Your hand, Salerio; what's the news from Venice?
How doth that royal merchant, good Anthonio?
I know, he will be glad of our fuccefs;
We are the Jasons, we have won the fleece.
Sale. Would you had won the fleece that he hath loft!
Por. There are fome fhrewd contents in yon' fame paper,
That fteals the colour from Baffanio's cheek: Some dear friend dead: elfe nothing in the world Could turn fo much the constitution
constant man. What, worse and worse ?— With leave, Baffanio; I am half yourself, And I must freely have the half of any thing That this fame paper brings you.
Bal. O fweet Portia,
Here are a few of the unpleasant'st words,
That ever blotted paper! Gentle lady,
When I did first impart my love to you,
I freely told
you, all the wealth I had
Ran in my veins, I was a gentleman;
And then I told you true: and yet, dear lady,
Rating myself at nothing, you shall fee
How much I was a bragger: When I told you
My ftate was nothing, I should then have told you
That I was worfe than nothing; for, indeed,
I have engag'd myself to a dear friend,
Engag'd my friend to his mere enemy,
To feed my means. Here is a letter, lady;
The paper as the body of my friend,
And every word in it a gaping wound,
Iffuing life-blood.—But is it true, Salerio ?
Have all his ventures fail'd? What, not one a
From Tripolis, from Mexico, and England,
From Lisbon, Barbary, and India ?
And not one veffel 'scape the dreadful touch
Of merchant-marring rocks?
Sale. Not one, my lord.
Befides, it should appear, that if he had
The prefent money to discharge the Jew,
He would not take it: Never did I know
A creature, that did bear the shape of man,
So keen and greedy to confound a man:
He plies the duke at morning, and at night;
And doth impeach the freedom of the state,
If they deny him juftice: twenty merchants,
The duke himself, and the magnificoes
Of greatest port, have all perfuaded with him;
But none can drive him from the envious plea
Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond.
Jef. When I was with him, I have heard him To Tubal, and to Chus, his countrymen, [fwear, That he would rather have Anthonio's flesh, Than twenty times the value of the fum That he did owe him: and I know, my lord, If law, authority, and power deny not, It will go hard with poor Anthonio.
Por. Is it your dearest friend that is thus in trouble?
Baff. The dearest friend to me, the kindest man
The best condition'd and unweary'd spirit
In doing courtefies; and one in whom
The ancient Roman honour more appears,
Than any that draws breath in Italy.
Por. What fum owes he the Jew?
Ba. For me, three thousand ducats.
Por. What, no more?
Pay him fix thousand and deface the bond;
Double fix thoufsand, and then treble that,
Before a friend of this defcription
Shall lose a hair thorough Baffanio's fault.
First, go with me to church, and call we wife
And then away to Venice to your friend;
For never fhall you lie by Portia's fide
With an unquiet foul. You thall have gold
To pay the petty debt twenty times over :
When it is paid bring your true friend along :
My maid Neriffa, and myself, mean time,
Will live as maids and widows. Come, away;
For you fhall hence upon your wedding-day :
Bid your
friends welcome, fhew a merry cheer;
Since you are dear bought. I will love you dear.
But let me hear the letter of your friend.
Baff. [reads.] Sweet Bassanio, my hips have all mifcarry'd, my creditors grow cruel, my eftate is very low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit; and fince in paying it, it is impoffible I should live, all debts are cleared between you and me, if I might but fee you at my death: notwithstanding, ufe your pleasure: if your love do not perfuade you to come, let not my letter.
Por. O love, difpatch all business, and be gone, Baff. Since I have your good leave to go away, I will make hafte: but till I come again, No bed fhall e'er be guilty of my stay,
No reft be interpofer 'twixt us twain. [Exeunt,
SCENE III. A Street in Venice.
Enter SHYLOCK, SALANIO, ANTHONIO, and the
Goaler.
Shy. Goaler, look to him;- -Tell not me of
This is the fool that lent out money gratis :
Gaoler, look to him.
Anth. Hear me yet, good Shylock.
Shy. I'll have my bond; fpeak not against my bond;
I have fworn an oath that I will have my bond:
Thou call'dft me dog, before thou had'ft a caufe;
But, fince I am a dog, beware my fangs :
The duke fhall grant me juftice.-I do wonder,
Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond
To come abroad with him at his request.
Anth. I pray thee, hear me speak.
Shy. I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee fpeak:
I'll have my bond; and therefore fpeak no more.
I'll not be made a foft and dull-eyed fool,
To fhake the head, relent, and figh, and yield
To Chriftian interceffors. Follow not;
I'll have no speaking; I will have my bond.
[Exit SHYLOCK. Sal. It is the most impenetrable cur
That ever kept with men.
Anth. Let him alone :
I'll follow him no more with bootlefs prayers.
his reafon well I know;
I oft deliver'd from his forfeitures
Many that have at times made moan to me,
Therefore he hates me.
Sal. I am fure, the duke
Will never grant this forfeiture to hold.
Anth. The duke cannot deny the courfe of law,
For the commodity that strangers have
With us in Venice; if it be deny'd,
Will much impeach the juftice of the state?
Since that the trade and profit of the city
Confisteth of all nations. Therefore, go:
These griefs and loffes have fo 'bated me,
That I fhall hardly spare a pound of flesh
To-morrow to my bloody creditor.-
Well, gaoler, on: Pray God, Baffanio come
To fee me pay his debt, and then I care not!
[Exeunt.
Enter PORTIA, NERISSA, LORENZO, JESSICA, and BALTHAZAR.
Lor. Madam, although I speak it in your presence
You have a noble and a true conceit
Of god-like amity; which appears most strongly In bearing this the absence of your lord.
But, if you knew to whom you fhew this honour
How true a gentleman you send relief,
How dear a lover of my lord, your husband,
I know, you would be prouder of the work,
Than customary bounty can enforce you.
Por. I never did repent for doing good,
Nor shall not now: for in companions
That do converfe and waste the time together,
Whofe fouls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There must needs be a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit;
Which makes me think, that this Anthonio,
Being the bofom lover of my lord,
Muft needs be like my lord: If it be fo,
How little is the coft I have beftow'd,
In purchafing the femblance of my foul
From out the ftate of hellish cruelty?
This comes too near the praising of myself;
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