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Lor. I must needs tell thee all: She hath
directed,

How I shall take her from her father's house;
What gold, and jewels, she is furnish'd with;
What page's suit she hath in readiness.
If e'er the Jew her father come to heaven,
It will be for his gentle daughter's sake:
And never dare misfortune cross her foot,
Unless she do it under this excuse,-
That she is issue to a faithless Jew.
Come, go with me; peruse this, as thou goest:
Fair Jessica shall be my torch-bearer. [Exeunt.
SCENE V.. The same. Before Shylock's
House.

Enter SHYLOCK and LAUNCELOT. Shy. Well, thou shalt see, thy eyes shall be thy judge.

The difference of old Shylock and Bassanio:-
What, Jessica!-thou shalt not gormandize,
As thou hast done with me;-What, Jessica!-
And sleep and snore, and rend apparel out;-
Why, Jessica, I say!

Laun.
Why, Jessica! [call.
Shy. Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee
Laun. Your worship was wont to tell me,
I could do nothing without bidding.
Enter JESSICA.

Jes. Call you? What is your will?
Shy. I am bid forth to supper, Jessica;
There are my keys :-But wherefore should I
I am not bid for love; they flatter me: [go?
But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon
The prodigal Christian,-Jessica, my girl,
Look to my house:-I am right loth to go;
There is some ill a brewing towards my rest,
For I did dream of money-bags to-night.
Laun. I beseech you, sir, go; my young
master doth expect your reproach.
Shy. So do I his.

Laun. And they have conspired together,
I will not say, you shall see a masque; but if
you do, then it was not for nothing that my
nose fell a bleeding on Black-Monday last,
at six o'clock i'the morning, falling out that
year on Ash-wednesday was four year in the
afternoon.

Shy. What! are there masques? Hear you
me, Jessica:
[drum,
Lock up my doors; and when you hear the
And the vile squeaking of the wry-neck'd fife,
Clamber not you up to the casements then,
Nor thrust your head into the public street,
To gaze on Christian fools with varnish'd faces:
But stop my house's ears, I mean my casements;
Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter
My sober house.-By Jacob's staff, I swear,
I have no mind of feasting forth to night:
But I will go.-Go you before me, sirrah;
Say, I will come.

Laun.
I will go before, sir.-
Mistress, look out at window, for all this;
There will come a Christian by,
Will be worth a Jewess' eye. [Exit LAUN.
Shy. What says that fool of Hagar's off-
spring, ha?

• Invited.

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Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day [me;
More than the wild cat; drones hive not with
Therefore I part with him; and part with him
To one that I would have him help to waste
His borrow'd purse.-Well, Jessica, go in;
Perhaps, I will return immediately;
Do as I bid you,

Shut doors after you: Fast bind, fast find;
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind. [Exit.
Jes. Farewell: and if my fortune be not
crost,

I have a father, you a daughter, lost. [Exit.

SCENE VI. The same.

Enter GRATIANO and SALARINO, masked.
Gra. This is the pent-house, under which
Desir'd us to make stand.
[Lorenzo
Salar.
His hour is almost past.
Gra. And it is marvel he out-dwells his
For lovers ever run before the clock. [hour,
Salar. O, ten times faster Venus' pigeons fly
To seal love's bonds new made, than they are
To keep obliged faith unforfeited! [wont,

Gra. That ever holds: Who riseth from a

feast,

With that keen appetite that he sits down?
Where is the horse that doth untread again
His tedious measures with the unbated fire
That he did pace them first? All things that are,
Are with more spirit chased than enjoy'd.
How like a younker, or a prodigal,
The scarfed t bark puts from her native bay,
Hugg'd and embraced by the strumpet wind!
How like the prodigal doth she return,
With over-weather'd ribs, and ragged sails,
Lean, rent, and beggar'd by the strumpet wind!
Enter LORENZO.

1

Salar. Here comes Lorenzo;-more of this hereafter. [long abode; Lor. Sweet friends, your patience for my Not I, but my affairs, have made you wait; When you shall please to play the thieves for wives,

I'll watch as long for you then.-Approach; Here dwells my father Jew:-Ho! who's within.

Enter JESSICA above, in boy's clothes.
Jes. Who are you? Tell me, for more cer-
tainty,

Albeit I'll swear that I do know your tongue.
Lor. Lorenzo, and thy love.

Jes. Lorenzo, certain; and my love, indeed;
For who love I so much? And now who knows
But you, Lorenzo, whether I am yours?

Lor. Heaven, and thy thoughts are witness
that thou art.
[pains.

Jes. Here, catch this casket; it is worth the
I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me,
For I am much ashamed of my exchange:
But love is blind, and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit;/
↑ Decorated with flags.

For if they could, Cupid himself would blush | What says this leaden, casket?
To see me thus transformed to a boy.
Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all
he hath.

Lor. Descend, for you nust be my torchbearer. [shames? Jes. What, must I hold a candle to my They in themselves, good sooth, are too too Why, 'tis an office of discovery, love; [light. And I should be obscured.

Lor.
So are you, sweet,
Even in the lovely garnish of a boy.

But come at once;
For the close night doth play the run-away,
And we are staid for at Bassanio's feast.

Jes. I will make fast the doors, and gild
myself

With some more ducats, and be with you straight. [Exit, from above. Gra. Now, by my hood, a Gentile and no Jew.

Lor. Beshrew me, but I love her heartily: For she is wise, if I can judge of her; And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true;. And true she is, as she hath prov'd herself; And therefore, like herself, wise, fair, and true, Shall she be placed in my constant soul.

Enter JESSICA, below.

What, art thou come?-On, gentlemen, away;
Our masquing mates by this time for us stay.
[Exit with JESSICA and SALARINO.
Enter ANTONIO.

Ant. Who's there?
Gra. Signior Antonio ?

[rest? Ant. Fie, fie, Gratiano! where are all the 'Tis nine o'clock; our friends all stay for you:No masque to night; the wind is come about, Bassanio presently will go aboard; I have sent twenty ont to seek for you. Gra. I am glad on't; I desire no more delight,

Than to be under sail, and gone to-night. [Exeunt. SCENE VII. Belmont. A Room in Portia's

House.

Flourish of Cornets. Enter PORTIA, with the Prince of Morocco, and both their Trains.

Por. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discoThe several caskets to this noble prince:- [ver Now make your choice.

Mor. The first, of gold, who this inscription bears;[desire. Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men The second, silver, which this promise carries;[deserves. Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt; [he hath. Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all How shall I know if I do choose the right? Por. The one of them contains my picture, prince;

If you choose that, then I am yours withal. Mor. Some god direct my judgment! Let

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[lead?
Must give-For what? for lead? hazard for
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 then nor give, nor hazard, aught for lead.
What says the silver, with her virgin hue?
Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he
deserves.
[rocco,
As much as he deserves ?-Pause there, Mo-
And weigh thy value with an even hand:
If thou be'st rated by thy estimation,
Thou dost deserve enough; and yet enough
May not extend so far as to the lady;
And yet to be afeard of my deserving,
Were but a weak disabling of myself.
As much as I deserve!-Why, that's the lady:
I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes,
In graces, and in qualities of breeding;
But more than these, in love I do deserve.
What if I stray'd no further, but chose here?-
Let's see once more this saying grav'd in gold:
Who chooseth 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.
The Hyrcanian deserts, and the vasty wilds
Of wide Arabia, are as through-fares now,
For princes to come view fair Portia ;
The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar
To stop the foreign spirits; but they come,
As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia.
One of these three contains her heavenly pic

ture.

tion,
Is't like, that lead contains her? "Twere damna-
To think so base a thought; it were too gross
To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave.
Being ten times undervalued to try'd gold?
Or shall I think, in silver she's immur'd,
O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem
Was set in worse than gold. They have in
England

A coin, that bears the figure of an angel
Stamped in gold; but that's insculp'd † upon;
But here an angel in a golden bed
Lies all within.-Deliver me the key;
Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may !
Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form
lie there,
[casket.
Then I am yours. [He unlocks the golden
Mor.
O hell! what have we here!
A carrion death, within whose empty eye
There is a written scroll? I'll read the writing.
All that glisters is not gold,
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold,
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms infold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,
Your answer had not been inscrall'd:
Fare you well; your suit is cold,

+ Engraven,

Cold, indeed; and labour lost: Then, farewell, heat; and, welcome, frost. Portia, adieu! I have too griev'd a heart To take a tedious leave: thus losers part. [Exit. Por. A gentle riddance:Draw the curtains, go; [Exeunt.

Let all of his complexion choose me so.

SCENE VIII. Venice. A Street.

Enter SALARINO and SALANIO. Salar. Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail; With him is Gratiano gone along; And in their ship, I am sure, Lorenzo is not. Salan. The villain Jew with outcries rais'd the duke;

Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship. Salar. He came too late, the ship was under sail :

But there the duke was given to understand,
That in a gondola were seen together
Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica :
Besides, Antonio certify'd the duke,
They were not with Bassanio in his ship.
Salan. I never heard a passion so confus'd,
So strange, outrageous, and so variable,
As the dog Jew did utter in the streets:
My daughter!-O my ducats!-O my
daughter!
[ducats!

Fled with a Christian?-O my christian Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter!

A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter! [cious stones, And jewels; two stones, two rich and preStol'n by my daughter!—Justice!-find the girl!

She hath the stones upon her,and the ducats!
Salar. Why, all the boys in Venice follow
him,
[ducats.
Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his
Salan. Let good Antonio look he keep his
Or he shall pay for this.
[day,
Salar.
Marry, well remember'd:
I reason'd with a Frenchman yesterday;
Who told me,-in the narrow seas, that part
The French and English, there miscarried
A vessel of our country, richly fraught:
I thought upon Antonio, when he told me ;
And wish'd in silence, that it were not his.
Salan. You were best to tell Antonio what
you hear;

Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.
Salar. A kinder gentleman treads not the
I saw Bassanio and Antonio part: [earth.
Bassanio told him, he would make some speed
Of his return; he answer'd-Do not so,
Slubber not + business for my sake, Bassanio,
But stay the very riping of the time;
And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of
Let it not enter in your mind of love: [me,
Be merry;and employ your chiefest thoughts
To courtship, and such fair ostents of love
As shall conveniently become you there:
And even there, his eye being big with tears,

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Turning his face, he put his hand behind him,
And with affection wondrous sensible
He wrung Bassanio's hand, and so they parted.
Salan. I think, he only loves the world for
I pray thee, let us go, and find him out. [him.
And quicken his embraced heaviness §
With some delight or other.
Salar.

Do we so. [Exeunt. SCENE IX. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House.

Enter NERISSA, with a Servant. Ner. Quick, quick, I pray thee, draw the curtain straight;

The prince of Arragon hath ta'en his oath,
And comes to his election presently.
Flourish of Cornets. Enter the Prince of
Arragon, PORTIA, and their Trains.
Por. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble
prince:

If you choose that wherein I am contain❜d,
Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemnized;
But if you fail, without more speech, my lord,
You must be gone from hence immediately.

[things:

Ar. I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three First, never to unfold to any one Which casket 'twas I chose; next, if I fail Of the right casket, never in my life, To woo a maid in way of marriage; lastly, If I do fail in fortune of my choice, Immediately to leave you and be gone. [swear, Por. To these injunctions every one doth That comes to hazard for my worthless self. Ar. And so have I address'd me: Fortune

now

[lead. To my heart's hope!-Gold, silver, and base Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath:

You shall look fairer, ere I give, or hazard.
What says the golden chest? ha! let me see :-
Who chooseth me, shall gain what many
men desire.
[meant
What many men desire.-That many may be
By the fool multitude, that choose by show,
Not learning more than the fond eyedoth teach;
Which pries not to the interior, but, like the
martlet,

Builds in the weather on the outward wall,
Even in the force ¶ and road of casualty.
I will not choose what many men desire,
Because I will not jump ** with common
epirits,

And rank me with the barbarous multitudes.
Why, then to thee, thou silver treasure-house;
Tell me once more what title thou dost bear:
Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he
deserves;

And well said too: For who shall go about
To cozen fortune, and be honourable
Without the stamp of merit! Let none pre-
To wear an undeserved dignity. [sume
0, that estates, degrees, and offices, [honour
Were not deriv'd corruptly! and that clear
Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer!
How many then should cover, that stand bare?

To slubber is to do a thing carelessly. The heaviness he is fond of. Prepared. T'Power.

Shows, tokens. ** Agree with.

How many be commanded, that command ? How much low peasantry would then be glean'd [much honour

From the true seed of honour? and how Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times, To be new varnish'd? Well, but to my choice: Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he

deserves:

I will assume desert;-Give me a key for this,
And instantly unlock my fortunes here.
Por. Too long a pause for that which you
find there.
fidiot,
Ar. What's here? the portrait of a blinking
Presenting me a schedule? I will read it.
How much unlike art thou to Portia ?
How much unlike my hopes, and my deserv-
ings?
[deserves.
Who chooseth me, shall have as much as he
Did I deserve no more than a fool's head?
Is that my prize? are my deserts no better?
Por.To offend, and judge, are distinct offices,
And of opposed natures.
Ar.
What is here?

The fire seven times tried this;
Seven times tried that judgment is,
That did never choose amiss:
Some there be, that shadows kiss;
Such have but a shadow's bliss:
There be fools alive, I wis*,
Silver'd o'er; and so was this.
Take what wife you will to bed,
I will ever be your head:
So begone, sir, you are sped.

Still more fool I shall appear

By the time I linger herend
With one fool's head I came to woo,
But I go away with two.t
Sweet, adieu! I'll keep my oath,
Patiently to bear my wroth.

[Exeunt Arragon, and Train.
Por. Thus hath the candle singed the moth.
O these deliberate fools! when they do choose,
They have the wisdom by their wit to lose.
Ner. The ancient saying is no heresy ;-
Hanging and wiving goes by destiny.
Por. Come, draw the curtain, Nerissa.
Enter a Servant.

Serv. Where is my lady?

Por. Here; what would my lord ? Serv. Madam, there is alighted at your gate A young Venetian, one that comes before To signify the approaching of his lord: From whom he bringeth sensible regreets+; To wit,besides commends,and courteousbreath, Gifts of rich value; yet I have not seen So likely an ambassador of love: A day in April never came so sweet, To show how costly summer was at hand, As this fore-spurrer comes before his lord.

Por. No more, I pray thee; I am half afeard, Thou wilt say anon, he is some kin to thee, Thou spend'st such high-day wit in praising him. Come, come, Nerissa; for I long to see Quick Cupid's post, that comes so mannerly. Fer. Bassanio, lord love, if thy will it be. [Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE I. Venice. A Street. Enter SALANIO and SALARINO. Salan. Now, what news on the Rialto ? Salar. Why, yet it lives there uncheck'd, that Antonio hath a ship of rich lading wreck'd on the narrow seas; the Goodwins, "I think they call the place; a very dangerous flat, and fatal, where the carcases of many a tall ship lie buried, as they say, if my gossip report be an honest woman of her word.

Salan. I would she were as lying a gossip in that, as ever knapp'd ginger, or made her neighbours believe she wept for the death of a third husband: But it is true, without any slips of prolixity, or crossing the plain highway of talk,-that the good Antonio, the honest Antonio,- O that I had a title good enough to keep his name company!-

Salar. Come, the full stop.

Salan, Ha,-what sayst thou ?-Why the end is, he hath lost a ship.

Salar. I would it might prove the end of

his losses!

Salan. Let me say amen betimes, lest the devil cross my prayer; for here he comes in the likeness of a Jew.

Know.

Enter SHYLOCK.

How now, Shylock?" what news among the merchants?

Shy. You knew, none so well, none so well as you, of my daughter's flight.

Salar. That's certain; I, for my part, knew the tailor that made the wings she flew withal. Salan. And Shylock, for his own part, knew the bird was fledged; and then it is the complexion of them all to leave the dam. Shy. She is damn'd for it. [her judge. Salar. That's certain, if the devil may be Shy. My own flesh and blood to rebel! Salan. Out upon it, old carrion! rebels it [blood.

at these years? Shy. I say, my daughter is my flesh and Salar. There is more difference between thy flesh and hers, than between jet and ivory; more between your bloods, than there is between red wine and rhenish-But tell us, do you hear whether Antonio have had any loss at sea or no?

Shy. There I have another bad match: a bankrupt, a prodigal, who dare scarce show his head on the Rialto;-a beggar, that used to come so smug upon the mart;-let him look to his bond; he was wont to call me usurer; -let him look to his bond: he was wont to

+ Salutations.

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Shy. I thank thee, good Tubal;-Good news, good news: ha! ha!-Where? in Genoa? Tub. Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I,

Tub. There came divers of Antonio's creditors in my company to Venice, that swear he cannot choose but break.

Shy. I am very glad of it: I'll plague him; I'll torture him; I am glad of it.

Shy. To bait fish withal: if it will feed no-heard, one night, fourscore ducats. thing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath Shy. Thou stick'st a dagger in me:—1 disgraced me, and hindered me of half a mil-shall never see my gold again: Fourscore lion; laughed at my losses, mocked at my ducats at a sitting! fourscore ducats! gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew: Hath not a Jew eyes? hath 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 winter and summer, 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 wrong a Christian, what is his humility? revenge: If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? why, revenge. The villany, you teach me, I will execute; and it shall go hard, but I will betterTubal; at our synagogue, Tubal. [Exeunt. the instruction.

Enter a Servant.

Serv. Gentlemen, my master, Antonio is at his house, and desires to speak with you both. Salar. We have been up and down to seek him.

Enter TUBAL.

Salan. Here comes another of the tribe; a third cannot be matched, unless the devil himself turn Jew.

[Exeunt SALAN. SALAR. and Servant, Shy. How now, Tubal, what news from Genoa? hast thou found my daughter? Tub. I often came where I did hear of her, but cannot find her.

Tub. One of them showed me ring, that he had of your daughter for a monkey. Shy. Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tabal: it was my turquoise; I had it of Leah, when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.

Tub. But Antonio is certainly undone. Shy. Nay, that's true, that's very true: Go, Tubal, fee me an officer, bespeak him a fortnight before: I will have the heart of him, if he forfeit; for were he out of Venice, I can make what merchandise I will: Go, go, Tubal, and meet me at our synagogue; go, good

SCENE II. Belmont. A Room in Portia's
House.

Enter BASSANIO, PORTIA, GRATIANO, NE-
RISSA, and Attendants. The Caskets are
set out.

Por. I pray you, tarry; pause a day or two, Before you hazard; for, in choosing wrong, I lose your company; therefore, forbear a while: There's something tells me, (but it is not love,) I would not lose you; and you know yourself, Hate counsels not in such a quality: But lest you should not understand me well, (And yet a maiden hath no tongue but thought,) I would detain you here some month or two, Shy. Why there, there, there, there! a dia- Before you venture for me. I could teach you, mond gone, cost me two thousand ducats in How to choose right, but then I am forsworn; Frankfort! The curse never fell upon our So will I never be: so may you miss me; nation till now; I never felt it till now:-But if you do, you'll make me wish a sin, two thousand ducats in that; and other, precious, precious jewels.-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! No news of them? -Why, so:-and I know not what's spent in the search: Why, thou loss upon loss! the thief gone with so much, and so much to find the thief; and no satisfaction, no revenge: nor no ill luck stirring, but what lights o' my shoulders; no sighs, but o' my breathing; no tears, but o' my shedding.

Tub. Yes, other men have ill luck too; Antonio, as I heard in Genoa,

Shy. What, what, what? ill luck, ill luck? Tub. hath an argosy cast away, coming from Tripolis.

Shy. I thank God, I thank God:-Is it true? is it true?

• A precious stone.

That I had been forsworn. Beshrew your eyes,
They have o'er-look'd me, and divided me;
One half of me is yours, the other half yours,
Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours,
And so all yours: O! these naughty times
Put bars between the owners and their rights;
And so, though yours, not yours.-Prove it so,
Let fortune go to hell for it,—not I.
I speak too long; but 'tis to peize t the time
To eke it, and to draw it out in length,
To stay you from election.

Bass.

Let me choose;
For, as I am, I live upon the rack.

Por. Upon the rack, Bassanio? then confess
What treason there is mingled with your love,

Bass.None,but that ugly treason of mistrust,
Which makes me fear the enjoying of my love:
There may as well be amity and life
Tween snow and fire, as treason and my love.

+ Delay.

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