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

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

Love news, in faith. Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum,
And the vile squeaking of the wry-neck'd fife, 35
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;

41

There will come a Christian by,
Will be worth a Jewess' eye. Exit.
Shy. What says that fool of Hagar's offs] ring,
ha?

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 Jessica
will not fail her; speak it privately.
Exit LAUNCELOT.

Go, gentlemen,
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 SALARINO and SALANIO.
Gra. Was not that letter from fair Jessica ?
Lor. I must needs tell thee all. She hath
directed

30

21

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!

Shy. Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call. Lau». Your worship was wont to tell me I could do nothing without bidding.

10

Salar.
His hour is almost past.
Gra. And it is marvel he outdwells his hour,
For lovers ever run before the clock.

Salar. 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
With that keen appetite that he sits down?
Where is the horse that doth untread again 10
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

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 go? The scarfed bark puts from her native bay, I am not bid for love; they flatter me: Hugg'd and embraced by the strumpet wind! But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon How like the prodigal doth she return, With over-weather'd ribs and ragged sails, The prodigal Christian. Jessica, my girl, Look to my house. I am right loath to go: Lean, rent, and beggar'd by the strumpet wind! There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, For I did dream of money-bags to night.

Enter LORENZO.

Laun. I beseech you, sir, go: my young master doth expect your reproach.

Salar. Here comes Lorenzo: more of this hereafter.

20

Shy. So do I his.

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

20

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

Shy. The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder;

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 AshWednesday was four year in the afternoon.

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 certainty, 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?

31

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

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

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.

39

:

Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.
Must give for what? for lead? hazard for lead?
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 not give nor hazard aught for lead.
What says the silver with her virgin hue?
As much as he deserves! Pause there, Morocco,
Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.

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 throughfares 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.
60 One of these three contains her heavenly picture.
Is 't like that lead contains her? 'Twere
damnation

41

Lor.
So are you, sweet,
Even in the lovely garnish of a boy.
But come at once;
For the close night doth play the runaway,
And we are stay'd 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 above.

Gra. Now, by my hood, a Gentile, and no Jew.
Lor. Beshrew me, but I love her heartily; 52
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.

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!

Ant. Fie, fie, Gratiano! where are all the re-t?
"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 seek for you.

This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt:
Who chooseth me must give and hazard al! he hath,
How shall I know if I do choose the right? 10
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

Gra. I am glad on 't: I desire no more delight, Than to be under sail and gone to-night.

Exeunt.

To think so base a thought: it were too gross 50
To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave.
Or shall I think in silver she's immur'd,
Being ten times undervalued to tried gold?
O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem
Was set in worse than gold. They have in
England

SCENE VII.-Belmont. A Room in PORTIA'S
House.

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:

糖

Flourish of Cornets. Enter PORTIA, with the Prince Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may! of MOROCCO, and their Trains.

Por. There, take it, prince; and if my form lie there, Then I am yours.

Por. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover fhe several caskets to this noble prince. Now make your choice.

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

me see:

I will survey the inscriptions back again :
What says this leaden casket?

Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.
The second, silver, which this promise carries:
Who chooseth me shall yet as much as he deserves.

Mor.

He unlocks the golden casket. 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 inscroll'd:
Fare you well; your suit is cold.

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.

pray thee, let us go and find him out,
70 And quicken his embraced heaviness
With some delight or other.
Do we so.
Salar.

Exit with his train. Flourish of cornets. Por. A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains: go. Let all of his complexion choose me so. Exeunt.

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'm 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 Bassanio in his ship.

10

Silan. 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! O my Christian 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!
And jewels! two stones, two rich and precious

stones,

20

Stol'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,
Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.
Salan. Let good Antonio look he keep his day,
Or he shall pay for this.
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 tell Antonio what you hear;
Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.

30

40

Salar. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth.
I saw Bassanio and Antonio part :
Bassanio told him he would make some speed
Of his return: he answer'd Do not so;
Slubber not business for my sake, Passanio,
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
To courtship and such fair ostents of love
As shall conveniently become you there :'
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.
Salan. I think he only loves the world for him.

51

Exeunt.

SCENE IX.- Belmont. A Room in PORTIA'S
House.

Enter NERISSA with a Servitor.

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 ARRA-
GON, 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
things:

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,

10

If I do fail in fortune of my choice,
Immediately to leave you and be gone.
Por. To these injunctions every one doth swear
Fortune now
That comes to hazard for my worthless self.
Ar. And so have I address'd me.
To my heart's hope! Gold, silver, and base lead.
Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath :
You shall look fairer, ere I give or hazard.
What the golden chest? ha! let me see:
says
Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.
What many men desire! that 'many' may be

meant

22

By the fool multitude, that choose by show,
Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach;
Which pries not to the interior, but, like the
martlet,

30

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 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.

40

་

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 Enter BASSANIO, PORTIA, GRATIANO, NERISSA, shall go hard but I will better the instruction.