Shy. Ay, ay, three thousand ducats. Ant. And for three months. Shy. 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, Upon advantage. Ant. I do never use it. Shy. When Jacob graz'd his uncle Laban's sheep, Ant.. And what of him? did he take interest? say, Directly interest: mark what Jacob did. 6 Ant. This was a venture, sir, that Jacob serv'd for; A thing not in his power to bring to pass, But sway'd, and fashion'd, by the hand of heaven. Was this inserted to make interest good? Or is your gold and silver, ewes and rams? 5 the eanlings-] Lambs just dropt: from ean, eniti. Shy. I cannot tell; I make it breed as fast:- Ant. An evil soul, producing holy witness, O, what a goodly outside falshood hath! Shy. Three thousand ducats,-'tis a good round sum. Three months from twelve, then let me see the rate. About my monies, and my usances:? A cur can lend three thousand ducats? or usury, 7 my usances:] Use and usance are both words anciently employ'd for both in its favourable and unfavourable sense. But Mr. Ritson says, that Use and usance, mean nothing more than interest; and the former word is still used by country people in the same sense. 8 Shylock,] Our author, as Dr. Farmer informs me, took the name of his Jew from an old pamphlet entitled: Caleb Shillocke, his Prophesie; or the Jewes Prediction. London, printed for T. P. (Thomas Pavyer.) No date. STEEVENS. Shall I bend low, and in a bondman's key, Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last; Ant. I am as like to call thee so again, Who if he break, thou may'st with better face Shy. Why, look you, how you 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 doit Of usance for my monies, and you'll not hear me: Ant. This were kindness. This kindness will I show: Go with me to a notary, seal me there If you repay me not on such a day, In such a place, such sum, or sums, as are Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken A breed for barren metal of his friend?] A breed, that is interest money bred from the principal. By the epithet barren, the author would instruct us in the argument on which the advocates against usury went, which is this; that money is a barren thing, and cannot, like corn and cattle, multiply itself. And to set off the absurdity of this kind of ustry, he put breed and barren in opposition.. WARBURTON, Ant. Content, in faith; I'll seal to such a bond, And say, there is much kindness in the Jew. Bass. You shall not seal to such a bond for me, I'll rather dwell in my necessity. Ant. 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. Shy. O father Abraham, what these Christians are; Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect A pound of man's flesh, taken from a man, I will be with you. [Exit. Ant. Hie thee, gentle Jew. This Hebrew will turn Christian; he grows kind. Bass. I like not fair terms, and a villain's mind. Ant. Come on; in this there can be no dismay, My ships come home a month before the day. [Exeunt. left in the fearful guard, &c.] Fearful guard, is a guard that is not to be trusted, but gives cause of fear. To fear was anciently to give as well as feel terrours. JOHNSON. ACT II. SCENE I. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House. Flourish of Cornets. Enter the Prince of Morocco, and his Train; PORTIA, NERISSA, and other of her Attendants. Mor. Mislike me not for my complexion, Hath fear'd the valiant;3 by my love, I swear, Have lov'd it too: I would not change this hue, To prove whose blood is reddest, his, or mine.] To understand how the tawny prince, whose savage dignity is very well supported, means to recommend himself by this challenge, it must be remembered that red blood is a traditionary sign of courage: Thus Macbeth calls one of his frighted soldiers, a lily-liver'd boy; again, in this play, cowards are said to have livers as white as milk; and an effeminate and timorous man is termed a milksop. JOHNSON. 3 Hath fear'd the valiant,] i. e. terrify'd. To fear is often used by our old writers, in this sense. |