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Let music sound, while he doth make his choice;
Then, if he lose, he makes a swan-like end,
Fading in music: that the comparison
May stand more proper, my eye shall be the stream,
And wat'ry death-bed for him: He may win;
And what is music then? then music is
Even as the flourish when true subjects bow
To a new-crowned monarch: such it is,
As are those dulcet sounds in break of day,
That creep into the dreaming bridegroom's ear,
And summon him to marriage. Now he goes,
With no less presence, but with much more love,
Than young Alcides, when he did redeem
The virgin tribute paid by howling Troy
Ta the sea-monster: I stand for sacrifice,
The rest aloof are the Dardanian wives,
With bleared visages, come forth to view,
The issue of the exploit. Go, Hercules!
Live thou, I live:-With much much more dismay
I view the fight, than thou that mak'st the fray.
Music, whilst Bassanio comments on the caskets to
himself.

SONG.

1. Tell me, where is fancy bred, Or in the heart, or in the head? How begot, how nourished? Reply. 2. It is engender'd in the eyes, With gazing fed; and fancy dies In the cradle where it lies:

Let us all ring fancy's knell; Pll begin it,--Ding, dong, bell. All. Ding, dong, bell.

As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embrac'd despair,
And shudd'ring fear and green-ey'd jealousy.
O love, be moderate, allay thy ecstasy,
In measure rain thy joy, scant this excess:
I feel too much thy blessing, make it less,
For fear I surfeit !
Bass.
What find I here?

[Opening the leaden casket.
Fair Portia's counterfeit ? What demi-god
Hath come so near creation? Move these eyes?
Or whether, riding on the balls of mine,
Seem they in motion? Here are sever'd lips,
Parted with sugar breath; so sweet a bar
Should sunder such sweet friends: Here in her
hairs

The painter plays the spider; and hath woven
A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men,
Faster than gnats in cobwebs: But her eyes,-
How could he see to do them? having made one,
Methinks, it should have power to steal both his,
And leave itself unfurnish'd: Yet look, how far
The substance of my praise doth wrong this shadow
In underprizing it, so far this shadow
Doth limp behind the substance.-Here's the scroll,
The continent and summary of my fortune.

You that choose not by the view,
Chance as fair, and choose as true!
Since this fortune falls to you,
Be content and seek no new.

If you be well pleas'd with this,
And hold your fortune for your bliss,
Turn you where your lady is,
And claim her with a loving kiss.

Bass. So may the outward shows be least them-A gentle scroll;-Fair lady, by your leave;

selves;

The world is still deceiv'd with ornament.
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being season'd with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil? In religion,
What damned error, but some sober brow
Will bless it, and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?
There is no vice so simple, but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.
How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false
As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins
The beards of Hercules, and frowning Mars;
Who, inward search'd, have livers white as milk?
And these assume but valour's excrement,
To render them redoubted. Look on beauty,
And you shall see 'tis purchas'd by the weight
Which therein works a miracle in nature,
Making them lightest that wear most of it:
So are those crisped snaky golden locks,
Which make such wanton gambols with the wind,
Upon supposed fairness, often known
To be the dowry of a second head,
The scull that bred them in the sepulchre.
Thus ornament is but the guiled' shore
To a most dangerous sea; the beauteous scarf
Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word,

The seeming truth which cunning times put on
To entrap the wisest. Therefore, thou gaudy gold,
Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee:
Nor none of thee, thou pale and common drudge
"Tween man and man: but thou, thou meagre lead,
Which rather threat'nest, than doth promise aught,
Thy plainness moves me more than eloquence!
And here choose I: Joy be the consequence!
Por. How all the other passions fleet to air,

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[Kissing her.

I come by note, to give, and to receive.
Like one of two contending in a prize,
That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes,
Hearing applause, and universal shout,
Giddy in spirit, still gazing, in a doubt
Whether those peals of praise be his or no ;
So, thrice-fair lady, stand I, even so;
As doubtful whether what I see be true,
Until confirm'd, sign'd, ratified by you.

Por. You see me, lord Bassanio, where I stand,
Such as I am: though, for myself alone,
I would not be ambitious in my wish,
To wish myself much better; yet, for you,
I would be trebled twenty times myself;

A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times
More rich;

That only to stand high on your account,
I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends,
Exceed account: but the full sum of me
Is sum of something; which, to term in gross,.
Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractis'd:
Happy in this, she is not yet so old

But she may learn; and happier than this,
She is not bred so dull but she can learn ;
Happiest of all, is, that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to yours to be directed,
As from her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself, and what is mine, to you, and yours
Is now converted; but now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen o'er myself; and even now, but now,
This house, these servants, and this same myself,
Are yours, my lord; I give them with this ring;
Which when you part from, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love,
And be my vantage to exclaim on you.

(5) Treacherous.

(6) Likeness, portrait.

MERCHANT OF VENICE.

Bass. Madam, you have bereft me of all words,
Only my blood speaks to you in my veins :
And there is such confusion in my powers,
As, after some oration fairly spoke
By a beloved prince, there doth appear
Among the buzzing pleased multitude;
Where every something, being blent' together,
Turns to a wild of nothing, save of joy,
Express'd, and not express'd: But when this ring
Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence;
O, then be bold to say, Bassanio's dead.

Ner. My lord and lady, it is now our time,
That have stood by, and seen our wishes prosper,
To cry, good joy; Good joy, my lord, and lady!
Gra. My lord Bassanio, and my gentle lady!
I wish you all the joy that you can wish;
For, I am sure, you can wish none from me:
And, when your honours mean to solemnize
The bargain of your faith, I do beseech you
Even at that time I may be married too.

Bass. With all my heart, so thou canst get a wife.
Gra. I thank your lordship; you have got me one.
My eyes, my lord, can look as swift as yours:
You saw the mistress, I beheld the maid;
You lov'd, I lov'd; for intermission2

No more pertains to me, my lord, than you.
Your fortune stood upon the caskets there;
And so did mine to, as the matter falls:
For wooing here, until I vea, again;
And swearing, till my very oot was dry
With oaths of love; at last,-if promise last,-
I got a promise of this fair one here,

To have her love, provided that your fortune
Achiev'd her mistress.

Por.

Is this true, Nerissa
Ner. Madam, it is, so you stand pleas'de hal.
Bass. And do you, Gratiano, mean good faith?
Gra. Yes, 'faith, my lord.

Bass. Our feast shall be much honour'd in your
marriage.

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

Ner. What, and stake down?

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

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

Enter Lorenzo, Jessica, and Salerio.
Bass. Lorenzo, and Salerio, 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 countrymen,
Sweet Portia, welcome.

Por.

So do I, my lord;

They are entirely welcome.
Lor. I thank your honour:-For my part,
lord,

My purpose was not to have seen you here;
But meeting with Salerio by the way,
He did entreat me, past all saying nay,
To come with him along.

Sale.

And I have reason for it.
Commends him to you.
Bass.

my

Signior Antonio
I did, my lord,
[Gives Bassanio a letter.
I pray you, tell me how my good friend doth.
Ere I ope his letter,
Sale. Not sick, my lord, unless it be in mind;
Nor well, unless in mind: his letter there
Will show you his estate.

Gra. Nerissa, cheer yon' stranger; bid her

come.

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Act III.

Your hand, Salerio; What's the news from Venice?
How doth that royal merchant, good Antonio?
I know, he will be glad of our success;
We are the Jasons, we have won the fleece.
Sale. 'Would you had won the fleece that he
hath lost!

Por. There are some shrewd contents in yon'
That steal the colour from Bassanio's cheek:
same paper,
Some dear friend dead; else nothing in the world
Could turn so much the constitution

With leave, Bassanio; I am half yourself,
Of any constant man. What, worse and worse?-
And I must freely have the half of any thing
That this same paper brings you.

I

Bass.
Here are a few of the unpleasant'st words,
O sweet Portia,
That ever blotted paper! Gentle lady,
When I did first impart my love to you,
Ran in my veins, I was a gentleman;
freely told you, all the wealth I had
And then I told you true: and yet, dear lady,
Rating myself at nothing, you shall see
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,
Issuing life-blood.-But is it true, Salerio?
Have all his ventures fail'd? What, not one hit?
From Tripolis, from Mexico, and England,
And not one vessel 'scape the dreadful touch
From Lisbon, Barbary, and India?
Of merchant-marring rocks?

Besides, it should appear, that if he had
Sale.
Not one, my lord.
He would not take it: Never did I know
The present money to discharge the Jew,
A creature, that did bear the shape of man,
He plies the duke at morning, and at night:
So keen and greedy to confound a man:
And doth impeach the freedom of the state,
If they deny him justice: twenty merchants,
The duke himself, and the magnificoes3
Of greatest port, have all persuaded with him
But none can drive him from the envious plea
Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond.
Jes. When I was with him, I have heard him
swear,

To Tubal, and to Chus, his countrymen,
That he would rather have Antonio's flesh,
Than twenty times the value of the sum
If law, authority, and power deny not,
That he did owe him: and I know, my lord,
It will go hard with poor Antonio.

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Por. Is it your dear friend, that is thus in trouble
Bass. The dearest friend to me, the kindest man,
The best condition'd and unwearied spirit
In doing courtesies; and one in whom
The ancient Roman honour more appears,
Than any that draws breath in Italy.

Por. What sum owes he the Jew?
Bass. For me, three thousand ducats.
Por.
Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond;
What, no more?
Double six thousand, and then treble that,
wel-Shall lose a hair through Bassario's fault.
Before a friend of this description
First, go with me to church, and call me wife:

(3) The chief men.

SCENE IV.-Belmont. A room in Portia's house. Enter Portia, Nerissa, Lorenzo, Jessica, and Balthazar.

Lor. Madam, although I speak it in your pre

And then away to Venice to your friend;
For never shall you lie by Portia's side
With an unquiet soul. You shall have gold
To pay the petty debt twenty times over;
When it is paid, bring your true friend along :
My maid Nerissa, and myself, mean time,
Will live as maids and widows. Come, away;
For you shall hence upon your wedding-day: Of god-like amity; which appears most strongly
Bid your friends welcome, show a merry cheer:' In bearing thus the absence of your lord.
Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear.-But, if you knew to whom you show this honour,
But let me hear the letter of your friend.
How true a gentleman you send relief,

sence,

You have a noble and a true conceit

Bass. [Reads.] Sweet Bassanio, my ships have How dear a lover of my lord your husband, all miscarried, my creditors grow cruel, my estate I know, you would be prouder of the work, is very low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit; and Than customary bounty can enforce you. since, in paying it, it is impossible I should live, Por. I never did repent for doing good, all debts are cleared between you and I, if I might Nor shall not now: for in companions but see you at my death: notwithstanding, use That do converse and waste the time together, your pleasure: if your love do not persuade you to Whose souls do bear an equal ycke of love, come, let not my letter. There must be needs a like proportion Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit; Which makes me think, that this Antonio, Being the bosom lover of my lord, Must needs be like my lord: If it be so, How little is the cost I have bestow'd, In purchasing the semblance or my soul From out the state of hellish cruelty? This comes too near the praising of myself; Therefore no more of it: hear other things.of Lorenzo, I commit into your hands

Por. O love, despatch all business, and be gone.
Bass. Since I have your good leave to go away,
I will make haste: But, till I come again,
No bed shall e'er be guilty of my stay,

No rest be interposer 'twixt us twain.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.-Venice. A street. Enter Shylock,
Salanio, Antonio, and Gaoler.

Shy. Gaoler, look to him;-Tell not me

mercy;-
This is the fool that lent out money gratis ;-
Gaoler, look to him.

Ant.
Hear me yet, good Shylock.
Shy. I'll have my bond; speak not against my
bond;

I have sworn an oath, that I will have my bond:
Thou call'dst me dog, before thou had'st a cause:
But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs :
The duke shall grant me justice.-I do wonder,
Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond
To come abroad with him at his request.
Ant. I pray thee, hear me speak.

Shy. I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee
speak:

I'll have my bond; and therefore speak no more.
I'll not be made a soft and dull-ey'd fool,
To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield
To Christian intercessors. Follow not;
I'll have no speaking; I will have my bond.

[Exit Shylock.
Salan. It is the most impenetrable cur,
That ever kept with men.

Ant.

Let him alone,

I'll follow him no more with bootless prayers.
He seeks 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.

Salan.
I am sure, the duke
Will never grant this forfeiture to hold.
Ant. The duke cannot deny the course of law.
For the commodity that strangers have
With us in Venice, if it be denied,
Will much impeach the justice of the state;
Since that the trade and profit of the city
Consisteth of all nations. Therefore, go:
These griefs and losses have so 'bated me,
That I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh
To-morrow to my bloody creditor.-
Well, gaoler, on:-Pray God, Bassanio come
To see me pay this debt, and then I care not!
(2) Foolish.

(1) Face.

[Exeunt.

The husbandry and manage of my house,
Until my lord's return: for mine own part,
I have toward heaven breath'd a secret vow
To live in prayer and contemplation,
Only attended by Nerissa here,
Until her husband and my lord's return:
There is a monastery two miles off,
And there we will abide. I do desire you,
Not to deny this imposition;

The which my love, and some necessity,
Now lays upon you.

I

Lor.

Madam, with all my heart;
shall obey you in all fair commands.
Por. My people do already know my mind,
And will acknowledge you and Jessica
In place of lord Bassanio and myself.

So fare you well, till we shall meet again.

Lor. Fair thoughts, and happy hours, attend on you.

Jes. I wish your ladyship all heart's content. Por. I thank you for your wish, and am well pleas'd

To wish it back on you: fare you well, Jessica.[Exeunt Jessica and Lorenzo.

Now, Balthazar,

As I have ever found thee honest, true,
So let me find thee still: Take this same letter,
And use thou all the endeavour of a man,
In speed to Padua; see thou render this
Into my cousin's hand, doctor Bellario;
And, look, what notes and garments he doth give
thee,

Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd speed
Unto the tranect, to the common ferry
Which trades to Venice-waste no time in words,
But get thee gone; I shall be there before thee.
Balth. Madam, I go with all convenient speed.

[Exit.

Por. Come on, Nerissa; I have work in hand,
That you yet know not of: we'll see our husbands,
Before they think of us.

Ner.
Shall they see us?
Por. They shall, Nerissa; but in such a habit,
That they shall think we are accomplished
With what we lack. I'll hold thee any wager,

When we are both accoutred like young men,
I'll prove the prettier fellow of the two,
And wear my dagger with the braver grace;
And speak, between the change of man and boy,
With a reed voice; and turn two mincing steps
Into a manly stride; and speak of frays,
Like a fine bragging youth: and tell quaint lies,
How honourable ladies sought my love,
Which I denying, they fell sick and died;
I could not do withal;-then I'll repent
And wish, for all that, that I had not kill'd them:
And twenty of these puny lies I'll tell,
That men shall swear I have discontinued school
Above a twelvemonth:-I have within my mind
A thousand raw tricks of these bragging Jacks,
Which I will practise.

Ner.
-Why, shall we turn to men?
Por. Fie! what a question's that,
If thou wert near a lewd interpreter?
But come, I'll tell thee all my whole device
When I am in my coach, which stays for us
At the park gate; and therefore haste away,
For we must measure twenty miles to-day.
SCENE V.-The same. A Garden.

Launcelot and Jessica.

silence; and discourse grow commendable in none only but parrots.-Go in sirrah; bid them prepare for dinner.

Laun. That is done, sir; they have all stomachs. Lor. Goodly lord, what a wit-snapper are you! then bid them prepare dinner.

Laun. That is done too, sir; only, cover is the word.

Lor. Will you cover then, sir?

Laun. Not so, sir, neither; I know my duty.

Lor. Yet more quarrelling with occasion! Wile thou show the whole wealth of thy wit in an instant? I pray thee, understand a plain man in his plain meaning: go to thy fellows; bid them cover the table, serve in the meat, and we will come in to dinner.

Laun. For the table, sir, it shall be served in; for the meat, sir, it shall be covered; for your coming in to dinner, sir, why, let it be as humours and conceits shall govern. [Exit Launcelot. Lor. O dear discretion, how his words are suited!

[Exe. The fool hath planted in his memory An army of good words; And I do know Enter A many fools, that stand in better place, Garnish'd like him, that for a tricksy word Defy the matter. How cheer'st thou Jessica? Laun. Yes, truly-for, look you, the sins of the father are to be laid upon the children: there- And now, good sweet, say thy opinion, fore, I promise you, I fear you. I was always plain How dost thou like the lord Bassanio's wife? with you, and so now I speak my agitation of the The lord Bassanio live an upright life; Jes. Past all expressing: It is very meet, matter: Therefore, be of good cheer; for, truly, For, having such a blessing in his lady, I think, you are damn'd. There is but one hope in He finds the joys of heaven here on earth; it that can do you any good; and that is but a kind And, if on earth he do not mean it, it

of bastard hope neither.

Is reason he should never come to heaven. Jes. And what hope is that, I pray thee? Laun. Marry, you may partly hope that your And on the wager lay two earthly women, Why, if two gods should play some heavenly match, father got you not, that you are not the Jew's And Portia one, there must be something else daughter. Hath not her fellow. Pawn'd with the other; for the poor rude world

Jes. That were a kind of bastard hope, indeed; so the sins of my mother should be visited upon me. Laun. Truly then I fear you are damn'd both by father and mother: thus when I shun Scylla, your father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother: well, you are gone both ways.

Jes. I shall be saved by my husband; he hath made me a Christian.

Laun. Truly, the more to blame he: we were Christians enough before; e'en as many as could well live, one by another: This making of Christians will raise the price of hogs; if we grow all to be pork-eaters, we shall not shortly have a rasher on the coals for money.

Enfer Lorenzo.

Jes. I'll tell my husband, Launcelot, what you say; here he comes.

Lor. I shall grow jealous of you shortly, Launcelot, if you thus get my wife into corners.

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SCENE I.-Venice. A court of Justice. Enter
the Duke, the Magnificoes; Antonio, Bassanio,
Gratiano, Salarino, Salanio, and others.

Duke. What, is Antonio here?
Ant. Ready, so please your grace.
Duke. I am sorry for thee; thou art come to an-

Ant.

swer

Jes. Nay, you need not fear us, Lorenzo; Launcelot and I are out: he tells me flatly, there is no mercy for me in heaven, because I am a Jew's daughter: and he says, you are no good member of the commonwealth; for, in converting Jews to A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch Christians, you raise the price of pork. Uncapable of pity, void and empty Lor. I shall answer that better to the common- From any dram of mercy. wealth, than you can the getting up of the negro's I have heard, belly: the Moor is with child by you, Launcelot. Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify Laun. It is much, that the Moor should be more His rigorous course; but since he stands obdurafe, than reason but if she be less than an honest And that no lawful mean can carry me woman, she is, indeed, more than I took her for. Out of his envy's' reach, I do oppose Lor. How every fool can play upon the word! My patience to his fury; and am arm'd I think, the best grace of wit will shortly turn into To suffer, with a quietness of spirit, The very tyranny and rage of his. (1) Hatred, malice.

Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court.

Salan. He's ready at the door: he comes, my lord. You may as well do any thing most hard,

Enter Shylock.

Duke. Make room, and let him stand before our face.

Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too,
That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice
To the last hour of act; and then, 'tis thought
Thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse,' more strange
Than is thy strange apparent2 cruelty:
And where thou now exact'st the penalty
(Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh,)
Thou wilt not only lose the forfeiture,
But touch'd with human gentleness and love,
Forgive a moiety of the principal;
Glancing an eye of pity on his losses,
That have of late so huddled on his back;
Enough to press a royal merchant down,
And pluck commiseration of his state

From brassy bosoms, and rough hearts of flint,
From stubborn Turks, and Tartars, never train'd
To offices of tender courtesy.

We all expect a gentle answer, Jew.

As seek to soften that (than which what's harder?)
His Jewish heart:-Therefore, I do beseech you,
Make no more offers, use no further means,
But, with all brief and plain conveniency,
Let me have judgment, and the Jew his will.
Bass. For thy three thousand ducats here is six.
Shy. If every ducat in six thousand ducats
I would not draw them, I would have my bond.
Were in six parts, and every part a ducat,
Duke. How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend'ring

none?

Shy. What judgment shall I dread, doing no
wrong?

You have among you many a purchas'd slave,
Which, like your asses, and your dogs, and mules,
You use in abject and in slavish parts,

Because you bought them:-Shall I say to you,
Let them be free, marry them to your heirs?
Why sweat they under burdens ? let their beds
Be made as soft as yours, and let their palates
Be season'd with such viands? You will answer,
The slaves are ours :-So do I answer you:
The pound of flesh, which I demand of him,

Shy. I have possess'd your grace of what I pur-Is dearly bought, is mine, and I will have it:

pose;

And by our holy sabbath have I sworn,

To have the due and forfeit of my bond.
If you deny it, let the danger light
Upon your charter, and your city's freedom.
You'll ask me, why I rather choose to have
A weight of carrion flesh, than to receive
Three thousand ducats: I'll not answer that:
But, say, it is my humour; Is it answer'd?
What if my house be troubled with a rat,
And I be pleas'd to give ten thousand ducats
To have it baned? What, are you answer'd yet?
Some men there are, love not a gaping pig;
Some, that are mad, if they behold a cat;
And others, when the bag-pipe sings i' the nose,
Cannot contain their urine; For affection,
Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood
Of what it likes, or loaths: Now, for your answer:
As there is no firm reason to be render'd,
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig;
Why he, a harmless necessary cat;
Why he, a swollen bag-pipe; but of force
Must yield to such inevitable shame,
As to offend, himself being offended;
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodg'd hate, and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answer'd?
Bass. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
To excuse the current of thy cruelty.

Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my

answer.

Bass. Do all men kill the things they do not
love?

Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
Bass. Every offence is not a hate at first.
Shy. What, would'st thou have a serpent sting
thee twice?

Ant. I pray you, think you question" with the
Jew:

You may as well go stand upon the beach,
And bid the main flood bate his usual height;
You may as well use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops, and to make no noise,
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven;
(1) Pity. (2) Seeming. (3) Whercas.
Particular fancy. (5) Crying. (6) Prejudice.!

If you deny me, fie upon your law!

There is no force in the decrees of Venice:

I stand for judgment: answer; shall I have it?
Duke. Upon my power, I may dismiss this court,
Unless Bellario, a learned doctor,

Whom I have sent for to determine this,
Come here to-day.

Salar.

My lord, here stays without A messenger with letters from the doctor, New come from Padua.

Duke. Bring us the letters; Call the messenger. Bass. Good cheer, Antonio! What, man?

courage yet!

The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all, Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood.

Ant. I am a tainted wether of the flock, Meetest for death; the weakest kind of fruit Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me : You cannot better be employ'd, Bassanio, Than to live still, and write mine epitaph.

Enter Nerissa, dressed like a lawyer's clerk. Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario? Ner. From both, my lord: Bellario greets your grace. [Presents a letter. Bass. Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?

Shy. To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there.

Gra. Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, Thou mak'st thy knife keen: but no metal can, No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee?

Shy. No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.
Gra. O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dog!
And for thy life let justice be accus'd.
Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith,
To hold opinion with Pythagoras,

That souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men: thy currish spirit
Govern'd a wolf, who, hang'd for human slaughter,
Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet,
And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallow'd dam,
Infus'd itself in thee; for thy desires
Are wolfish, bloody, starv'd, and ravenous.
Shy. Till thou canst rail the seal from off my
bond,

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