.
Exit with his train. Flourish of cornets.
PORTIA
Cover up the caskets; they have done
The work my father set for them to do.
I was protected from a prince I did not want.
So far, at least, my father has been kind.SALARINO
I saw Bassanio when his ship set sail,
With Gratiano by him on the deck.
Lorenzo wasn't with them, I am sure.
SALANIO
But Shylock thought he was, and called the duke,
Who went with men to search Bassanio's ship!
SALARINO
They came too late; Bassanio had sailed,
But Antonio swore he was not in the plot.
Then news arrived that in a gondola
Were seen Lorenzo and his Jessica.
SALANIO
I never heard a passion so confused,
So strange, outrageous, and so variable,
As Shylock ranting through the streets,
"My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!
Fled with a Christian! My ducats are turned Christian!
Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter!"
Two bags of ducats, stolen by my daughter!
And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones,
Stolen by the man who stole my daughter!
Justice! find the girl; find her abductor!
They have the stones upon them, and the ducats."
SALARINO
Why, all the boys in Venice follow him,
Crying, "His stones, his daughter, and his ducats."
SALANIO
With Shylock raging, our Antonio
Had better pay his debt before the day.
SALARINO
Conversing with a Frenchman yesterday,
I learned that in the stormy sea between
The French and English, there was wrecked a ship —
A vessel of our country, richly laden.
I thought upon Antonio as he spoke.
I wished in silence that it were not his.
SALANIO
You'd better tell Antonio what you heard;
For news like this, displeasing as it is,
A friend must tell, yet try to comfort him.SALARINO
Antonio has no fear of loss, my friend.
I saw Bassanio and Antonio part:
Bassanio told him he would hurry back;
Antonio answered, "Do not so;
Don't rush the course of love, my friend,
But stay the very ripening of the time."
"But what about your bond to Shylock?" "Nay,
Let not the Jew distract you from your quest.
Engage your thoughts on wooing, till you've won."
His eyes were big with tears, he hugged the lad,
And wrung Bassanio's hand with so much force
I feared he'd keep the hand, or cripple it.
SALANIO
What man has been more faithful to his friend
Than dear Antonio? Let's find him now,
Tell him your news, then step aside and pray
That God be kind to such a worthy man.NERISSA
Quick, quick, uncover the caskets right away.
The Prince of Arragon has taken the oath,
And in a moment he'll be here to choose.
Enter PRINCE OF ARRAGON and PORTIA.
PORTIA
Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince:
Select the one wherein I am contained,
At once our wedding will be solemnized:
But if you fail, without more speech, my lord,
You must be gone from here without delay.
ARRAGON
Three oaths in one, and I will keep them all:
First, never to reveal to any one
Which casket that I chose; next, if I fail
To win your hand, then never in my life
To woo a maid in way of marriage; lastly:
If I fail, to go away at once.
PORTIA
To these injunctions every one must swear
Who comes to gamble for this worthless prize.
ARRAGON
May God bestow good fortune now to me
And my heart's hope! Gold; silver; and base lead.
"Who chooses me must give and hazard all he has."
You shall look fairer, ere I give or hazard.
"Who chooses me shall gain what many men desire."
That "many men" may be disparagement
Of the foolish multitude, who choose by show,
Not guessing the deeper value of a thing.
I will not choose what many men desire,
To rank me with the barbarous multitudes.
Why, then to thee, thou silver treasure-house:
"Who chooses me shall get as much as he deserves":
Too often in this world are honors given
Where no merit shows, but only birth
Or wealth or favor, while the thoughts and deeds
Are only common selfishness, or spite,
Or envy, greed, or rage. But I have lived
With constant effort so to speak and act
That none will think my title undeserved.
O, that estates, degrees and offices
Were not derived corruptly, and that clear honor
Were purchased by the merit of the wearer!
How many then should bow who now are bowed to.
How many be commanded that command!
Unknown noble hearts would be discovered
From the chaff and ruin of the timesTo be new-varnished! Well, I've made my choice:
"Who chooses me shall get as much as he deserves."
I will assume desert. Give me a key for this,
And instantly unlock my fortunes here.
He opens the silver casket
PORTIA
Too long a pause; what have you found inside?
ARRAGON
Behold, the portrait of a blinking idiot.
How much unlike is this to Portia!
How much unlike my hopes and my deservings!
"Who chooses me shall have as much as he deserves."
Did I deserve no more than a fool's head?
Is that my prize? are my deserts no better?
PORTIA
Since no one knew which casket you would choose,
No insult to your merit was intended.
ARRAGON
Then I will read the message written here.
[Reads]
Some there be that shadows kiss;
Such have but a shadow's bliss:
There be fools alive, I wis,
Silvered over; and so was this.
Take what wife you will to bed,
This will ever be your head:
So be gone: you are sped.
Still more the fool shall I appear
By the time I linger here.
With one fool's head I came to woo,
But now I go away with two.
I blame you not for what another wrote.
Sweet Portia, I will keep my oath, and leave.
Now patiently I bear this injury,
To show I merit more than I received.
Exit Arragon
PORTIA
Thus has the candle singed the moth.
O, these deliberate fools! when they do choose,
They have the wisdom by their wit to lose.
NERISSA
The ancient saying is no heresy,
Hanging and wiving goes by destiny.
PORTIA
Now cover up, I pray, these wise protectors.
Enter a ServantSERVANT
Where is my lady?
PORTIA
Here: what would my lord?
SERVANT
Madam, there is alighted at your gate
A young Venetian, namely Gratiano,
Who tells of the approaching of his friend:
From whom he brings you light and heavy greetings:
Light and airy words of admiration,
Heavy gifts of urns and statuary,
Rings and necklaces with jewëls like
An avalanche of colored dazzlement.
NERISSA
Colored dazzlement? Who thought of that?
SERVANT
The messenger suggested all the words.
He is an elegant ambassador of love.
NERISSA
His words again? To thus describe himself?
SERVANT
A day in April never came so sweet,
To show how rich a summer was at hand,
As this bright peacock comes before his lord.
PORTIA
No more, I pray thee: I am half afeard
That next you'll say he is some kin to you,
Which would explain your fawning praise of him.
Nerissa, we must quickly go and see
The messenger who comes so mannerly.
NERISSA
Who cares about the herald? Let it be
Bassanio whose coming he foretells.SALANIO
Now, what news on the Rialto?
SALARINO
A second vessel of Antonio's
Is lost, or so my lady Rumor says.
SALANIO
I do believe that Lady Rumor is
As lying a gossip as ever made her neighbors
Think she wept for the death of a third husband.
Yet I fear that good and kind Antonio
Cannot by goodness tame the ravening sea.
SALARINO
I pray it be the last of all his losses.
SALANIO
Let me say a quick "amen," before
The devil hears your prayer and crosses it.
For here he comes, in the likeness of a Jew.
Enter SHYLOCK
SALARINO
How now, Shylock! what news among the merchants?
SHYLOCK
You know, none so well, none so well
As you two gossips, of my daughter's flight.
SALARINO
I, for my part, knew the fairy tailor
That made her wings so she could fly away.
SALANIO
You knew the bird was old enough to fly;
Could you not guess that she would leave the nest?
SHYLOCK
The girl is surely damned for it.
SALANIO
No doubt —
[Aside] But wait; can one be damned for leaving hell?
SHYLOCK
My own accursed flesh and blood to rebel!
SALANIO
Fie upon your flesh and blood, old man.
Rebels it after all these many years?I say, my daughter is my flesh and blood.
SALARINO
Thy flesh and hers are differenter by far
Than black obsidian and ivory;
Between thy bloods there is more difference
Than between dark ale and brandywine.
But tell us, you might know the truth of it:
Has Antonio had a loss at sea or no?
SHYLOCK
There again I trusted and have lost.
A bankrupt now, who dares not show his face
Among the merchants; Antonio, a beggar
Who used to come so smug to the Rialto:
Let him look to his bond:
He was wont to call me usurer;
Let him look to his bond:
He was wont to lend money for a Christian courtesy;
Let him look to his bond.
SALARINO
I'm sure that if he forfeits, you will not
Demand his flesh — what's that good for?
SHYLOCK
To bait fish with.
If it feeds nothing else, it will feed my revenge.
He has disgraced me, and hindered me half a million;
Laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains,
Scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains,
Cooled my friends, heated mine enemies;
And what's his reason? I am a Jew.
Has not a Jew eyes? Has not a Jew hands,
Organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?
Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons,
Subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means,
Warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter,
As a Christian is?
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?
And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.
If a Jew wrongs a Christian, what does the Christian seek?
Revenge. So if a Christian wrongs a Jew,
What should his sufferance be, by Christian example?
Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute,
And it shall go hard, but I will better the instruction.
Enter a Servant
SERVANT
Lady widows, my master Antonio
Is at his house and desires to speak with you.
SALARINO
We have been up and down in search of him.SALANIO
Here's another of the tribe: a third
Could not be matched, unless the devil himself
Were circumcised and turned into a Jew.
Exeunt SALANIO, SALARINO, and Servant
SHYLOCK
How now, Tubal! what news from Genoa?
Have you found my daughter?
TUBAL
Often I came
Where I did hear of her, but cannot find her.
SHYLOCK
Why, there, there, there, there! a diamond gone,
Cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort!
I would my daughter were dead at my foot,
And the jewels in her ear!
Would she were hearsed at my foot,
And the ducats in her coffin!
And I know not what's been spent in the search:
Loss upon loss! the thief gone with so much,
And so much more to find the thief;
And no satisfaction, no revenge:
No luck stirring but what lights on my shoulders;
No sighs but of my breathing;
No tears but of my shedding.
TUBAL
Well, other men have ill luck, too:
Antonio, as I heard in Genoa —
SHYLOCK
What, what, what? ill luck, ill luck?
TUBAL
An argosy cast ashore, coming from Tripoli.
SHYLOCK
I thank God, I thank God. Is it true, is it true?
TUBAL
I spoke with sailors who escaped the wreck.
SHYLOCK
I thank thee, good Tubal: good news, good news!
Ha, ha! Where? In Genoa?
TUBAL
In Genoa, your daughter spent, I heard,
Fourscore ducats in a single night.
SHYLOCK
You stick a dagger in me: I'll never see my gold again:
Fourscore ducats at a sitting! fourscore ducats!TUBAL
Several of Antonio's creditors
Were in my company to Venice, and
They swear he cannot choose but break.
SHYLOCK
I'll plague him; I'll torture him: I'm glad of it.
TUBAL
One of them showed me a ring your daughter gave
In trade for a monkey.
SHYLOCK
Out upon her! She already had her monkey.
TUBAL
Meaning the Christian! Meaning Lorenzo! Ha!
SHYLOCK
That ring — it was my turquoise; it was a gift
From Leah when I was a bachelor:
I wouldn't have given it for all the monkeys
In the world. I am in agony.
TUBAL
Antonio is certainly undone.
SHYLOCK
That's true, that's very true. Go, Tubal, find
An officer and pay his fee; He'll hold
Antonio a fortnight before the day.
I'll have his heart, if Antonio forfeits;
He can't be allowed to travel out of Venice.
Go, go, Tubal, and meet me at our synagogue;
Go, good Tubal; at our synagogue, Tubal.Enter BASSANIO, PORTIA, GRATIANO, NERISSA,
and Attendants
PORTIA
I pray you, pause a day or two before
You take your chance: for if your choice is wrong,
I lose your company. Something in me says —
You know it is not love — that I don't wish
To lose you yet. I don't imagine hate
Displays itself in such a wishful way.
But lest you should not understand me well:
I would detain you here some month or two
Before you venture for me. I could teach you
How to choose aright, but I would be forsworn;
And that I'll never do. So you might miss
And lose me, which would make me wish a sin:
That I had been forsworn. I blame your eyes.
They looked at me and so divided me;
One half of me is yours, the other half ...
Is yours. Mine own, I was about to say,
But still the half that's mine is also yours,
And so all yours. We live in wretched times,
With bars between true owners and their rights!
And so, though yours, not yours. Prove it so,
Let fortune go to hell for it, not I.
I talk too much, but only to delay,
To eke the time and draw it out in length,
To keep you from the choosing.
BASSANIO
Let me choose
For as I am, I live upon the rack.
PORTIA
Upon the rack, Bassanio! then confess
What treason you have mingled with your love.
BASSANIO
I'll take an oath to leave you if I lose,
But I have also sworn to never leave.
The first, my only chance of winning you;
But two in three of seeing you no more.
The second keeps you ever in my eyes,
But out of reach. Which oath shall I betray?
To leap into the fire, perhaps to burn,
Or stay here in the snow, and surely freeze?
PORTIA
These words are spoken from the rack, you said,
Where tortured men confess to anything.
BASSANIO
Promise me life, and I'll confess the truth.
PORTIA
Well then, confess and live.BASSANIO
"Confess" and "love."
O happy torment, when my torturer
Provides me answers for deliverance!
But let me to my fortune and the caskets.
PORTIA
Away, then! I am locked in one of them:
If you do love me, you will find me out.
Nerissa and the rest, stand all aloof.
BASSANIO
The outward show might well be meaningless.
The world is easily fooled with ornament.
In law, a villain's plea may be corrupt,
But, seasoned with a lawyer's gracious voice,
The evil is disguised, while in religion,
What damnëd error, but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?
There is no vice so vile but it assumes
Some mark of virtue on its outward parts:
How many cowards wear a boasting face
And are esteemed courageous by the world?
How many beauties buy their grace by weight,
So that those curled and rampant golden locks
Which make such wanton gambols with the wind,
Began their lives upon another head?
Therefore, gold, I have no use for thee;
Nor none of silver, which is used for coin
That passes hand to hand in common use.
Thou, simple, unassuming lead, in thee
A man will hide his treasure, knowing well
How easily it will be overlooked.
So here choose I; joy be the consequence!
PORTIA
[Aside] He chooses right — and now my heart is torn
Between two loves, two boundless ecstasies:
My absent father's love protected me,
Then gave me to the husband of my hopes.
I thank him now, despite my old complaints.
And good Bassanio could not request
Permission from my father, face to face,
Yet still my father's blessing he has earned.
Two men who never met conspired as one
To burst my heart with happiness. O love,
Be moderate, allay thine ecstasy,
I feel too much this blessing: make it less,
Or make me strong enough to hold it all.
BASSANIO
What find I here?
Opening the leaden casket
Fair Portia's image. Seeing such a face,
A thousand years from now, a man would weep
Because the fair original was gone,
And go unmarried, grieving, to his graveBecause no living woman could compare.
So I am blessed compared to such a man,
For I can turn and see her in the flesh,
More glorious than painter can depict,
Or poet celebrate, or singer sing.
What words are written on the scroll?
[Reads] You that choose not by the view,
Chance as fair and choose as true!
Since this fortune falls to you,
Be content and seek no new,
If you be well pleased with this
And hold your fortune for your bliss,
Turn you where your lady is
And claim her with a loving kiss.
The scroll bestows your kiss on me, my love,
But I will not accept it for the scroll,
Nor for the picture, nor the leaden box.
My rightful choosing merely sweeps away
The obstacles, so I can take your hand
And pledge my freely given love to you,
And ask if you will freely pledge to me.
PORTIA
You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand.
I am the prize this contest must award,
And yet, so worthy is the victor, I
Can only wish that I were twenty times —
A thousand times — more fair, ten thousand times
More rich, to match the merit of the man.
Instead, this is the simple sum of me:
A girl unschooled and inexperienced,
Happy in this, she is not yet so old
But she may learn; happier than this,
She is not bred so dull but she can learn;
Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to yours to be directed,
As from her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself and what is mine to you and yours
Is now converted. Till now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen of my despairing self. And now
This house, these servants and this same myself
Are yours, my lord: I give them with this ring.
It is my heart. Oh, hold it, guard it well!
The day you part from, lose, or give away
The ring, I'll know that you no longer love.
BASSANIO
This is your heart; it pumps the blood of life,
And if my finger ever loses it,
My blood will stop, congeal, grow cold,
For if you see this ring without my hand,
O, then be bold to say Bassanio's dead!
NERISSA
My lord and lady, it is now our time,
Who have stood by and seen our wishes prosper,
To cry, good joy: good joy, my lord and lady!GRATIANO
My lord Bassanio and my gentle lady,
I wish you all the joy that you can wish;
But will you also wish some joy for me?
For on the day you solemnize your vows,
I long to make myself a husband, too.
BASSANIO
With all my heart, if you can get a wife.
GRATIANO
I thank your lordship, you have got me one.
My eyes, my lord, can look as swift as yours:
You saw the mistress, I beheld the maid;
Your fortune stood upon the casket there,
And so did mine, too, as the matter falls;
For wooing here till I was soaked in sweat ,
And sweating till my very roof was dry,
I won a promise of this fair one here
To have her love, provided that your fortune
Achieved her mistress.
PORTIA
Is this true, Nerissa?
NERISSA
Madam, I confess I was distracted
By the antics of this prancing Cupid,
Who has stabbed me to the heart with laughter.
Now I can't imagine losing him.
BASSANIO
And do you, Gratiano, mean good faith?
GRATIANO
You know I never pledge my word in jest.
BASSANIO
Our feast shall be much honour'd in your marriage.
GRATIANO
A thousand ducats says our boy comes first!
NERISSA
And what if we should have a little girl?
GRATIANO
I hope she looks like you. No ducats then,
But joy for first or second, boy or girl.
But who comes here? Lorenzo and his bride,
The former infidel, now Christian beauty.
Why do they travel with Salerio,
My friend from school days back in Venice!
Enter LORENZO, JESSICA, and SALERIO, a
Messenger from Venice
BASSANIO
Lorenzo and Salerio, welcome!
Wait — there is no marriage yet. I'm notThe master here. Sweet Portia, by your leave,
I'll bid my friends and countrymen come in.
PORTIA
They are entirely welcome here, my lord.
LORENZO
I never planned to meet you here, my friend.
But meeting with Salerio by the way,
He did entreat me, past all saying nay,
To come with him along.
SALERIO
I did, my lord;
And I have reason for it. Signior Antonio
Sends you this.
Gives Bassanio a letter
BASSANIO
Before I open it,
I pray you, tell me how my friend is doing.
SALERIO
Not sick, my lord, unless it be in mind;
Nor well, unless in mind: his letter there
Will show you his estate.
GRATIANO
Nerissa, can you find refreshment for
Fair lady Jessica?
JESSICA
My needs are few,
For I have lived these weeks on happiness.
NERISSA
A slender diet, but a filling one.
GRATIANO
And you, Salerio, can carry news
For dear Antonio when you return:
Two Jasons here have won their golden fleece!
SALERIO
I would that you had won the fleece he lost.
PORTIA
I fear what's written in that letter. See?
It steals the colour from Bassanio's cheek:
Some dear friend dead; else nothing in the world
Could turn so much the constitution
Of any healthy man. What, worse and worse!
With leave, Bassanio: I am half yourself,
And I must freely have the half of anything
That this grim paper brings you.
BASSANIO
O sweet Portia,
Here are a few of the unpleasantest wordsThat ever blotted paper! Gentle lady,
When I did first impart my love to you,
I freely told you that I was a gentleman
By blood alone, and not by any wealth.
I told the truth, to rate myself at nothing,
Yet I played the braggart, for my state
Is even less than that; my friend Antonio
Paid my debts for me, so I could come
To you with gifts, and wearing more than rags.
But lacking ready cash, he borrowed, too,
Depending on his ships to make return.
I begged him not to make the pact he signed,
For he has borrowed from the devil's nephew,
And if he forfeits it will cost his life.
This paper is the body of my friend,
And every word in it a gaping wound,
Issuing life-blood. But is it true, Salerio?
Have all his ventures failed? What, not one hit?
From Tripoli, from Mexico and England,
From Lisbon, Barbary and India?
Won't any of his ships return to port?
SALERIO
Not one, my lord. Besides, the Jew declares
That even if he brought the money now,
The Jew would not accept — the day has passed.
I never knew a creature in the shape of man
So keen and greedy to destroy another.
Shylock plies the duke both day and night,
Demanding justice. Twenty merchants, and
The duke himself, have all entreated him;
But none can turn him from his bloody bond.
JESSICA
I've heard him swear to Tubal many times
That he would rather have Antonio's flesh
Than twenty times the value of the loan.
I know, my lord, if law, authority,
Or power do not block his will,
It will go hard with poor Antonio.
PORTIA
What law in Venice kills a man for debt?
SALERIO
The bond was freely signed by both, and now
The law of Venice must exact the terms.
PORTIA
And this Antonio's your beloved friend.
BASSANIO
The dearest friend to me, the kindest man,
My guide and benefactor, one in whom
The ancient Roman honor more appears
Than any that draws breath in Italy.
PORTIA
How much does he owe the Jew?BASSANIO
Three thousand ducats,
And all of it for me.
PORTIA
No more than that?
Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond;
Double six thousand, and then treble that,
Before a friend of this description
Shall lose a hair through Bassanio's fault.
First go with me to church and call me wife,
And then away to Venice to your friend;
For never shall you lie by Portia's side
With an unquiet soul. You shall have gold
To pay the petty debt twenty times over:
When it is paid, bring your true friend along.
My maid Nerissa and myself meantime
Will live as maids and widows. Come, away!
For you shall leave upon your wedding-day:
Bid your friends welcome, show a merry cheer:
Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear.
But let me hear the letter of your friend.
BASSANIO
[Reads] Sweet Bassanio, my ships have all miscarried, my
creditors grow cruel, my estate is very low, my bond to the
Jew is forfeit; and since in paying it, it is impossible I
should live, all debts are cleared between us. I long to see
you before I die, but if you cannot come, be sure I have no
regret, but only love for you.
PORTIA
O love, dispatch all business, and be gone!
BASSANIO
Since I have your good leave to go away,
I will make haste: but, till I come again,
I will not sleep in any bed, but take
My rest on stone, which is no rest at all.SHYLOCK
Gaoler, look to him: tell not me of mercy;
This is the fool that lent out money gratis:
Gaoler, look to him.
ANTONIO
Hear me yet, good Shylock.
SHYLOCK
I'll have my bond; speak not against my bond:
I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond.
You called me "dog" before you had a cause;
But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs:
The duke shall grant me justice. I do wonder,
Gaoler, that you walk the streets with bankrupts.
ANTONIO
I pray thee, Shylock, let me speak a word.
SHYLOCK
I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak:
I'll have my bond; and therefore speak no more.
I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool,
To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield
To Christian intercessors. Follow not;
I'll have no speaking: I will have my bond.
Exit
SALARINO
It is the most impenetrable cur
That ever kept with men.
ANTONIO
Let him alone:
I'll follow him no more with bootless pleas.
He seeks my life; his reason well I know:
I've rescued many debtors from his hands
By lending them the price they owed to him,
Preventing him from their collateral.
Therefore he hates me.
SALARINO
I am sure the duke
Will never grant this forfeiture to hold.
ANTONIO
The duke cannot deny the course of law:
For if a stranger noises it abroad
That Venice favors citizens, and thus
Refuses justice for a stranger's bond,
It damages the city, for our trade
Is almost all with strangers. We depend
On them to justly deal with us abroad,
And they on us, to justly deal at home.Therefore, go, my widowed friend. You see
These griefs have so depressed my appetite
That I shall hardly have a pound of flesh
Tomorrow, when he tries to cut it out.
Salarino weeps and exits
Well, gaoler, on. Pray God, Bassanio come
To see me pay his debt, and then I care not!LORENZO
Madam, I have watched with admiration
How you bear the absence of your lord,
I wish you knew already what I know:
How true a gentleman Antonio is,
That he deserves the rescue that you sent,
And that he loves your husband like a son.
Your generous nature gave the gift at once;
Antonio earns it, though you know him not.
PORTIA
I never did repent for doing good,
Nor shall not now: for in companions
That do converse and waste the time together,
Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There must needs be a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners and of spirit;
Which makes me think that this Antonio,
Being more than brother to my lord,
Must be needs like my lord. If it be so,
How little is the cost I have bestowed
In offering to ransom him who is
The nearest man on earth to the man I love.
This comes too near the praising of myself;
Therefore no more of it: hear other things.
Lorenzo, I commit into your hands
The husbandry and manage of my house
Until my lord's return: for mine own part,
I have toward heaven breathed a secret vow
To live in prayer and contemplation,
Only attended by Nerissa here,
Until her husband and my lord return:
There is a monastery two miles off;
And there will we abide. I do desire you
Not to deny this imposition;
The which my love and some necessity
Now lays upon you.
LORENZO
Madam, with all my heart;
I shall obey you in all fair commands.
PORTIA
My people do already know my mind,
And will acknowledge you and Jessica
In place of Lord Bassanio and myself.
And so farewell, till we shall meet again.
LORENZO
Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you!
JESSICA
I wish your ladyship all heart's content.PORTIA
I thank you for your wish, and am well pleased
To wish it back on you: fare you well Jessica.
Exeunt JESSICA and LORENZO
Now, Balthasar, my faithful messenger,
Take this letter straight to Padua,
And find my cousin, Doctor Bellario;
When he has read the letter, he will give you
Notes and books and garments. Speed them on
To the common ferry that trades with Venice.
I'll be there before you to receive them.
Waste no time on words — oh, Balthasar!
My husband's happiness depends on you.
BALTHASAR
I'll shame the birds I pass along the way.
Exit
PORTIA
Come on, Nerissa; I have work in hand
That you don't know of yet. We'll see our men
Before they think of us.
NERISSA
Shall they see us?
PORTIA
They shall, Nerissa; but they will not know us.
They will see us as two learned men,
But young and beardless, barely out of school.
I'll prove the prettier fellow of the two,
And wear my dagger with the braver grace,
And speak between the change of man and boy
With a reed voice, and turn two mincing steps
Into a manly stride, and speak of fights
Like a fine bragging youth, and tell quaint lies,
How honorable ladies sought my love,
Which I denying, they fell sick and died;
Then I'll repent and wish I had not killed them;
And twenty of these puny lies I'll tell,
That men will know I'm one of them. I've seen
A thousand raw tricks of these bragging Jacks,
Which now I'll play myself in fair return.
NERISSA
You mean we'll get inside men's clothing?
PORTIA
Be glad your careless question wasn't heard
By any lewd interpreter, Nerissa!
Come, and I will tell you all my plans
Inside my coach, which waits at the park gate;
Now let us haste away, the road is long,
And we must measure twenty miles to-day.GUINEVERE
My master left me behind, but that's all right with me,
because he leaves me here to serve my old mistress! Since
you're a new-fledged Christian, I will try to explain the
doctrine to you. Look you, the sins of the father are to be
laid upon the children: therefore, I fear for you. I was
always plain with you, and so now I speak my agitation of
the matter: therefore be of good cheer, for truly I think you
are damned. There is but one hope in it that can do you
any good; and that is but a kind of bastard hope neither.
JESSICA
And what hope is that, I pray thee?
GUINEVERE
You may partly hope that your father got you not, that you
are not the Jew's daughter.
JESSICA
That were a kind of bastard hope, indeed: so the sins of
my mother should be visited upon me.
GUINEVERE
Truly then I fear you are damned both by father and
mother: thus when I shun the frying pan, your father, I
fall into the fire, your mother: well, you are gone both
ways.
JESSICA
I shall be saved by my husband; he has made me a
Christian.
GUINEVERE
I don't think that was a good idea. We had enough
Christians before; as many as could live decently, one
beside another. This making new Christians will raise the
price of hogs: if we all turn to be pork-eaters, soon we
won't be able to buy hot sizzling bacon for any money.
Enter LORENZO
JESSICA
Well, Guinevere, I'll tell my husband what you say — here
he comes now. My lord — Guinevere is teaching Christian
doctrine.
LORENZO
Who knew she ever stayed awake in church?
JESSICA
Guinevere tells me flatly, there is no mercy for me in
heaven, because I am a Jew's daughter: and she says you
are no good member of the commonwealth, for in
converting Jews to Christians, you raise the price of porkLORENZO
She uses logic so wisely you'd think she went to the
university. Soon she'll have debates, and read books, and
utter platitudes for clerks to copy down, and drink too
much beer.
GUINEVERE
I've already got to the end of your list, my lord.
LORENZO
Go in, missy; bid them prepare for dinner.
GUINEVERE
That's already done, sir; they have stomachs.
LORENZO
What a wit-snapper are you! then bid them prepare
dinner.
GUINEVERE
That was done by the cooks.
LORENZO
Yet more quarreling over words! Must you show the whole
wealth of your wit in an instant? I pray you, understand a
plain man in his plain meaning: go to the other servants,
bid them cover the table, serve the food, and we will come
in to dinner.
GUINEVERE
I guess your real meaning: We will come in to the table,
cover the food, and all of us serve you.
Exit
LORENZO
The fool has planted in her memory
An army of good words, and marches them
Back and forth to no good purpose.
And now, good sweet, say your opinion,
How do you like our friend Bassanio's wife?
JESSICA
Past all expressing. Lord Bassanio
Had better live a perfect, upright life;
For, having such a blessing in his lady,
He finds the joys of heaven here on earth;
And if on earth he does not earn it, then
I know he'll never make it into heaven,
Having had already more than he deserves.
LORENZO
So you believe that she is adequate?
JESSICA
I say that if two gods should make a bet
On which of two women is more virtuous,
And one is Portia, put a thumb on the scale
With the other lass, for in all the poor rude world
There is no match for her.LORENZO
Poor second-best,
I love you well enough. And lucky you —
In me you have such a husband as she is a wife.
JESSICA
Nay, but ask my opinion too of that.
LORENZO
I will anon: first, let us go to dinner.
JESSICA
Nay, let me praise you while I have a stomach.
LORENZO
No, let it serve for table-talk; for then,What, is Antonio here?
Ready, so please your Grace.
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.
I have heard
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 armed
To suffer with a quietness of spirit
The very tyranny and rage of his.
Go, one, and call the Jew into the court.
He is ready at the door. He comes, my lord.Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too,
That thou but leadest 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 exacts the penalty,
Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh,
Thou wilt not only loose the forfeiture,
But, touched with humane gentleness and love,
Forgive a moi'ty of the principal,
Glancing an eye of pity on his losses
That have of late so huddled on his back,
Enow 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 trained
To offices of tender courtesy.
We all expect a gentle answer, Jew.
I have possessed 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 humor. Is it answered?
What if my house be troubled with a rat,
And I be pleased to give ten thousand ducats
To have it baned? What, are you answered 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' th' nose,
Cannot contain their urine; for affection
Masters oft passion, sways it to the moodOf what it likes or loathes. Now for your answer:
As there is no firm reason to be rendered
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig,
Why he a harmless necessary cat,
Why he a woolen 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 lodged hate and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answered?
This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
To excuse the current of thy cruelty.
I am not bound to please thee with my answers.
Do all men kill the things they do not love?
Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
Every offence is not a hate at first.
What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?
, to Bassanio
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 fretten 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 youMake no more offers, use no farther means,
But with all brief and plain conveniency
Let me have judgment and the Jew his will.
For thy three thousand ducats here is six.
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.
How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend'ring none?
What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?
You have among you many a purchased slave,
Which, like your asses and your dogs and mules,
You use in abject and in slavish parts
Because you bought them. Shall I say to you
"Let them be free! Marry them to your heirs!
Why sweat they under burdens? Let their beds
Be made as soft as yours, and let their palates
Be seasoned with such viands"? You will answer
"The slaves are ours!" So do I answer you:
The pound of flesh which I demand of him
Is dearly bought; 'tis mine and I will have it.
If you deny me, fie upon your law:
There is no force in the decrees of Venice.
I stand for judgment. Answer: shall I have it?
Upon my power I may dismiss this court
Unless Bellario, a learnèd doctor
Whom I have sent for to determine this,
Come here today.
My lord, here stays without
A messenger with letters from the doctor,
New come from Padua.DUKE
BASSANIO
ANTONIO
DUKE
NERISSA
Handing him a paper, which he reads, aside, while
Shylock sharpens his knife on the sole of his shoe.
BASSANIO
SHYLOCK
GRATIANO
SHYLOCK
GRATIANO
Bring us the letters. Call the messenger.
Good cheer, Antonio! What, man, courage yet!
The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all
Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood!
I am a tainted wether of the flock,
Meetest for death. The weakest kind of fruit
Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me.
You cannot better be employed, Bassanio,
Than to live still and write mine epitaph.
Enter Nerissa, disguised as a lawyer's clerk.
Came you from Padua, from Bellario?
, as Clerk
From both, my lord. Bellario greets your Grace.
Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?
To cut the forfeiture from that bankrout there.
Not on thy sole but on thy soul, harsh Jew,
Thou mak'st thy knife keen. But no metal can,
No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness
Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee?
No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.
O, be thou damned, inexecrable dog,
And for thy life let justice be accused;
Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith,
To hold opinion with PythagorasThat souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men. Thy currish spirit
Governed a wolf who, hanged for human slaughter,
Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet,
And whilst thou layest in thy unhallowed dam,
Infused itself in thee, for thy desires
Are wolfish, bloody, starved, and ravenous.
Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond,
Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud.
Repair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall
To cureless ruin. I stand here for law.
This letter from Bellario doth commend
A young and learnèd doctor to our court.
Where is he?
, as Clerk He attendeth here hard by
To know your answer whether you'll admit him.
With all my heart.—Some three or four of you
Go give him courteous conduct to this place.
Meantime the court shall hear Bellario's letter.
He reads.
Your Grace shall understand that, at the receipt of
your letter, I am very sick, but in the instant that your
messenger came, in loving visitation was with me a
young doctor of Rome. His name is Balthazar. I
acquainted him with the cause in controversy between
the Jew and Antonio the merchant. We turned o'er
many books together. He is furnished with my opinion,
which, bettered with his own learning (the greatness
whereof I cannot enough commend), comes with
him at my importunity to fill up your Grace's request
in my stead. I beseech you let his lack of years be no
impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation, for Inever knew so young a body with so old a head. I
leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial
shall better publish his commendation.
You hear the learnèd Bellario what he writes.
Enter Portia for Balthazar, disguised as a doctor of
laws, with Attendants.
And here I take it is the doctor come.—
Give me your hand. Come you from old Bellario?
, as Balthazar
I did, my lord.
You are welcome. Take your place.
Are you acquainted with the difference
That holds this present question in the court?
, as Balthazar
I am informèd throughly of the cause.
Which is the merchant here? And which the Jew?
Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth.
, as Balthazar
Is your name Shylock?
Shylock is my name.
, as Balthazar
Of a strange nature is the suit you follow,
Yet in such rule that the Venetian law
Cannot impugn you as you do proceed.
To Antonio. You stand within his danger, do you
not?
Ay, so he says.
, as Balthazar Do you confess the bond?
I do.
, as Balthazar Then must the Jew be merciful.
On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.PORTIA
SHYLOCK
PORTIA
BASSANIO
, as Balthazar
The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The thronèd monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptered sway.
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute to God Himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea,
Which, if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant
there.
My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.
, as Balthazar
Is he not able to discharge the money?
Yes. Here I tender it for him in the court,
Yea, twice the sum. If that will not suffice,
I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er
On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart.
If this will not suffice, it must appearThat malice bears down truth. To the Duke. And I
beseech you,
Wrest once the law to your authority.
To do a great right, do a little wrong,
And curb this cruel devil of his will.
, as Balthazar
It must not be. There is no power in Venice
Can alter a decree establishèd;
'Twill be recorded for a precedent
And many an error by the same example
Will rush into the state. It cannot be.
A Daniel come to judgment! Yea, a Daniel.
O wise young judge, how I do honor thee!
, as Balthazar
I pray you let me look upon the bond.
Here 'tis, most reverend doctor, here it is.
, as Balthazar
Shylock, there's thrice thy money offered thee.
An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven!
Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?
No, not for Venice!
, as Balthazar Why, this bond is forfeit,
And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant's heart.—Be merciful;
Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond.
When it is paid according to the tenor.
It doth appear you are a worthy judge;
You know the law; your exposition
Hath been most sound. I charge you by the law,
Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar,Proceed to judgment. By my soul I swear
There is no power in the tongue of man
To alter me. I stay here on my bond.
Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.
, as Balthazar Why, then, thus it is:
You must prepare your bosom for his knife—
O noble judge! O excellent young man!
, as Balthazar
For the intent and purpose of the law
Hath full relation to the penalty,
Which here appeareth due upon the bond.
'Tis very true. O wise and upright judge,
How much more elder art thou than thy looks!
, as Balthazar, to Antonio
Therefore lay bare your bosom—
Ay, his breast!
So says the bond, doth it not, noble judge?
"Nearest his heart." Those are the very words.
, as Balthazar
It is so.
Are there balance here to weigh the flesh?
I have them ready.
, as Balthazar
Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,
To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.
Is it so nominated in the bond?
, as Balthazar
It is not so expressed, but what of that?
'Twere good you do so much for charity.
I cannot find it. 'Tis not in the bond.PORTIA
ANTONIO
BASSANIO
PORTIA
GRATIANO
, as Balthazar
You, merchant, have you anything to say?
But little. I am armed and well prepared.—
Give me your hand, Bassanio. Fare you well.
Grieve not that I am fall'n to this for you,
For herein Fortune shows herself more kind
Than is her custom: it is still her use
To let the wretched man outlive his wealth,
To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow
An age of poverty, from which ling'ring penance
Of such misery doth she cut me off.
Commend me to your honorable wife,
Tell her the process of Antonio's end,
Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death,
And when the tale is told, bid her be judge
Whether Bassanio had not once a love.
Repent but you that you shall lose your friend
And he repents not that he pays your debt.
For if the Jew do cut but deep enough,
I'll pay it instantly with all my heart.
Antonio, I am married to a wife
Which is as dear to me as life itself,
But life itself, my wife, and all the world
Are not with me esteemed above thy life.
I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you.
, aside
Your wife would give you little thanks for that
If she were by to hear you make the offer.
I have a wife who I protest I love.
I would she were in heaven, so she could
Entreat some power to change this currish Jew.NERISSA
SHYLOCK
PORTIA
SHYLOCK
PORTIA
SHYLOCK
PORTIA
GRATIANO
SHYLOCK
PORTIA
GRATIANO
, aside
'Tis well you offer it behind her back.
The wish would make else an unquiet house.
These be the Christian husbands! I have a
daughter—
Would any of the stock of Barabbas
Had been her husband, rather than a Christian!
We trifle time. I pray thee, pursue sentence.
, as Balthazar
A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine:
The court awards it, and the law doth give it.
Most rightful judge!
, as Balthazar
And you must cut this flesh from off his breast:
The law allows it, and the court awards it.
Most learnèd judge! A sentence!—Come, prepare.
, as Balthazar
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 flesh,
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.
O upright judge!—Mark, Jew.—O learnèd judge!
Is that the law?
, as Balthazar Thyself shalt see the act.
For, as thou urgest justice, be assured
Thou shalt have justice more than thou desir'st.
O learnèd judge!—Mark, Jew, a learnèd judge!
I take this offer then. Pay the bond thrice
And let the Christian go.
Here is the money.
, as Balthazar
Soft! The Jew shall have all justice. Soft, no haste!
He shall have nothing but the penalty.
O Jew, an upright judge, a learnèd judge!
, as Balthazar
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.
A second Daniel! A Daniel, Jew!
Now, infidel, I have you on the hip.
, as Balthazar
Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.
Give me my principal and let me go.
I have it ready for thee. Here it is.
, as Balthazar
He hath refused it in the open court.
He shall have merely justice and his bond.
A Daniel still, say I! A second Daniel!—
I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.
Shall I not have barely my principal?PORTIA
SHYLOCK
He begins
, as Balthazar
Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
Why, then, the devil give him good of it!
I'll stay no longer question.
, as Balthazar Tarry, Jew.
The law hath yet another hold on you.
It is enacted in the laws of Venice,
If it be proved 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.
In which predicament I say thou stand'st,
For it appears by manifest proceeding
That indirectly, and directly too,
Thou hast contrived against the very life
Of the defendant, and thou hast incurred
The danger formerly by me rehearsed.
Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke.
Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself!
And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state,
Thou hast not left the value of a cord;
Therefore thou must be hanged at the state's
charge.
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 humbleness may drive unto a fine.