LORENZO. I know the hand; in faith, 'tis a fair hand,
And whiter than the paper it writ on
Is the fair hand that writ.
GRATIANO. Love-news, in faith!
LAUNCELOT. By your leave, sir.
LORENZO. Whither goest thou?
LAUNCELOT. Marry, sir, to bid my old master, the Jew, to sup
to-night with my new master, the Christian.
LORENZO. 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.
SALERIO. Ay, marry, I'll be gone about it straight.
SOLANIO. And so will I.
LORENZO. Meet me and Gratiano
At Gratiano's
lodging some hour hence.
SALERIO. 'Tis good we do so. Exeunt SALERIO and SOLANIO
GRATIANO. Was not that letter from fair Jessica?
LORENZO. I must needs tell thee all. She hath directed
How I shall take her from her father's house;
What gold and jewels she is furnish'd with;
What page's suit she hath in readiness.
If e'er the Jew her father come to heaven,
It will be for his gentle daughter's sake;
And never dare
misfortune cross her foot,
Unless she do it under this excuse,
That she is issue to a
faithless Jew.
Come, go with me, peruse this as thou goest;
Fair Jessica shall be my torch-bearer. Exeunt
SCENE V.
Venice. Before SHYLOCK'S house
Enter SHYLOCK and LAUNCELOT
SHYLOCK. 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!
LAUNCELOT. Why, Jessica!
SHYLOCK. Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call.
LAUNCELOT. Your
worship was wont to tell me I could do nothing
without bidding.
Enter JESSICA
JESSICA. Call you? What is your will?
SHYLOCK. 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.
LAUNCELOT. I
beseech you, sir, go; my young master doth expect your
reproach.
SHYLOCK. So do I his.
LAUNCELOT. 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 Black Monday last at six o'clock
i' th' morning, falling out that year on Ash Wednesday was four
year, in th' afternoon.
SHYLOCK. What, are there masques? Hear you me, Jessica:
Lock up my doors, and when you hear the drum,
And the vile squealing 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 fopp'ry 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.
LAUNCELOT. 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. Exit
SHYLOCK. What says that fool of Hagar's offspring, ha?
JESSICA. His words were 'Farewell,
mistress'; nothing else.
SHYLOCK. 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 borrowed 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
JESSICA. Farewell; and if my fortune be not crost,
I have a father, you a daughter, lost. Exit
SCENE VI.
Venice. Before SHYLOCK'S house
Enter the maskers, GRATIANO and SALERIO
GRATIANO. This is the pent-house under which Lorenzo
Desired us to make stand.
SALERIO. His hour is almost past.
GRATIANO. And it is
marvel he out-dwells his hour,
For lovers ever run before the clock.
SALERIO. O, ten times faster Venus' pigeons fly
To seal love's bonds new made than they are wont
To keep obliged faith unforfeited!
GRATIANO. 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 fire
That he did pace them first? All things that are
Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed.
How like a younker or a
prodigalThe 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
SALERIO. Here comes Lorenzo; more of this hereafter.
LORENZO. 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
JESSICA. Who are you? Tell me, for more certainty,
Albeit I'll swear that I do know your tongue.
LORENZO. Lorenzo, and thy love.
JESSICA. Lorenzo, certain; and my love indeed;
For who love I so much? And now who knows
But you, Lorenzo, whether I am yours?
LORENZO. Heaven and thy thoughts are
witness that thou art.
JESSICA. 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.
LORENZO. Descend, for you must be my torch-bearer.
JESSICA. 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.
LORENZO. So are you, sweet,
Even in the lovely
garnish of a boy.
But come at once,
For the close night doth play the runaway,
And we are stay'd for at Bassanio's feast.
JESSICA. I will make fast the doors, and gild myself
With some moe ducats, and be with you straight.
Exit above
GRATIANO. Now, by my hood, a gentle, and no Jew.
LORENZO. 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 JESSICA and SALERIO
Enter ANTONIO
ANTONIO. Who's there?
GRATIANO. Signior Antonio?
ANTONIO. Fie, fie, 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.
GRATIANO. I am glad on't; I desire no more delight
Than to be under sail and gone to-night. Exeunt
SCENE VII.
Belmont. PORTIA's house
Flourish of cornets. Enter PORTIA, with the PRINCE OF
MOROCCO, and their trains
PORTIA. Go draw aside the curtains and discover
The several
caskets to this noble Prince.
Now make your choice.
PRINCE OF MOROCCO. 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?
PORTIA. The one of them contains my picture, Prince;
If you choose that, then I am yours withal.
PRINCE OF MOROCCO. 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 beest rated by thy estimation,
Thou dost
deserve enough, and yet enough