The Bargain of your Faith, I do beseech you
Even at that time I may be married too.
Baff. With all my Heart, fo thou canft get a Wife.
Gra. I thank your Lordship, you have got me one.
My Eyes, my Lord, can look as fwift as yours:
You faw the Miftrefs, I beheld the Maid ;
You lov'd; I lov'd for Intermiffion.
No more pertains to me, my Lord, than you:
Your Fortuue ftood upon the Caskets there,
And fo did mine too, as the Matter falls:
For wooing Herd, until I fweat again,
And fwearing 'till my very Roof was dry,
With Oaths of Love, at laft, if Promife laft,
I got a Promise of this fair one here,
To have her Love, provided that your Fortune
Atchiev'd her Miftrefs.
Por. Is this true, Neriffa?
Ner. Madam, it is fo, fo you ftand pleas'd withal.
Baff. And do you, Gratiano, mean good Faith?
Gra. Yes Faith my Lord.
Baff. Our Feaft fhall be much honoured in your Marriage.
Gra. We'll play with them, the first Boy for a thousand Ducats.
Ner. What, and stake down?
Gra. No, we shall ne'er win at that Sport, and stake down.
But who comes here? Lorenzo and his Infidel?
What, and my old Venetian Friend, Salanio?
Enter Lorenzo, Jeffica, and Salanio.
Baff. Lorenzo and Salanio, welcome hither.
If that the Youth of my new Interest here
. Have Power to bid you welcome. By your Leave
I bid my very Friends and Country-men,
Por. So do I, my Lord; they are intirely welcome.
Lor. I thank your Honour: For my part, my Lord,
My Purpose was not to have feen you here,
But meeting with Salanio by the way,
He did intreat me paft all faying nay,
To came with him along.
And I have reafon for it; Signior Anthonio
Commends him to you.
Baff. E'er I ope this Letter,
I pray you tell me how my good Friend doth.
Sal. Not fick, my Lord, unless it be in Mind:
Nor well, unlefs in Mind: His Letter there
Will fhew you his Eftate.
Baffanio opens the Letter.
Gra. Neriffa, cheer yond Stanger, bid her welcome. Your Hand, Salanio; what's the News from Venice? How doth that Royal Merchant, good Anthonio? I know he will be glad of our Success: We are the Jafons, we have won the Fleece.
Sal. I would you had won the Fleece that he hath loft. Por. There are fome fhrewd Contents in yond fame Paper, That fteals the Colour from Bassanio's Check:
Some dear Friend dead, elfe nothing in the World
Could turn fo much the Conftitution
Of any conftant Man. What, worse and worse!
With Leave, Baffanio, I am half your felf,
And muft freely have the half of any thing
That this fame Paper brings you.
Baff. O fweet Portia!
Here are a few of the unpleasant'ft Words
That ever blotted Paper. Gentle Lady,
When I did firft 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 my felf at nothing, you fhall fee
How much I was a Braggart, when I told you
My State was nothing, I fhould then have told you,
That I was worfe than nothing. For indeed
I have engag'd my felf to a dear Friend;
Engag'd my Friend to his meer 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, Salanio?
Have all his Ventures fail'd! What, not one hit!
From Tripolis, from Mexico, from England,
From Lisbon, Barbary, and India,
And not one Veffel 'fcape the dreadful Touch
Of Merchant-marring Rocks?
Sal. Not one, my Lord:
Befides, it fhould appear, that if he had
The prefent Mony 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 Juftice, and his Bond.
Jef. When I was with him, I have heard him fwear,
To Tuball and to Chus, his Country-men,
That he would rather have Anthonio's Flefh,
Than twenty times the Value of the Sum
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 dear Friend that is thus in Trouble?
Baff. The dearest Friend to me, the kindeft Man,
The beft 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 Sum owes he the Jew?
Baff. For me three thousand Ducats.
Por. What, no more?
Pay him fix thoufand, and deface the Bond;
Double fix thousand, and then treble that,
Before a Friend of this Defcription
Shall lofe a Hair through my Bassanio's Fault.
Firft go with me to Church, and call me Wife,
And then away to Venice to your Friend:
For never fhall you lye by Portia's Side
With an unquiet Soul. You fhall have Gold
petty Debt twenty times over.
When it is paid, bring your true Friend along ;
My Maid Neriffa, and my felf mean time,
Will live as Maids and Widows: Come away,
For you shall hence upon my Wedding-day.
Bid your Friends welcome, fhow a merry Cheer;
Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear.
But let me hear the Letter of your Friend.
Ball. reads. Sweet Ballanio, my Ships have all miscarry'd, my Creditors grow cruel, my Estate 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 I, if I might fee you at my Death; notwithstanding use your Pleasure: If your Love do not perfuade you to come, let not my Letter.
Por. O Love! difpatch all Bufinefs, 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,
Nor Reft be Interpofer 'twixt us two.
Enter Shylock, Solarino, Anthonio, and the Goaler.
Shy. Goaler, look to him: Tell me not of Mercy.
This is the Fool that lends out Mony Gratis.
Goaler, look to him,
Ant. Hear me yet, good Shylock.
Shy. I'll have my Bond; fpeak not againft my Bond:
I have fworn an Oath that I will have my Bond.
Thou call'ft me Dog before thou hadft a Cause;
But fince I am a Dog, beware my Fangs:
The Duke fhall grant me Juftice. I do wonder,
Thou naughty Goaler, that thou art fo fond
To come Abroad with him at his Request.
Ant. I pray thee hear me fpeak.
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-ey'd Fool,
To shake the Head, relent, and figh and yield
To Chriftian Interceffors. Follow not;
I'll have no fpeaking; I will have my Bond. [Exit Shylock. Sola. It is the most impenetrable Cur
That ever kept with Men.
Ant. Let him alone,
I'll follow him no more with bootlefs Prayers:
He feeks my Life; 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.
Sola. I am fure the Duke will never grant this Forfeiture to hold.
Ant. 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
Confifteth of all Nations. Therefore go,
Thefe Griefs and Loffes have fo bated me.
That I fhall hardly fpare a Pound of Flesh
To Morrow to my bloody Creditor.
Well, Goaler, on; pray God Baffanio come
To see me pay his Debt, and then I care not.
SCENE IV.
Enter Portia, Neriffa, Lorenzo, Jeffica, and a Servant of
Lor. Madam, although I speak it in your Prefence,
You have a noble and a true Conceit
Of God-like Amity, which appears most strongly
In bearing thus the Abfence of your Lord:
But if you knew to whom you fhew this Honour,
How true a Gentleman you fend Relief to,
How dear a Lover of my Lord, your Husband,
I know you would be prouder of the Work,
Than cuftomary Bounty can enforce you.
Por. I never did repent for doing good,
Nor fhall not now; for in Companions
That do converfe and wafte the Time together,
Whofe Souls do bear an equal Yoke of Love,
There must be needs a like Proportion
Of Lineaments, of Manners, and of Spirit;
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