But though I am a daughter to his blood,
I am not to his manners: O Lorenzo,
If thou keep promise, I shall end this strife;
Become a Christian, and thy loving wife.

[Erit.

:

Enter GRATIANO, LORENZO, SALARINO, and SALANJO.

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 To furnish us ;

Enter LAUNCELOT, with a letter.

Friend Launcelot, what's the news? Laun. An it shall please you to break up this, it shall seem to signify.

Lor. I know the hand : in faith, 'tis a fair hand;
And whiter than the paper it writ on,
Is the fair hand that writ.
Gra.

Love-news, in faith.
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.

a

Salar. 'Tis good we do so.

[Exeunt SALAR. and SALAN. Gra. Was not that letter from fair Jessica ?

Lor. 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.

The same. Before Shylock's House.

Enter SHYLOCK and LAUNCELOT. Shy. 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! Laun.

Why, Jessica ! 'Shy. Who bids thee call? I did not bid thee call.

Laun. Your worship was wont to tell me, I could do nothing without bidding.

Enter JESSICA.
Jes. Call you? what is your will ?

?
Shy. 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.

Laun. I beseech you, sir, go on; 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 bleeding on BlackMonday last," at six o'clock i’the morning, falling out that year on Ash-Wednesday was four year in the after

noon.

But stop my

Shy. What, are there masques ? Hear you me, Jessica :

,
Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum,
And the vile squeaking 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 :

house's

ears,

I mean my casements;
Let not the sound of shallow foppery 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.
Laun.

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.

[Erit. Shy. What says that fool of Hagar's offspring, ha? Jes. His words were, Farewell, mistress; nothing else.

Shy. The patchy 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

u

:

Black-Monday last,] “ Black-Monday is Easter-Monday, and was so called on this occasion : in the 34th of Edward III. (1360.) the 14th of April, and the morrow after Easter-day, King Edward, with his host, lay before the city of Paris : which day was full of dark mist and hail, and so bitter cold, that

many men died on their horses' backs with the cold. Wherefore, unto this day it hath been called the Blacke-Monday.” Stowe, p. 2646.--Grey.

- fife,]-here means the fifer, and not his instrument. Shakspeare is not singular in this application of the word.

patch—] A fool, probably from the Italian pazzo from wearing a patched or party-coloured coat.-NARES.

y

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.

Jes. Farewell ; and if my fortune be not crost,
I have a father, you a daughter, lost.

[Exit.

a

[Exit.

SCENE VI.

The same.

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 fire
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 !
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 hereafter.

Lor. Sweet friends, your patience for my long abode; Not I, but my affairs, have made you wait;

scarfed bark-] i. e. The vessel decorated with flags. VOL. III.

D

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.
Jes. Who are you ? Tell me for more certainty,

? Albeit I'll swear that I do know your tongue.

Lor. Lorenzo, and thy love.

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. Descend, for you must be my torch-bearer.

,
Jes. 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.
Lor.

So are you, sweet,
Even in the lovely garnish of a boy.
But come at once ;
For the close night doth play the run-away,
And we are staid for at Bassanio's feast.

Jes. I will make fast the doors, and gild myself
With some more ducats, and be with you straight.

[Exit, from above. 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;

Z