The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare

a fairer table, which doth offer to swear upon Laun. Adieu!-tears exhibit my tongue.a book.-I shall have good fortune; Go to, here's Most beautiful pagan, most sweet Jew! If a a simple line of life! here's a small trifle of Christian do not play the knave, and get thee, wives: Alas! fifteen wives is nothing; eleven I am much deceived: But, adieu! these foolish widows, and nine maids, is a simple coming-in drops do somewhat drown my manly spirit; for one man and then, to 'scape drowning adieu ! [Exit. thrice; and to be in peril of my life with the edge of a feather-bed ;-here are simple 'scapes! Well, if fortune be a woman, she's a good wench for this gear.-Father, come; I'll take my leave of the Jew in the twinkling of an eye.

Something too liberal : +-pray thee, take pains
To allay with some cold drops of modesty
Thy skipping spirit; lest, through thy wild be-
baviour,

I be misconstrued in the place I go to,
And lose my hopes.

Gra. 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 bat, and sigh, and say, amen;
Use all the observance of civility,
Like one well studied in a sad ostent t

To please his grandam, never trust me more.
Bass. Well, we shall see your bearing. §
Gra. Nay, but I bar to-night; you shall not
gage me

By what we do to-night.

Bass. No, that were pity:

I would entreat you rather to put on
Your boldest suit of mirth, for we have friends
That purpose merriment: But fare you well,
I have some business.

Gra. And I must to Lorenzo, and the rest;
But we will visit you at supper-time. [Exeunt.
SCENE III.--The same.-A Room in SHY-
LOCK'S House.

Enter JESSICA and LAUNCELOT.
Jes. I am sorry thou wilt leave my father so;
Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil,
Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness:
But fare thee well; there is a ducat for thee.
And, Launcelot, soon at supper shalt thou see
Lorenzo, who is thy new master's guest :
Give him this letter; do it secretly,
And so farewell; I would not have my father
See me talk with thee.

The chiromatic term for the lines of the band. + Too gross

Show of staid or serious demeanour. Deportment.

Jes. Farewell, good Launcelot.-
Alack, what heinous sin it is in me,
To be asham'd to be my father's child !
But though I am a daughter to his blood,
I am not to his manners: 0 Lorenzo,
If thou keep promise, I shall end this strife;
Become a Christian, and thy loving wife.
[Exit.

SCENE IV.-The same.-A street.
Enter GRATIANO, LORENZO, SALARINO, and
SALANIO.

Lor. Nay, we will sink away in supper-time;
Disguise us at my lodging, and return
All in an hour.

Gra. We have not made good preparation.
Sular. We have not spoke us yet of torch-
bearers.

Salan. 'Tis vile, unless it may be quaintly
order'd ;

And better, in my mind, not undertook.
Lor. 'Tis now but four a-clock; we have two
hours
To furnish us :-

Enter LAUNCELOT, with a letter.
Friend Launcelot, what's the news?
Laun. An it shall please you to break up this,
it shall seem to signify.

Lor. I know the hand in faith, 'tis a fair
hand;

And whiter than the paper it writ on,
Is the fair hand that writ.

Gra, Love-news, in faith.
Laun. By your leave, Sir.
Lor. Whither goest thou?

Laun. Marry, Sir, to bid my old master the
Jew to sup to-night with my new master the
Christian.

Lor. Hold here, take this :-tell gentle Jes-
sica,

I will not fail her ;-speak it privately; go.-
Gentlemen,
[Exit LAUNCELOT.
Will you prepare you for this masque to-night?
I am provided of a torch-bearer.

Salar. Ay, marry, I'll be gone about it
straight.

Salan. And so will I.

Lor. Meet me, and Gratiano,

At Gratiano's lodging some hour hence.
Salar. 'Tis good we do so.

[Exeunt SALAR, and SALAN. Gra. Was not that letter from fair Jessica ? 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 bath 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!

Shy. Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call.

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 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 :-1 am right loath to go;
There is some ill a brewing towards iny rest,
For I did dream of money-bags to night.

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 bark puts from her native bay,
Hugg'd and embraced by the strumpet wind!
How like the prodigal doth she return;

I With over-weather'd ribs, and ragged sails,
Lean, rent, and beggar'd by the strumpet wind!
Enter LORENZO.

Laun. I beseech you, Sir, go; my young master doth expect your reproach.

Shy. So do I his.

Salar. Here comes Lorenzo ;-more of this hereafter.

Lor. Sweet friends, your patience for my long abode;

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.

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 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 after

noon.

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

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

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 case-I
ments;

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 offspring, ha?

Jes. His words were, Farewell, mistress; nothing else,

Shy. The patch is kind enough; but a huge

feeder.

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.

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

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

Jes. Here, catch this casket; it is worth the
pains.

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

light.

sooth, are too too
And I should be obscur'd.
Why, 'tis an office of discovery, love;

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 my-
self

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

Jew.

For she is wise, if I can judge of her;
Lor. Beshrew me, but I love her heartily:
And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true;
And true she is, as she bath proved 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 masking mates by this time for us stay.
[Exit with JESSICA and SALARINO.

Enter ANTONIO.

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

Ant. Fie, fie, Gratiano! where are all the

rest ?

'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 out to seck for you.

• Decorated with flags.

Gra. I am glad on't; I desire no more de- | Lies all within.-Deliver me the key; light, Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may ! Than to be under sail, and gone to-night. Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lie there, Then I am your's.

[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 discover
The several caskets to this noble prince:
Now make your choice.

Mor. The first, of gold, who this inscription bears ;

Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men desire.

The second, silver, which this promise carries;

Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he deserves.

This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt ;

Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath.

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 your's withal.
Mor. Some god direct my judgment? Let

me see,

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.

As much as he deserves? Pause there, Morocco,
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 picture.

Is't like, that lead contains her? 'Twere damnation,

To think so base a thought; it were too gross
To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave.
Or shall I think, in silver she's immur'd,
Being ten times undervalued to try'd gold?
O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem
Was set in worse than gold. They have
England

A coin, that bears the figure of an angel
Stamped in gold; but that's insculp'd upon;
But here an aug in a golden bed

[He unlocks the golden casket. 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 inscrol'd: Fare you well; your suit is cold. Cold, indeed; and labour lost; Then, farewell, beat; and welcome, frost. Portia, adien! I have too griev'd a heart To take a tedious leave; thus losers part.

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 certified the duke,
They were not with Bassamo in his ship.

Satan. 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!
Fled with a Christian ?-0 my Christian

ducats!-

Justice! the law my ducats, and my daugh

ter

A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, [ter! Of double ducats, stol'n from me by my daugh And jeuels; two stones, two rich and precious stones, [girl! Stol'n by my daughter!-Justice! find the 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,

Sular. 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 s0,
Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio,
in But stay the very riping of the time;

And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me,
Let it not enter in your mind of love!
Be merry; and employ your chiefest thoughts

• Conversed. carelessly.

To slubber, is to do a thin

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 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 First, never to unfold to any one [things:

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 you choice,
Immediately to leave you and be gone.

Por. To these injunctions every one doth

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 eye doth teach; Which pries not to the anterior, but, like the martlet,

Builds in the weather on the outward wall.
Even in the force and road of casuality.
I will not choose what inany men desire,
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 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 presume

To wear an undeserved dignity.

Oh! that estates, degrees, and offices,
Were not deriv'd corruptly

honour

and that clear

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 deserv
ings?

Who chooseth 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?
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 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 wroth.

[Exeunt ARRAGON, and Train.
Por. Thus hath the candle sing'd 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?

A young Venetian, one that comes before
Serv. Madam, there is alighted at your gate
To signify the approaching of his lord:
From whom he bringeth sensible regreets; +
To wit, besides commends, and courteous

Gifts of rich value; Yet I bave not seen
breath,
So likely an embassador 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 sce
Quick Cupid's post, that comes so mannerly.
Ner. Bassanio, lord love, if thy will it be !
[Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE 1.-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 say'st 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.

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 fledg'd; and then it is the complexion of them all to leave the dam.

Shy. She is damn'd for it.

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 hears'd 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 luek, ill luck? Tub. -bath 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

Salar. That's certain, if the devil may be escaped the wreck.
her judge.

Shy. My own flesh and blood to rebel.
Salan. Out upon it, old carrion! rebels it at

these years?

Shy. I say my daughter is my flesh and blood. Salar. There is more difference between thy flesh and her's, 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. 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 sball never see my gold again: Fourscore ducats at a sitting! fourscore ducats!

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.

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

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 Shy. Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tuto his bond: he was wont to call me usurer;-bal: it was my torquoise; I had it of Leah, let him look to his bond: he was wont to lend when I was a bachelor: would not have given money for a Christian courtesy ;-let him look it for a wilderness of monkies. to his bond.

Salar. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh; What's that good for?

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 Shy. To bait fish withal: it it will feed no- before, I will have the heart of him, if he forfeit thing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath for were he out of Venice, I can make what disgraced me, and hindered me of half a mil-merchandise I will: Go, go, Tubal, and meet lion; laughed at my losses, mocked at my me at our synagogue; go, good Tubal; at our gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bar-synagogue, Tubal. gains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies;

House.

[Exeunt.

and what's his reason? I am a Jew: Hath not SCENE II.-Belmont.-A Room in PORTIA'S 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 yon 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 better the instruction.

Enter BASSANIO, PORTIA, GRATIANO, NERISSA,
and Attendants. The caskets are set out.
Por. I pray you, tarry; pause a day or two,
Before you hazard; for, in choosing wrong,
lose your company; therefore, forbear a while :
There's something tells me, (but it is not love,)
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,
I could teach you,
Before you venture for me.
How to choose right, but then I am forsworn;
So will I never be so may you 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 your's, the other balf
your's,--

Mine own, I would say, but if mine, then
your's,

And so all your's: Oh! these naughty times
Put bars between the owners and their rights;
And so, though your's, not your's.-Prove it so,
Let fortune go to hell for it,-not 1.

I speak too long; but 'tis to peize 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. ↑ Delay.

• A precious stone

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The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, Volume 10