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That she is issue to a faithless Jew.
Come, go with me; peruse this, as thou goest:
Fair Jessica shall be my torch-bearer.

SCENE V.

[Exeunt.

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. You worship was wont to tell me, I could do

nothing without bidding.

Enter JESSICA.

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Jes. Call you? What is your will?
Shy. I am bid forth to supper, Jessica ;'
There are my keys:--But wherefore should I 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 :--I am right loath to go;
There is some ill a brewing towards my rest,
For I did dream of money-bags to-night.

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

Shy. So do I his.

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 BlackMonday last, at six o'clock i' th' morning, falling out

[1] That bid was used for invitation, may be seen in St. Luke's Gospel, xiv. 24: " none of those which were bidden shall taste of my supper." HARRIS.

[2] Shylock forgets his resolution. In a former scene he declares he will neither eat, drink, nor pray with Christians. Of this circumstance the poet was aware, and meant only to heighten the malignity of the character, by making him depart from his most settled resolve, for the prosecution of his revenge. STEEVENS..

[3] "Black-Monday is Easter-Monday, and was so called on this occasion: in the 34th of Edward III. (1360) the 14th of April, and the morrow after Easter-day, King Edward, with his host, lay before the city of Paris; which day was full dark of mist and hail, and so bitter cold, that many men died on their horses' backs with the cold. Wherefore, unto this day, it hath been called the Blacke-Monday." Stowe, p. 264-6. GREY.

that year on Ash-Wednesday was four year in the after

noon.

Shy. What! art there masques? Hear you me, Jessica; Lock 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 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.

[Exit LAUN.

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. 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,

Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day

More than the wild cat; drones hive not with me;
Therefore I part with him; and part with him
To one that I would have him help to waste
His borrow'd purse. - Well, Jessica, go in;
Perhaps, I will return immediately;

Do, as I bid you,

Shut doors after you: Fast bind, fast find;
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.

[Exit.

Jes. Farewell; and if my fortune be not crost,

I have a father, you a daughter, lost.

[Exit.

SCENE VI.

The same.

Enter GRATIANO and SALARINO, masqued. Gra. This is the pent-house, under which Lorenzo

Desir'd us to make stand.

Salar. His hour is almost past.

Gra. And it is marvel he out-dwells his hour,

For lovers ever run before the clock.

Salar. O, ten times faster Venus' pigeons flyt

[4] Lovers have in poetry been called Turtles or Doves, which in lower language may be pigeons. JOHNSON

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
His tedious measures with th' 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;
With over-weather'd ribs, and ragged sails,
Lean, rent, and beggar'd by the strumpet wind!

Enter LORENZO.

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. 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?

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.

[5] Mr. Gray (dropping the particularity of allusion to the parable of the prodigal) seems to have caught from this passage the imagery of the following.

"Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows,
"While proudly riding o'er the azure realm
"In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes;

"Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm;
"Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway,
"That hush'd in grim repose, expects bis evening-prey."

The grim-repose, however, was suggested by Thomson's
"-deep fermenting tempest brew'd
"In the grim evening sky." HENLEY.
[6] i. e. the vessel decorated with flags. STEEVENS.

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.

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 myself
With some more ducats, and be with you straight.

[Exit, from above.

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

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, below.

What, art thou come?-On, gentlemen, away;

Our masquing mates by this time for us stay.

[Exit with Jes. and SALAR.

Enter ANTΟΝΙΟ.

Ant. Who's there?

Gra. Signior Antonio ?

Ant. Fye, fye, 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 seek for you.

Gra. I am glad on't; I desire no more delight,

Than to be under sail, and gone to-night.

SCENE VII.

[Exeunt.

Belmont. A Room in PORTIA'S House. Flourish of Cornets. Enter PORTIA, with the Prince of Morrocco, and both their Trains.

Por. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover

The several caskets to this noble prince :

[7] A jest arising from the ambiguity of Gentile, which signifies both Heathen, and one well born. JOHNSON.

Vol. II.

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 yours withal.

Mor. Some god direct my judgment! Let me see,
I will survey th' inscriptions back again:
What says this leaden casket?

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 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.
Th' Hyrcanian deserts, and the vasty wilds
Of wide Arabia, are as through-fares now,
For princes to come view fair Portia:
The watry kingdom, whose ambitious head
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar
To stop the foreign spirits; but they come,

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