What if I stray'd no further, but chose here?— Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may! Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lie there, Mor. What have we here? [Unlocking the golden casket. A carrion death, within whose empty eye There is a written scroll! I'll read the writing Often have you heard that told: Cold, indeed; and labor lost: Then, farewell, heat, and welcome, frost.- To take a tedious leave: thus losers part. [Exit. Por. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince: Ar. I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three 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, Por. To these injunctions every one doth swear, Ar. And so have I address'd' me: Fortune now Even in the force2 and road of casualty. ́1 Address'd me-prepared me; that is, I have prepared myself by the same ceremonies. 2 The power. I will not choose what many men desire, Without the stamp of merit? Let none presume O, that estates, degrees, and offices Were not derived corruptly! and that clear honor And instantly unlock my fortunes here. Por. Too long a pause for that which you find there. How much unlike art thou to Portia ! How much unlike my hopes, and my deservings! Is that my prize? are my deserts no better? Ar. What is here? The fire seven times tried this; Seven times tried that judgment is, Some there be, that shadows kiss: There be fools alive, I wis,2 Still more fool I shall appear 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.3 Enter Bassanio. Bass. So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament. In law what plea so tainted and corrupt, The meaning is, how much meanness would be found among the great, and how much greatness among the mean. 2 I know. 8 My misfortune. Obscures the show of evil? In religion, So are those crisped2 snaky golden locks, Which make such wanton gambols with the wind, To be the dowry of a second head, The skull that bred them in the sepulchre. Thus ornament is but the guiled3 shore To a most dangerous sea; the beauteous scarf Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word, The seeming truth which cunning times put on Fair Portia's counterfeit ?4 Opening the leaden casket. - What find I here? Here's the scroll, The continent and summary of my fortune You that choose not by the view, If you be well pleased with this, And hold your fortune for your bliss, And claim her with a loving kiss. Por. You see me, lord Bassanio, where I stand, I would not be ambitious in my wish, To wish myself much better; yet, for you, I would be trebled twenty times myself; A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times More rich; That only to stand high on your account, 1 Justify it. 8 The treacherous shore. 2 Curled. 4 Counterfeit here means a likeness, a resemblance. I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends, But she may learn; and happier than this, And be my vantage to exclaim on you. Merchant of Venice, Acts II. and III. THE SEVEN AGES. The banished duke, with Jaques and other lords, are in the forest of Arden, sitting at their plain repast. Orlando, who had been wandering in the forest in quest of food for an old servant, Adam, who could "go no further," sud. denly comes upon the party, and with his sword drawn, exclaims, Orlando. Forbear, I say; He dies that touches any of this fruit, Till I and my affairs are answer'd. Jaques. An you will not Be answer'd with reason, I must die. Duke Sen. What would you have? Your gentleness shall force, More than your force move us to gentleness. Orla. I almost die for food, and let me have it. Duke Sen. Sit down and feed, and welcome to our table. Orla. Speak you so gently? Pardon me, I pray you; I thought that all things had been savage here; And therefore put I on the countenance Of stern commandment. But whate'er you are, That in this desert inaccessible, Under the shade of melancholy boughs, Lose and neglect the creeping hours of time; If ever you have look'd on better days; If ever been where bells have knoll'd to church; If ever sat at any good man's feast; If ever from your eyelids wiped a tear, In the which hope, I blush, and hide my sword. Duke Sen. True it is that we have seen better days; And take upon command1 what help we have Orla. Then but forbear your food a little while, And give it food. There is an old poor man, Duke Sen. Go find him out, And we will nothing waste till your return. Orla. I thank ye: and be bless'd for your good comfort! [Exit. This wide and universal theatre Presents more woful pageants than the scene Wherein we play in. Jaq. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: Even in the cannon's mouth: And then, the justice; With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,2 Full of wise saws and modern3 instances, Is second childishness, and mere oblivion: As You Like It, Act II. Scene VII. CLARENCE'S DREAM. The Duke of Clarence, having been imprisoned in the Tower, for the purpose of being murdered, by his brother Richard III., thus relates to Sir Robert Brakenbury, the lieutenant of the Tower, his dream of the preceding night: 1 At your command. ? In Shakspeare's time beards were of different cuts, according to different characters and professions. The soldier had one fashion, the judge another, &c. 3 Trite, common instances. |