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 through-fares 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.

One of these three contains her heavenly picture.
Is't like, that lead contains her? 'Twere damnation,
To think so base a thought; it were too gross
To rib1 her cerecloth in the obscure grave.
Or shall I think, in silver she's immur'd,
Being ten times undervalued to try'd gold?
O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem

Was set in worse than gold. They have in England
A coin, that bears the figure of an angel
Stamped in gold: but that's insculp'd2 upon;
But here an angel in a golden bed

Lies all within.-Deliver me the key;

Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may !

Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lie there,

Then I am yours. [He unlocks the golden casket.
Mor.
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. [Exit. Por. A gentle riddance :-Draw the curtains,

go

Let all of his complexion choose me so. [Exeunt.

SCENE VIII.-Venice. A street.

larino and Salanio.

Enter Sa

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,

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 to tell Antonio what you hear;

Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.

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,
Slubber2 not business for my sake, Bassanio,
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.
I pray thee let us go, and find him out,

And quicken his embraced heaviness+
With some delight or other.

Salar.

(1) Conversed.

Do we so. [Exeunt.

(2) To slubber is to do a thing carelessly.

(3) Shows, tokens.

The heaviness he is fond of

SCENE IX.-Belmont. A room in Portia's Enter Nerissa, with a servant.

house.

Ner. Quick, quick, I pray thee, draw the cur tain straight;

The prince of Arragon has ta'en his oath,
And comes to his election presently.

Flourish of cornets. Enter the prince of Arragon, 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, I fail Of the right casket, never in my life To woo a maid in way of marriage; lastly, If I do fail in fortune of my choice, Immediately to leave you and be

gone. 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 force2 and road of casualty.
I will not choose what many men desire,
Because I will not jumps with common spirits,
And rank me with the barbarous multitudes.

(1) Prepared. (2) Power. (3) Agree with.

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.

O, that estates, degrees, and offices,

Were not deriv'd corruptly! and that clear honour
Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer!
How many then should cover, that stand bare?
How many be commanded, that command?
How much low peasantry would then be glean'd
From the true seed of honour? and how much honour
Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times,
To be new varnish'd? Well, but to my choice:
Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he deserves;
I will assume desert;-Give me a key for this,
And instantly unlock my fortunes here.

Por. Too long a pause for that which you find
there.

Ar. What's here? the portrait of a blinking idiot, Presenting me a schedule? I will read it.

How much unlike art thou to Portia ?

How much unlike my hopes, and my deservings?
Who chooseth me, shall have as much as he deserves.
Did I deserve no more than a fool's head?

Is that my prize? are my deserts no better?
Por. To offend, and judge, are distinct offices,
And of opposed natures.

Ar.

What is here?
The fire seven times tried this;
Seven times tried that judgment is,
That did never choose amiss:
Some there be, that shadows kiss;

Such have but a shadow's bliss:

There be fools alive, I wis,
Silver'd o'er; and so was this.

(1) Know.