Lor. Hold here, take this:-tell gentle Jessica,
I will not fail her;-Speak it privately; go.-
Gentlemen,

Will you prepare you for this mask to-night?
I am provided of a torch-bearer. [Ex. Laun.
Sal. Ay, marry, I'll be gone about it straight.
Sala. And so will I.

Lor. Meet me, and Gratiano,

At Gratiano's lodging some hour hence.

Sal. 'Tis good we do so. [Ex. Salar. and Salan. 10
Gra. Was not that letter from fair Jessica?

Lor. I must needs tell thee all: she hath di-
rected,

How I must take her from her father's house;
What gold, and jewels, she is furnish'd with;
What page's suit she hath in readiness.
Ife'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.

Jes. Call you? what is your will?

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:
5 But stop myhouse'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. 15 Shy. What says that fool of Hagar's offspring,ha? Jes. His words were, Farewell, mistress; no[feeder,

thing else.

Shy. The patch is kind enough; but a huge
Suail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day
20 More than the wild cat; drones hive not with me:
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;

25 Do, as I bid you.

Shut the doors after you: Fast bind, fast find;
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.

[Exit.

Jes. Farewel; and if my fortune be not crost, I have a father, you a daughter, lost.

[Exit.

30

Shy. I am bid forth to supper, Jessica;
There are my keys:-But wherefore should I go?
I am not bid for love; they flatter me:
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 mas-50
ter doth expect your reproach.

Shy. So do I his.

Sal. O, ten times faster Venus' pigeons fly
To seal love's bonds new made, than they are wont
To keep obliged faith unforfeited!

Gra. That ever holds: Who riseth from a feast
45 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 skarfed bark puts from her native bay,
Hugg'd and embraced by the strumpet wind!
How like a prodigal doth she return;
With over-weather'd ribs, and ragged sails,
Lean, rent, and beggar'd by the strumpet wind!
Enter Lorenzo.

Laun. And they have conspired together,will not say, you shall see a masque; but if you do, then it was not for nothing that my nose fell 55 a-bleeding on Black-Monday last', at six o'clock the morning, falling out that year on Ash-Wednesday was four in the afternoon.

Shy. What are there masques? Hear you me,
Jessica:

Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum,

Sal. Here comes Lorenzo:-more of this hereafter. [abode; Lor. Sweet friends, your patience for my long 60 Not I, but my affairs, have made you wait: When you shall please to play the thieves for wives,

Black-Monday, according to Stowe, means Easter-Monday, and was so called from Edward III. having lost a part of his army, then besieging Paris, by cold on that day, which was also remarkably dark and misty. ? i. e. the fool.

I'll watch as long for you then.--Approach;
Here dwells my father Jew: Ho! who's within?
Jessica above, in boy's cloaths.

Jes. Who are you? tell me, for more certainty,
Albeit I'll swear that I do know your tongue.
Lor. Lorenzo, and thy love.

that thou art.

5

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 10
[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 asham'd of my exchange:
But love is blind, and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit;
For if they could, Cupid himself would blush
To see me thus transformed to a boy.

Lor. Descend, for you must be my torch-bearer.
Jes. What, must I hold a candle to my shames
They in themselves, good sooth, are too too light.
Why, 'tis an office of discovery, love;
And I should be obscur'd.

Lor. So you are, 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.

How shall I know if I do chuse the right?

Por. The one of them contains my picture, prince:
If you chuse that, then I am yours withal.

Mor.Some god direct my judgment: Let me see,
I will survey the inscriptions back again:
What says this leaden casket?

"Who chuseth me, must give and hazard all he
"hath."
[lead?
15 Must give-For what? for lead? hazard for
This casket threatens: Men, that hazard all,
Do it in hope of fair advantages:

A goiden mind stoops not to shows of dross; I'll then nor give, nor hazard aught for lead. 20 What says the silver, with her virgin hue? "Whochuseth me, shall get as much as he deserves." As much as he deserves?-Pause there, Morocco, And weigh thy value with an even hand: If thou be'st rated by thy estimation,

Jes. I will make fast the doors, and gild myself With some more ducats, and be with you straight. 30 [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, &c.
Enter Anthonio.

25 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 farther, but chose here?—
Let's see once more this saying grav'd in gold.
35 Whochuseth 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
40 Of wide Arabia, are as thorough-fares now,
For princes to come view fair Portia:
The watry kingdom, whose ambitious head
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar
To stop the foreign spirits; but they come,
45 As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia.

One of these three contains her heavenly picture.
Is't like, that lead contains her? "Twere damna-

160

Lyes all within.-Deliver me the key;
Here do I chuse, and thrive I as I may! [there,
Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lye
Then I am yours.

[Unlocking the gold casket.

Our author here quibbles upon Gentile, which signifies one that is well born, as well as a heathen.

2i. e. engraved upon.

Mor.

Mor. O hell: what have we here?
A carrion death, within whose empty eye
There is a written scroll! P'il 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 inscroll'd:
Fare you well; your suit is cold.

Mor. 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,

Enter Salarino and Salanio.

Sul. Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail;
With him is Gratiano gone along;
And in their ship, I am sure, Lorenzo is not.
Sala. The villainJew withoutcries rais'd the duke;
Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship.

Sal. 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, Anthonio certify'd the duke,
They were not with Bassanio in his ship.

Sala. 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!-Omy ducats!-O my daughter!
Fled with a Christian?-O myChristian ducats!-
Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter!
A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,
Of double ducats! stol'n from me by my daughter!
Andjewels; two stones,tworichand precious stones
Stol'n by my daughter! Justice! find the girl!
She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats!

Sal. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him,
Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.
Sala. Let good Anthonio look he keep his day,
Or he shall pay for this.

Sal. 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 Anthonio, when he told me;
And wish'd in silence, that it were not his.
Sala. You were best tellAnthonio what you hear:
Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.

Sal. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth.
I saw Bassanio and Anthonio part.

Bassanio told him, he would make some speed
Of his return; he answer'd,-Do not so,

Slubber not business for my suke, Bassanio,
But stay the very riping of the time;

5 And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me,
Let it not enter in your mind of love3:
Be merry; and employ your chiefest thoughts
To courtship, and such fair ostents of love
As shall conveniently become you there:
10 And even there, his eye being big with tears,
Turning his face, he put his hand behind him,
And with affection wondrous sensible
He wrung Bassanio's hand, and so they parted.
Sala. I think, he only loves the world for him.
15I pray thee, let us go, and find him out,
And quicken his embraced heaviness
With some delight or other.

20

Sul. Do we so.

[Exeunt.

Ner. Quick, quick, I pray thee, draw the curtain The prince of Arragon hath ta'en his oath, [straight; 25 And comes to his election presently.

Enter Arragon, his train; Portia, with hers.
Flourish of cornets.

Por. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince
If you chuse that wherein I am contain'd,
30 Straight shall our nuptial-rites be solemniz'd
But if you fail, without more speech, my Lord,
You must be gone from hence immediately.

Ar. I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three things:
First, never to unfold to any one

35 Which casket 'twas I chose; next, if I fail
Of the right casket, never in my life
To woe a maid in way of marriage; lastly,
If I do fail in fortune of my choice,
Immediately to leave you, and be gone.

40

Por. To these injunctions every one doth swear,
That comes to hazard for my worthless self.

Ar. And so have I addrest me: Fortune now
To my heart's hope!-Gold, silver, and base lead.
Who chuseth me, must give and hazard all he hath:
45 You shall look fairer, ere I give, or hazard.
What says the golden chest? ha! let me see:-
Who chuseth me, shall gain what many men desire.
What many men desire,-That many may be meant
Of the fool multitude, that chuse by show,
50 Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach,
Which priesnot 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 chuse what many men desire,
55 Because I will not jump with common spirits,
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 chuseth me, shall get as much as he deserves;
60 And well said too: For who shall go about

'. That is, conversed. 2 To slubber is to do any thing carelesly, or imperfectly. perhaps, your loving mind. * i. e. prepared me.

i. e. the power.

3 Meaning,

Το

To cozen fortune, and be honourable
Without the stamp of merit? Let none presume
To wear an undeserved dignity.

O, that estates, degrees, and offices,

Were not deriv'd corruptly! and that clear honour 5
Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer!
How many then should cover, that stand bare?
How many be commanded, that command?
How much low peasantry would then be gleaned
From the true seed of honour? and how much 10
honour

find

Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times,
To be new varnish'd? Well, but to my choice:
Who chuseth me, shall get as much as he deserves:
I will assume desert;-Give me a key for this,
And instantly unlock my fortunes here. [there.
Por. Too long a pause for that which
you
Ar. What's here? the portrait of a blinking idiot,
Presenting me a schedule? I will read it.
How much unlike art thou to Portia!
How much unlike my hopes, and my deservings!
Who chuseth me, shall have as much as he descrces:
Did I deserve no more than a fool's head?
Is that my prize? are my deserts no better?

15

Take what wife you will to bed,
I will ever be your head:
So be gone, sir, you are sped.

Ar. Still more fool I shall appear
By the time I linger here:
With one fool's head I came to woo,
But I go away with two.-

Sweet, adieu! I'll keep my oath,
Patiently to bear my wroth2.

Por. Thus hath the candle sing'd the moth.
O these deliberate fools, when they do chuse,
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 Servunt.

Serv. Where is my lady?

Por. Here; what would my lord?

Ser. Madam, there is alighted at your gate,
20 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 courteous breath,
Gifts of rich value; yet I have not seen

Por. To offend, and judge, are distinct offices, 25 So likely an ambassador of love:

And of opposed natures.

Ar. What is here?

The fire seven times tried this;
Seven times try'd that judgment is,
That did never chuse amiss:

Some there be, that shadores kiss:

Such have but a shadow's bliss:
There be fools alive, I wis1,

Silver'd o'er; and so was this.

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,
30 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.
Ner. Bassanio, lord Love, if thy will it be!
[Exeunt

Sal. Why, yet it lives there uncheck'd, that Anthonio hath a ship of rich lading wreck'd 50 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.

55

Sula. I would she were as lying a gossip in that, as ever knapt 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 high-way of talk,-that the good 60 Anthonio, the honest Anthonio,-O that I had a title good enough to keep his name company!

! That is, I know. 2i. e. my misfortune.

Sal. I would it might prove the end of his losses! Sala. Let me say amen betimes, lest the devil cross thy prayer; for here he comes in the likeness of a Jew.

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.

Sal. That's certain! I, for my part, knew the taylor that made the wings she flew withal.

Sala. And Shylock, for his own part, knew the bird was fledge; and then it is the complexion of them all to leave the dam.

Shy. She is damn'd for it.

Sal. That's certain, if the devil may be her judge.
Shy. My own flesh and blood to rebel!
3i. e. salutations.

To knap is to break short.
Sala.

Sala. Out upon it, old carrion! rebels it at these years?

Shy. I say, my daughter is my flesh and blood. Sal. There is more difference between thy flesh and her's, than between jet and ivory; more be- 5 tween your bloods, than there is between red wine and Rhenish-But tell us, do you hear whether Anthonio have had any loss at sea, or no?

Shy. There I have another bad match: a bankrupt, a prodigal, who dare scarce shew his head|10| on the Rialto;-a beggar, that us'd 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 lend money for a Christian courtesy ;-let him look to his bond. Sal. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh; What's that good for?

15

Shy. To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgrac'd me, and hindered me of half a million; laugh'd at my 20 losses, mock'd at my gains, scorn'd my nation, thwarted my bargains, cool'd my friends, heated mine enemies; And what's his reason? I am a Jew: Hath not a Jew eyes? hath nota Jew hands; organs, dimensions, senses, atfectious, passions? fed 25 with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd 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: 30 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 suf-35 ferance 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 Sercant.

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

Enter Tubal.

Sala. Here comes another of the tribe; a third cannot be match'd, unless the devil himself turn Jew. [Exeunt Sal. and Salan. 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.

45

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; Antho-
nio, 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?

Tub. I spoke with some of the sailors that escaped the wreck.

Shy. I thank thee, good Tubal:-Good news, good news: ha ha! Where? in Genoa?

Tub. Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I heard, one night, fourscore ducats.

Shy. Thou stick'st a dagger in me:-I shall never see my gold again: Fourscore ducats at a sitting! fourscore ducats!

Tub. There came divers of Anthonio's creditors in my company to Venice, that swear he cannot

chuse but break.

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

Tub. One of them shewed me a ring, that he had of your daughter for a monkey.

Shy. Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal: it was my turquoise; I had it of Leah, when I was a batchelor; I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkies.

Tub. But Anthonio 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 Tubal, at our syna[Exeunt. gogue, Tubal.

SCENE II.
Belmont.

Enter Bassanio, Portia, Gratiano, and
Attendants.

The Caskets are set out.

Por. I pray you, tarry; pause a day or two,
Before you hazard; for in chusing 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,
50 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,
I could teach you
Before you venture for me.
How to chuse right, but I am then forsworn;
So will I never be so you may miss me:
But if you do, you'll make me wish a sin,
That I had been forsworn. Beshrew your eyes,
They have o'erlook'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,
P

Shy. Why there, there, there, there! a diamond gone, cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort! the curse never fell upon our nation 'till now; 155 never felt it 'till now:-two thousand ducats in that; and other precious, precious jewels.-Iwould, my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear! 'would she were hears'd at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin! No news of them?-60 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,

Let