Por. It is so. Are there balance here, to weigh The flesh? Shy. I have them ready. Por. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death. Por. It is not so express'd; But what of that? Give me your hand, Bassanio; fare you well! Say, how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death; Bass. Antonio, I am married to a wife, Which is as dear to me as life itself; Por. Your wife would give you little thanks for that, If she were by, to hear you make the offer. 'Would, any of the stock of Barrabas Had been her husband, rather than a Christian! [Aside. We trifle time; I pray thee, pursue sentence. thine; The court awards it, and the law doth give it. Shy. Most rightful judge! Por. And you must cut this flesh from off his breast; The law allows it, and the court awards it. Shy. Most learned judge!—A sentence; come, prepare. Por. Tarry a little;-there is something else.This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood; The words expressly are, a pound of flesh: Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of 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. Gra. O upright judge!-Mark, Jew;-O learned judge! Shy. Is that the law? Por. Thyself shalt see the act: For, as thou urgest justice, be assur'd, Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desir'st. judge! Shy. I take this offer then;-pay the bond thrice, And let the Christian go. Bass. Por. Soft; Here is the money. The Jew shall have all justice;-soft!-no haste;He shall have nothing but the penalty. Gra. O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge! Por. Therefore, prepare thee to cut off the flesh. Shed thou no blood; nor cut thou less, nor more, But just a pound of flesh: if thou tak'st more, Or less, than a just pound,—be it but so much As makes it light, or heavy, in the substance, Or the division of the twentieth part Of one poor scruple; nay, if the scale do turn But in the estimation of a hair,— Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate. Gra. A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew! Por. Why doth the Jew pause? take thy forfeiture. Bass. I have it ready for thee; here it is. Gra. A Daniel, still say I; a second Daniel!— I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word. Shy. Shall I not have barely my principal? Por. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew. Shy. Why then the devil give him good of it! I'll stay no longer question. Por. Tarry, Jew; The law hath yet another hold on you. It is enacted in the laws of Venice,— If it be prov'd against an alien, The party, 'gainst the which he doth contrive, The danger formerly by me rehears'd." Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke. And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, Therefore, thou must be hang'd at the state's charge. Por. What mercy can you render him, Antonio? Gra. A halter gratis; nothing else for God's sake. Ant. So please my lord the duke, and all the court, To quit the fine for one half of his goods; I am content, so he will let me have The other half in use,―to render it, Upon his death, unto the gentleman Two things provided more,That, for this favour, The other, that he do record a gift, Here in the court, of all he dies possess'd, |