And in such eyes as ours appear not faults; Gra. Signior Bassanio, hear me: If I do not put on a sober habit, Talk with respect, and swear but now and then, Like one well studied in a sad ostent Gra. Nay, but I bar to-night; you shall not gage me By what we do to-night. No, that were pity; Gra. And I must to Lorenzo, and the rest; And so farewell; I would not have my father [Exit. Laun. Adieu!-tears exhibit my tongue.--Most beautiful pagan, most sweet Jew! If a Christian did not play the knave, and get thee, I am much deceived: But adieu! these foolish drops do somewhat drown my manly spirit; adieu! Jess. Farewell, good Launcelot.Alack, what heinous sin is it in me, To be asham'd to be my father's child! But though I am a daughter to his blood,] I am not to his manners: 0 Lorenzo, If thou keep promise, I shall end this strife; Become a Christian, and thy loving wife. [Exit. SCENE IV. The same. A Street. Enter GRATIANO, LORENZO, SALARINO, and SALANIO. Lor. Nay, we will slink away in supper-time; Disguise us at my lodging, and return All in an hour. Gra. We have not made good preparation. Salar. We have not spoke us yet of torch-bearers. Salan. "Tis vile, unless it may be quaintly order'd; And better, in my mind, not undertook. Lor. 'Tis now but four o'clock; we have two hours 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, I will not fail her ;--speak it privately; go.--Gentlemen, (Exit LAUNCELOT. 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. [Exeunt SALAR. and SALAN. Shy. Well, thou shalt see, thy eyes shall be thy judge, The difference of old Shylock and Bassanio :--- Laun. Why, Jessica! Shy. Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call. Laun. Your worship was wont to tell me, I could do nothing without bidding. Jes. Call you? Shy. I am bid Enter JESSICA. What is your will? The prodigal Christian."-Jessica, my girl, 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 bleed ing on Black-Monday last at six o'clock i'the morning, falling out that year on Ash Wednesday was four year in the afternoon. Shy. What are there masques? Hear you me, Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum, 7 Invited. 8 Shakspeare meant to heighten the malignity of Shy. lock's character by thus making him depart from his most settled resolve (that he will neither eat, drink, nor dur-pray with Christians,) for the prosecution of his revenge. 41. e. grave appearance; show of staid and serious behaviour Oatent is a word very commonly used for shore among old dramatic writers. 5 Carriage, deportment. 6 To break up was a term in carving. 9 i. e. Easter-Monday. It was called Black-Monday from the severity of that day, April 4, 1360, which was so extraordinary that, of Edward the Third's soldiers, then before Paris, many died of the cold. Anciently a superstitious belief was annexed to the accident of bleeding at the nose. But I will go.-Go you before me, sirrah; Say, I will come. Will be worth a Jewess' eye. [Exit LAUN. 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 Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day Do, as I bid you, SCENE VI. The same. [Exit. [Exit. 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 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 His tedious measures with the unbated tire 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!4 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 here after. They in themselves, good sooth, are too, too light. Lor. Sweet friends, your patience for my long abode; Not I, but my affairs have made you wait; Jes. Who are you! Tell me for more certainty, 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. Lor. So are you, sweet, For the close night doth play the run-away, Lor. Descend, for you must be my torch-bearer. Jes. What, must I hold a candle to my shames? 1 i. e. fool or simpleton. 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 proved 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 JESSICA and SALARING. 2 Johnson thought that lovers, who are sometimes called turtles or dores in poetry, were meant by Venus' pigeons. The allusion however, seems to be to the doves by which Venus's chariot is drawn: Venus drawn by doves is much more prompt to seal new bonds,' &c. 3 Gray evidently caught the imagery of this passage in his Bard, but dropt the allusion to the parable of the prodigal 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 abroad: 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 [Exeunt. SCENE VII. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House.-Flourish of Cornets. Enter PORTIA, with the Prince of Morocco, and both their Trains. Por. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover The several caskets to this noble prince :Now make your choice. Mor. The first, of gold, who this inscription bears; IVho 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 princez If you choose that, then I am yours withal. Mor. Some god direct my judgment! Let me see, I will survey the 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, A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross; Do it in hope of fair advantages: I'll then not 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, If thou be'st rated by thy estimation, And weigh thy value with an even hand: May not extend so far as to the lady ; Thou dost deserve enough; and yet enough 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. "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 his evening prey." 4 So in Othello: The baudy wind, that kisses all it meets.' 5 A jest arising from the ambiguity of Gentile, which signifies both a heathen and one well born. What if I stray'd no further, but chose here ?- One of these three contains her heavenly picture. Was set in worse than gold. They have in England Lies all within.-Deliver me the key; Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lie there, Then I am yours. Mor. [He unlocks the golden casket. O hell! what have we here? A carrion death, within whose empty eye All that glisters is not gold, Often have you heard that told: Gilded tombs do worms infold. Your answer had not been inscroll'd :4 Then, farewell, heat; and welcome, frost.Portia, adieu! I have too griev'd a heart To take a tedious leave: thus losers part. [Exit. Por. A gentle riddance:-Draw the curtains, g0; Let all of his complexion choose me so. SCENE VIII. Venice. A Street. LARINO and SALANIO. [Exeunt. Enter SA Marry, well remember'd: Salar. Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail; With him is Gratiano gone along; And in their ship, I am 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 certify'd the duke, They were not with Bassanio in his ship. Salan. 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, Stoln by my daughter! Justice! find the girl! She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats! 1 Euclose. 2 i. e. if compared with tried gold. So before in Act i. Sc. 1. Her name is Portia, nothing undervalued To Cato's daughter.' 3 Engraven. Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him. Salar. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth. I He wrung Bassanio's hand, and so they parted. Salar. Do we so. [Exeunt. Por. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince : life Por. To these injunctions every one doth swear, That comes to hazard for my worthless self. Ar. And so have I address'd' me: Fortune now 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 says the golden chest? ha! let me see :Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men desire. What many men desire.-That many may be meant 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, Builds in the weather on the outward wall, Even in the force11 and road of casualty. I will not choose what many men desire, Because I will not jump12 with common spirits, And rank me with the barbarous multitudes. 7 Shows, tokens. 8 The heaviness he is fond of, or indulges. 9 Prepared. 10 By and of being synonymous, were used by our 4 L. e. the answer you have got; namely, 'Fare you ancestors indifferently: Malone has adduced numerous well! instances of the use of by, in all of which, by substitu ting of, the sense is rendered clear to the modern reader 1 Power 12 To jump is to agree with. Why, then to thee, thou silver treasure-house; O, that estates, degrees, and offices, nour Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times,1 Por. Too long a pause for that which you find there. Ar. What is here? The fire seven times tried this; With one fool's head I came to woo, [Exeunt Arragon, and Train. Ner. The ancient saying is no heresy ;- Serv. Where is my lady? Por. Here; what would my lord? So likely an ambassador of love: [Exeunt. 1 The meaning is, how much meanness would be found among the great, and how much greatness among the mean. 2 Know. 3 The poet had forgotten that he who missed Portia was never to marry any other woman. 4 Wroath is used in some of the old writers for misfortune and is often spelt like ruth Caxton's Recuyell ACT III. SCENE I. Venice. A Street. Enter SALANIO and SALARINO. Salan. Now, what news on the Rialto? Salar. Why, yet it lives there uncheck'd, that Antonio hath a ship of rich lading wreck'd on the narrow seas; the Goodwins, I think they call the place; a very dangerous flat, and fatal, where the carcasses of many a tall ship lie buried, as they say, if my gossip report be an honest woman of her word. Salan. I would she were as lying a gossip in that, as ever knapp'd' ginger, or made her neighbours believe she wept for the death of a third husband: But it is true,-without any slips of prolixity, of crossing the plain highway of talk,--that the good Antonio, the honest Antonio,- -O that I had a title good enough to keep his name company:Salar. Come, the full stop. Salan. Ha,-what say'st thou ?-Why the end is, he hath lost a ship. Salar. I would it might prove the end of his losses! Salan. Let me say amen betimes, lest the devil cross my prayer; for here he comes in the likeness of a Jew. Shy. You knew, none so well, none so well as you, of my daughter's flight. Salar. That's certain; I, for my part, knew the tailor that made the wings she flew withal. Salan. And Shylock, for his own part, knew the bird was fledg'd; and then it is the complexion of them all to leave the dam. Shy. She is damn'd for it. Salar. That's certain, if the devil may be her Shy. My own flesh and blood to rebel! upon it, old carrion! rebels it at these Shy. There I have another bad match: a bankrupt, a prodigal, who dare scarce show his head on the Rialto;-a beggar, that used to come so smug upon the mart:-let him look to his bond: he was wont to call me usurer;-let him look to his bond: he was wont to lend money for a Christian courtesy: -let him look to his bond. Salar. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh; What's that good for? Shy. To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing 6 So in the Merry wives of Windsor: 7 To knap is to break short. The word occurs in the Common Prayer. 'He knappeth the spear in sunder. We still say snapp'd short in two.' 6 整 2 Christian example? why, revenge. The villany Serv. Gentlemen, my master Antonio is at his Salan. Here comes another of the tribe; a third cannot be matched, unless the devil himself turn Jew. Hate counsels not in such a quality: [Exeunt SALAN. SALAR. and Servant. Mine own, I would say these naughty times Shy. How now, Tubal, what news from Genoa? hast thou found my daughter? Tub. I often came where I did hear of her, but cannot find her. Shy. Why there, there, there, there! a diamond gone, cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort! The curse never fell upon our nation till now; I never felt it till now :-two thousand ducats in that; and other precious, precious jewels:-I would, my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear! 'would she were hears'd at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin! No news of them ?-Why, so:-and I know not what's spent in the search: Why, thou loss upon loss! the thief gone with so much, and so much to find the thief; and no satisfaction, no revenge: nor no ill luck stirring, but what lights o' my shoulders; no sighs, but o' my breathing; ; no tears, but o' my shedding. Tub. Yes, other men have ill luck too; Antonio, as I heard in Genoa, Shy. What, what, what? ill luck, ill luck? Shy. I thank God, I thank God:-Is it true? is it true? Tub. I spoke with some of the sailors that escaped the wreck. Shy. I thank thee, good Tubal ;-Good news, good news: ha! ha!-Where ! in Genoa? Tub. Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I heard, one night, fourscore ducats. Shy. Thou stick'st a dagger in me: -I shall never see my gold again: Fourscore ducats at a sitting! fourscore ducats! Tub. There came divers of Antonio's creditors in my company to Venice, that swear he cannot choose but break. Shy. I am very glad of it; I'll plague him; I'll torture him; I am glad of it. of Tub. One of them showed me a ring, that he had your daughter for a monkey. Shy. Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal: it was my turquoise; I had it of Leah, when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys. And so, though yours, not yours.—Prove it so, Bass. Let me choose: For, as I am, I live upon the rack. Confess, and love, If you do love me, you will find me out.-- Tub. But Antonio is certainly undone. Shy. Nay, that's true, that's very true: Go, Tu-I view the fight, than thou that mak'st the fray. bal, fee me an officer, bespeak him a fortnight before: I will have the heart of him, if he forfeit; for were he out of Venice, I can make what merchandize I will: Go, go, Tubal, and meet me at our synagogue; go, good Tubal; at our synagogue, Tubal. [Exeunt. Music, whilst BASSANIO comments on the caskets to SCENE II. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House. 1 The Turquoise is a well known precious stone found the veins of the mountains on the confines of Persia to the east. In old times its value was much enhanced by the magic properties attributed to it in common with ther precious stones, one of which was that it faded or brightened its hue as the health of the wearer increased of grew less. To be o'ertook'd, forelooked, or eye-bitten, was a term for being bewitched by an evil eye. himself. 1. Tell me, where is fancy" bred, Let us all ring fancy's knell; S To peize is from peser, Fr. To weigh or balance. the swan uttered a plaintive musical sound at the ap. 4 Alluding to the opinion which long prevailed, that proach of death; there is something so touching in this ancient superstition that one feels loath to be undeceived. 5 i. e. dignity of mien. 6 See Ovid. Metamorph. lib. xi. ver. 199. Malone in the Old Legend of the Destruction of Troy. says, Shakspeare had read the account of this adventure 7 Love. |