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Baff. And do you, Gratiano, mean good faith?
Gra. Yes, faith, my Lord.

Baff. Our feaft fhall be much honour'd in your marriage.

Gra. We'll play with them, the first boy for a thoufand ducats.

Ner. What, and ftake down?

Gra. No, we fhall ne'er win at that sport, and stake down.

But who comes here? Lorenzo and his infidel?
What, and my old Venetian friend, Salanio?

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Enter Lorenzo, Jeffica, and Salanio.

Baf. 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,

(Sweet Portia), welcome.

Por. So do I, my Lord; they are entirely welcome.
Lor. I thank your Honour for my part, my Lord,

My purpofe was not to have feen

you here ;

But meeting with Salanio by the way,
He did intreat me, paft all faying nay,
To come with him along.

Sal. I did, my Lord,

And I have reafon for 't; Signior Anthonio
Commends him to you.

Baf. Ere I ope his letter,

[Gives Baffanio a letter.

I pray you tell me how my good friend doth.
Sal. Not fick, my Lord, unless it be in mind;
Nor well, unless in mind; his letter there

Will fhew you his eftate.

[Baffanio opens the letter. Gra. Neriffa, cheer yond ftranger: bid her wel

come.

Your hand, Salanio; what's the news from Venice ?
How doth that royal merchant, good Anthonio?

I know he will be glad of our fuccefs:

We are the Jafons, we have won the fleece.

Sal. Would you had won the fleece that he hath loft!

Por. There are fome fhrewd contents in yond fame That steal the colour from Baffanio's cheek: [paper, Some dear friend dead; elfe nothing in the world Could turn fo much the conftitution

Of any conftant man. What, worfe and worse !
With leave, Baffanio, I am half yourself,
And I must 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 myself at nothing, you fhall fee

How much I was a braggart. When I told you,
My state was nothing, I should then have told you,
That I was worse than nothing. For indeed
I have engag'd myself to a dear friend,
Engag'd my friend to his mere 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 'fcap'd the dreadful touch
Of merchant-marring rocks?

Sal. Not one, my Lord.

Befides, it fhould appear, that if he had
The prefent money to difcharge 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 ftate,
If they deny him juftice. Twenty merchants,
The Duke himself, and the magnificoes
Of greateft 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 Tubal and to Chus his countrymen,

That he would rather have Anthonio's flesh,
Than twenty times the value of the fum
"That he did owe him; and I know, my Lord,
If law, authority, and pow'r 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 manu,
The beft-condition'd: an unweary'd fpirit
In doing courtefies; and one in whom
The ancient Roman honour more appears,
Than any that draws breath in Italy.
Por. What fum 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 Baffanio's fault..
Firft, go with me to church, and call me wife,
And then away to Venice to your friend :
For never fhall you lie by Portia's fide
With an unquiet foul. You fhall have gold
To pay the petty debt twenty times over.
When it is paid, bring your true friend along;;
My maid Neriffa and myself, mean time,
We live as maids and widows: come, away !:
For you fhall hence upon your wedding-day *.
But let me hear the letter of your friend.

Baff.reads. Sweet Baffanio, my ships have all mifcarry'd, my creditors grow cruel, my eftate is very low, my bond to the Few is forfeit and fince, in paying it, it is impoffible I fhould live, all debts are cleared between you and me, if I might but fee you at my death notwithstanding, ufe your pleasure: if your love do not perfuade you to come, let not my letter.

your wedding-day.

Bid your friends welcome, fhew a merry chcer;
Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear.
But let me hear, &c.

Por. O love! dispatch all bufinefs, and be gone.
Bal. 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;

No reft be interpofer 'twixt us twain.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV. Changes to a fireet in Venice. Enter Shylock, Solarino, Anthonio, and the Goaler.

Shy. Goaler, look to him: tell not me of mercy. This is the fool that lent out money gratis. Goaler, look to him.

Ant. Hear me yet, good Shylock.

Shy. I'll have my bond; fpeak not against my bond :: I've fworn an oath that I will have my bond. Thou call'dft me dog before thou hadft a caufe; But fince I am a dog, beware my fangs : The Duke shall 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 speak ; 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 speaking; 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 pray'rs :
He feeks. my life; his reason 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 ftrangers have

With us in Venice, if it be deny'd,

Will much impeach the juftice of the ftate;

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 fee me pay his debt, and then I care not! [Exeunt.

SCENE V. Changes to Belmont.

Enter Portia, Neriffa, Lorenzo, Jeffica, and Balthazar.

Lor. Madam, although I speak it in your prefence, You have a noble and a true conceit

Of God-like amity; which appears moft ftrongly
In bearing thus the abfence of your Lord.
But if you knew to whom you fhew this honour,
How true a gentleman you send relief to,
How dear a lover of my Lord your hufband;
I know you would be prouder of the work,
Than cuftomary bounty can inforce you.
Por. I never did repent of doing good,
And fhall not now; for in companions
That do converfe and wafte the time together,
Whofe fouls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There must needs be a like proportion
Of lineaments of manners and of fpirit;
Which makes me think, that this Anthonic,
Being the bofom-lover of my Lord,
Muft needs be like my Lord. If it be fo,

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How little is the coft I have bestow'd,
In purchafing the femblance of my foul
From out the ftate of hellifh cruelty?
This comes too near the praising of myself;
Therefore, no more of it: hear other things.
Lorenzo, I commit into your hands
The husbandry and manage of my house,
Until my Lord's return. For mine own part,
I have tow'rd heaven breath'd a fecret vow,
To live in prayer and contemplation,
Only attended by Neriffa here,

Until her husband and my Lord's return.
There is a monaftery two miles off,

A MAI

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