165

Give him direction for this merry bond,
And I will go and purse the ducats straight,
See to my house, left in the fearful guard
Of an unthrifty knave, and presently
I will be with you.
Ant.
Hie thee, gentle Jew.

[Exit Shylock The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind.

Bass. I like not fair terms and a villain's mind.

Ant. Come on: in this there can be no dismay ; 170 My ships come home a month before the day. [Exeunt.

ACT II.

8

SCENE I. Belmont. A room in PORTIA's house. Flourish of cornets. Enter the PRINCE OF MOROCCO and his train,

PORTIA, NERISSA, and others attending.
Mor. Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadowed livery of the burnished sun,
To whom I am a neighbour and near bred.
Bring me the fairest creature northward born,
Where Phoebus' fire scarce thaws the icicles,
And let us make incision for your love,
To prove whose blood is reddest, his or mine.
I tell thee, lady, this aspect of mine
Hath feared the valiant: by my love, I swear
The best-regarded virgins of our clime
Have loved it too: I would not change this hue,
Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle queen.

163. this merry bond. Note that this is the second time Shylock has used the word merry in connection with this business.

2. It is natural to connect burnished with the burning effect of the sun : but this would be wrong.

9. See fear used in the same way in Taming of the Shrew, I., 2, 24, and often elsewhere.

10

16

25

Por. In terms of choice I am not solely led
By nice direction of a maiden's eyes;
Besides, the lottery of my destiny
Bars me the right of voluntary choosing :
But if

my

father had not scanted me
And hedged me by his wit, to yield myself
His wife who wins me by that means I told you,
Yourself, renowned Prince, then stood as fair
As any comer I have looked on yet
For my affection.
Mor.

Even for that I thank you:
Therefore, I pray you, lead me to the caskets
To try my fortune. By this scimitar
That slew the Sophy and a Persian prince
That won three fields of Sultan Solyman,
I would outstare the sternest eyes that look,
Outbrave the heart most daring on the earth,
Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear,
Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey,
To win thee, lady. But, alas the while !
If Hercules and Lichas play at dice
Which is the better man, the greater throw
May turn by fortune from the weaker hand :
So is Alcides beaten by his page;
And so may I, blind fortune leading me,
Miss that which one unworthier may attain,
And die with grieving.
Por.

You must take your chance, 13, 14. Is this consistent with what Portia has already said about Morocco's complexion ?

19. His wife who wins me. What is the antecedent of who? Is modern English capable of this construction ?

20. In what mode is the verb stood ?

31. See a similar exclamation of grief in Cæsar, I., 3, 82, and elsewhere.

30

35

And either not attempt to choose at all,

Or swear before you choose, if you choose wrong, 40 Never to speak to lady afterward

In way of marriage: therefore be advised.

Mor. Nor will not. Come, bring me unto my chance.

Por. First, forward to the temple: after dinner Your hazard shall be made.

66

Laun. Certainly my conscience will serve me to run from this Jew my master. The fiend is at mine elbow and tempts me, saying to me "Gobbo, Launcelot Gobbo, good Launcelot," or "good Gobbo," or "good Launcelot Gobbo, use your legs, take the start, run away." My conscience says "No; take heed, honest Launcelot; take heed, honest Gobbo," or, as aforesaid, "honest Launcelot Gobbo; do not run; scorn running with thy heels." Well, the most courageous fiend bids me pack: "Via!" says the fiend; "away!" says the fiend; "for the heavens, rouse up a brave mind," says the fiend," and run." Well, my

44. to the temple, i. e., to church, to take the oath mentioned in line 40.

46. An ending is omitted. See Cymbeline, IV., 2, 347; Corivlanus, V., 3, 130; Troilus, IV., 4, 7; Measure for Measure, IV., 6, 13.

9. scorn running with thy heels. A passage in Much Ado, III., 4, 50, suggests that this may be read with two meanings.

10. Via, an Italian word meaning away, used in Shakespeare's time to urge horses forward.

66

conscience, hanging about the neck of my heart, says very wisely to me My honest friend Launcelot, being an honest man's son," or rather an honest woman's son; well, my conscience says "Launcelot, budge not." "Budge," says the fiend. "Budge not," says my conscience. "Conscience," say I, "you counsel well;""Fiend," say I, "you counsel well:" to be ruled by my conscience, I should stay with the Jew my master, who, God bless the mark, is a kind of devil; and, to run away from the Jew, I should be ruled by the fiend, who, saving your reverence, is the Devil himself. Certainly the Jew is the very devil incarnation; and, in my conscience, my conscience is but a kind of hard conscience, to offer to counsel me to stay with the Jew. The fiend gives the more friendly counsel: I will run, fiend; my heels are at your command; I will run.

the

Enter Old GOBBO, with a basket.

29

Gob. Master young man, you, I pray you, which is way to master Jew's?

Laun. [Aside.] O heavens, this is my true-begotten father! who, being more than sand-blind, highgravel blind, knows me not: I will try confusions with him.

35

Gob. Master young gentleman, I pray you, which is the way to master Jew's?

21, 23. God bless the mark and saving your reverence are common conventional phrases for apologizing for some improper expression.

25. incarnation: Launcelot's blunder for incarnate.

33. Look up the origin of sand-blind.

34. confusions: perhaps Launcelot's blunder for conclusions, to try conclusions being a standard phrase, as in Hamlet, III., 4, 195. Yet Launcelot really goes on to try confusions.

44

50

Laun. Turn up on your right hand at the next turning, but at the next turning of all, on your left; marry at the very next turning, turn of no hand, but turn down indirectly to the Jew's house.

Gob. By God's sonties, 't will be a hard way to hit. Can you tell me whether one Launcelot, that dwells with him, dwell with him or no ?

Laun. Talk you of young Master Launcelot ? [Aside.] Mark me now; now will I raise the waters. Talk you of young Master Launcelot ?

Gob. No master, sir, but a poor man's son: his father, though I say 't, is an honest exceeding poor man and, God be thanked, well to live.

Laun. Well, let his father be what a will, we talk of young Master Launcelot.

Gob. Your worship’s friend and Launcelot, sir.

Laun. But I pray you, ergo, old man, ergo, I beseech you, talk you of young Master Launcelot.

Gob. Of Launcelot, an 't please your mastership.

Laun. Ergo, Master Launcelot. Talk not of Master Launcelot, father; for the young gentleman, according to Fates and Destinies and such odd sayings, the Sisters Three and such branches of learning, is indeed deceased, or, as you would say in plain terms, gone to heaven.

Gob. Marry, God forbid ! the boy was the very staff of my age, my very prop.

55

64

42. sonties will be found in Webster's Dictionary.

50. well to live : variously interpreted as meaning “ with every prospect of long life,” or “well off.”

51. a, for he, is common in the written language from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century ; in the dramatists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it is frequent in representations of familiar speech. – Murray, New English Dictionary.