I would be trebled twenty times myself;

A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more rich,
That only to stand high in your account,

I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends,
Exceed account: but the full sum of me

Is sum of nothing; 39 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; 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: 40 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. 41 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. 42

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 43 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!

39) Diese Lesart der Fol. passt besser zu der von Portia hier geäusserten Bescheidenheit, als die Lesart der Qs. Is sum of something, was manche Hgg. vorziehen.

40) Ich selbst und das Meinige ist nun Euch anheimgefallen und das Eurige geworden. 41) So Q. A und die Fol.

Q. B hat my lord's.

42) Wenn Ihr meinen Ring weggebt oder verliert, so soll mir das ein begründeter Anlass sein, über Euch zu klagen.

43) Dieses Particip von to blend hat Sh. auch in Twelfth-Night (A. 1, Sc. 5), sonst auch das gewöhnliche blended. In dem Wirrwarr der freudig bewegten Menge verschmilzt jede besondere Eigenthümlichkeit in ein Chaos, das aus Nichts besteht als aus Jubel, der theils sich äussert, theils stumm ist.

44

'

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 intermission 45

No more pertains to me, my lord, than you.
Your fortune stood upon the caskets there,
And so did mine too, as the matter falls;
For wooing here, until I sweat again,
And swearing, till my very roof 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.

46

Is this true, Nerissa?

Ner. Madam, it is; so you stand pleas'd withal.
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 47 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! and my old Venetian friend, Solanio? 48

Enter LORENZO, JESSICA, and SOLANIO.

Bass. Lorenzo, and Solanio, welcome hither,

If that the youth of my new interest here

41) from me zweideutig weg von mir: Ihr könnt mich keiner Freude berauben, die sich Euch wünschen lässt, und Ihr könnt von mir keine Freude wünschen, die Ihr nicht

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Zwischenzeit, die man ungenutzt verstreichen lässt.

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dauern, Bestand haben.

46) Wortspiel zwischen at last endlich, und to last 47) to play mit dem Accusativum Etwas spielen oder auf Etwas wetten, vom Glückspiel gesagt. Zugleich liegt in to play wie in to stake down ein frivoler Nebensinn. 48) Qs. und Fol. haben hier einen ganz neuen Charakter Salerio, während doch my old Venetian friend deutlich auf einen der beiden Freunde, Solanio oder Salarino, hinweist (vgl. A. 1, Sc. 1, Anm. 1) von welchen zwei Namen nur der erstere in den Vers passt. In der Handschrift stand wahrscheinlich eine blosse Abbreviatur des NaDie Aenderung rührt von Knight her und ist auch von Dyce beibehalten.

mens.

-

I pray you, tell me how my good friend doth.
Solan. Not sick, my lord, unless it be in mind;

Nor well, unless in mind: his letter there
Will show you his estate.

[BASSANIO reads the letter. 50

Gra. Nerissa, cheer yon stranger; bid her welcome.
Your hand, Solanio. 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.

Solan. I would you had won the fleece that he hath lost!
Por. There are some shrewd contents in yon same paper,

That steal the colour from Bassanio's cheek:

Some dear friend dead, else nothing in the world

Could turn so much the constitution

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

O sweet Portia!

Bass.
Here are a few of the unpleasant'st words
That ever blotted paper. Gentle lady,
When I did first impart my love to you,
I freely told you, all the wealth I had
Ran in my veins,

I was a gentleman:

49) him steht für himself, wie in As you like it (A. 4, Sc. 3) Orlando doth commend him to you both, und in K. Richard II. (A. 2, Sc. 1) Gaunt commends him to your majesty. Von einer Empfehlung des Lorenzo scheint in dem Briefe Antonio's nichts zu stehen; sie ist auch unwahrscheinlich, insofern Lorenzo offenbar schon vorher mit Bassanio enger befreundet war, als mit dem Antonio.

50) Die alte Bühnenweisung He opens the letter geht natürlich auf Bassanio, der während des folgenden Zwiegesprächs den Brief liest.

And then I told you true, and yet, dear lady,
Rating myself at nothing, you shall see

How much I was a braggart. 51 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, 52
To feed my means. Here is a letter, lady;
The paper as the body 53 of my friend,
And every word in it a gaping wound,

Issuing life-blood.

Have all his ventures fail'd? What, not one hit? 54
From Tripolis, from Mexico, and England,

From Lisbon, Barbary, and India?

And not one vessel 'scape the dreadful touch
Of merchant-marring rocks?

Solan.

Not one, my lord.
Besides, it should appear, that if he had
The present money to discharge 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 state,
If they deny him justice: 55 twenty merchants,
The duke himself, and the magnificoes

Of greatest port, 56 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

51) wie sehr ich doch ein Prahler war, als ich mich selbst auf Nichts schätzte.

52) mere = ganz und gar: Einer, der ganz und gar sein Feind, der nichts als sein

Feind ist.

53) ein Brief, dessen Papier gleichsam der zum Tode verwundete Leib meines Freundes ist. 54) Hat unter seinen Unternehmungen nicht eine es getroffen, ist nicht eine glücklich gewesen?

55) Er klagt, dass die Freiheit oder das Recht in Venedig verletzt sei, wenn man ihm die Gerechtigkeit verweigere. Was näher unter freedom of the state zu verstehen sei, erhellt aus der folgenden Scene. Vgl. A. 3, Sc. 3, Anm. 5. 56) the magnificoes of greatest port grössten Staat machen.

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die Senatoren, die am meisten vorstellen, die den Magnifico als Titel eines Venetianischen Senators ist auch

in Othello (A. 1, Sc. 2) the magnifico is much belov'd.

That he did owe him; and I know, my lord,

If law, authority, and power deny not, 57

It will go hard with poor Antonio.

Por. Is it your dear 58 friend that is thus in trouble?
Bass. The dearest friend to me, the kindest man,

The best-condition'd and unwearied 59 spirit

In doing courtesies; and one in whom
The ancient Roman honour 60 more appears,
Than any that draws breath in Italy.

Por. What sum owes he the Jew?

Bass For me, three thousand ducats.
Por.

What, no more?

Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond:
Double six thousand, and then treble that,
Before a friend of this description
Shall lose a hair through Bassanio's fault. 61
First, go with me to church, and call me wife,
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.
Bid your friends welcome, show a merry cheer;
Since you are dear-bought, I will love you dear.
But let me hear the letter of your friend.

62

Bass. [Reads.] 63 Sweet Bassanio, my ships have all miscarried, my creditors grow cruel, my estate is very low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit; and since, in paying it, it is impossible I should live, all debts are cleared

57) deny not bezieht sich auf das Folgende: es wird dem armen Antonio schlecht ergehen, wenn Gesetz, Ansehn und Macht nicht hindernd dazwischen treten.

58) Wie der Vers zeigt, liegt der Nachdruck auf dear: Ist der Freund Euch besonders theuer, der so in Noth ist?

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bestgeartet, ein superlati

59) Za unwearied ist aus dem vorhergehenden best-condition'd vischer Begriff zu suppliren: der im Erzeigen von Freundlichkeit unermüdlichste Geist. 60) Eine ähnliche rühmende Bezugnahme auf die alten Römer, als Vorfahren der Italiener in diesem Drama, kam schon A. 1, Sc. 1 vor: her name is Portia, nothing undervalued To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia.

61) Malone las des Verses wegen hair zweisylbig; eher ist mit Collier through wie thorough zu lesen.

62) merry cheer = die freundliche Miene des Wirths, der seine Gäste willkommen heisst. 63) Qs. und Fol. lassen Bass. (Reads) aus, als ob Portia selbst den Brief lese.

fügte das Nothwendige hinzu.

Rowe