Read The Merchant of Venice Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice (6 page)
SHYLOCK
Ay, ay, three thousand ducats.
ANTONIO
And for three months.
SHYLOCK
I had forgot—three months—you told me so.
Well then, your
bond
65
. And let me see, but hear you,
Methoughts you said you neither lend nor borrow
Upon
advantage
67
.
ANTONIO
I do never
use
68
it.
SHYLOCK
When
Jacob grazed his uncle Laban’s sheep
69
—
This Jacob
from
70
our holy Abram was,
As his wise mother
wrought
71
in his behalf,
The
third possessor
72
; ay, he was the third—
ANTONIO
And what of him? Did he take interest?
SHYLOCK
No, not take interest, not, as you would say,
Directly interest.
Mark
75
what Jacob did:
When Laban and himself
were compromised
76
That all the
eanlings
77
which were streaked and pied
Should
fall as
78
Jacob’s hire, the ewes, being rank,
In end of autumn turnèd to the rams,
And, when the work of
generation
80
was
Between these woolly breeders in the act,
The skilful shepherd
peeled me certain wands
82
,
And
in the doing of the deed of kind
83
,
He
stuck them up before the fulsome ewes
84
,
Who then conceiving, did in
eaning
85
time
Fall
86
parti-coloured lambs, and those were Jacob’s.
This was a way to
thrive
87
, and he was blest:
And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not.
ANTONIO
This was a
venture
89
, sir, that Jacob served for,
A thing not in his power to bring to pass,
But swayed and
fashioned
91
by the hand of heaven.
Was this
inserted
92
to make interest good?
Or is your gold and silver ewes and rams?
SHYLOCK
I cannot tell, I make it breed as fast.
But note me, signior—
ANTONIO
Mark you this, Bassanio,
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A
goodly
100
apple rotten at the heart.
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!
SHYLOCK
Three thousand ducats, ’tis a good round sum.
Three months from twelve, then let me see, the rate—
ANTONIO
Well, Shylock, shall we be
beholding
104
to you?
SHYLOCK
Signior Antonio, many a time and oft
In the Rialto you have
rated
106
me
About my moneys and my usances.
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
For
sufferance
109
is the badge of all our tribe.
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spit upon my Jewish
gaberdine
111
,
And all for
use
112
of that which is mine own.
Well then, it now appears you need my help.
Go to
114
, then. You come to me and you say
‘Shylock, we would have moneys’—you say so,
You that did
void
116
your rheum upon my beard,
And
foot
117
me as you spurn a stranger cur
Over your threshold. Moneys is your
suit
118
.
What should I say to you? Should I not say,
‘Hath a dog money? Is it possible
A cur should lend three thousand ducats?’ Or
Shall I bend low and in a
bondman’s key
122
,
With
bated
123
breath and whisp’ring humbleness,
Say this: ‘Fair sir, you spat on me on Wednesday last;
You spurned me such a day; another time
You called me dog, and for these courtesies
I’ll lend you thus much moneys’?
ANTONIO
I am as
like
128
to call thee so again,
To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too.
If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not
As to thy friends, for when did friendship take
A breed of barren metal
132
of his friend?
But lend it rather to thine enemy,
Who, if he
break
134
, thou mayst with better face
Exact the penalties.
SHYLOCK
Why, look you how you storm!
I would be friends with you and have your love,
Forget the shames that you have stained me with,
Supply your present wants and take no
doit
139
Of usance for my moneys, and you’ll not hear me:
This is
kind
141
I offer.
BASSANIO
This
were
142
kindness.
SHYLOCK
This kindness will I show:
Go with me to a
notary
144
, seal me there
Your
single
145
bond, and in a merry sport
If you repay me not on such a day,
In such a place, such sum or sums as are
Expressed in the
condition
148
, let the forfeit
Be
nominated for
149
an equal pound
Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken
In what part of your body it pleaseth me.
ANTONIO
Content, in faith, I’ll seal to such a bond
And say there is much kindness in the Jew.
BASSANIO
You shall not seal to such a bond for me.
I’ll rather
dwell
155
in my necessity.
ANTONIO
Why, fear not, man, I will not forfeit it.
Within these two months—that’s a month before
This bond expires—I do expect return
Of thrice three times the value of this bond.
SHYLOCK
O father Abram, what these Christians are,
Whose own hard dealings teaches them
suspect
161
The thoughts of others! Pray you tell me this:
If he should
break his day
163
, what should I gain
By the
exaction
164
of the forfeiture?
A pound of man’s flesh taken from a man
Is not so
estimable
166
, profitable neither,
As flesh of muttons, beefs or goats. I say
To buy his favour, I extend this friendship:
If he will take it,
so
169
, if not, adieu.
And for my love, I pray you wrong me not.
ANTONIO
Yes Shylock, I will seal unto this bond.
SHYLOCK
Then meet me
forthwith
172
at the notary’s,
Give him
direction
173
for this merry bond,
And I will go and
purse
174
the ducats straight,
See
175
to my house, left in the fearful guard
Of an
unthrifty
176
knave, and presently
I’ll be with you.
ANTONIO
Hie
178
thee, gentle Jew.
Exit
This Hebrew will turn Christian, he grows
kind
179
.
BASSANIO
I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind.
ANTONIO
Come on, in this there can be no dismay.
My ships come home a month before the day.
Exeunt
running scene 4
Location: Belmont
Enter Morocco, a
tawny
Moor, all in white, and three or four followers accordingly, with Portia, Nerissa and their train. Flourish cornets
MOROCCO
Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadowed
livery
2
of the burnished sun,
To whom I am a neighbour and
near bred
3
.
Bring me the fairest creature northward born,
Where
Phoebus
5
’ fire scarce thaws the icicles,
And let us
make incision
6
for your love,
To prove whose blood is
reddest
7
, his or mine.
I tell thee, lady, this
aspect
8
of mine
Hath
feared
9
the valiant. By my love I swear,
The best-regarded virgins of our
clime
10
Have loved it too: I would not change this
hue
11
,
Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle queen.
PORTIA
In terms of choice I am not solely led
By
nice
14
direction of a maiden’s eyes.
Besides, the lott’ry of my destiny
Bars me the right of voluntary choosing.
But if my father had not
scanted
17
me,
And
hedged
18
me by his wit to yield myself
His
19
wife who wins me by that means I told you,
Yourself, renownèd prince,
then
20
stood as fair
As any comer I have looked on yet
For
22
my affection.
MOROCCO
Even for that I thank you:
Therefore, I pray you lead me to the caskets
To try my fortune. By this
scimitar
25
That slew the
Sophy
26
and a Persian prince
That won three
fields
27
of Sultan Solyman,
I would
o’erstare
28
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
33
and Lichas play at dice
Which is the better man, the greater throw
May turn by fortune from the weaker hand:
So is
Alcides
36
beaten by his page,
And so may I, blind fortune leading me,
Miss that which one unworthier may attain,
And die with grieving.
PORTIA
You must take your chance,
And either not attempt to choose at all
Or swear before you choose, if you choose wrong
Never to speak to lady afterward
In way of marriage: therefore be
advised
44
.
MOROCCO
Nor will not
45
. Come, bring me unto my chance.
PORTIA
First, forward to the temple. After dinner
Your
hazard
47
shall be made.
MOROCCO
Good fortune then!
To make me blest or cursed’st among men.
Cornets
[
and
]
exeunt
running scene 5
Location: Venice
Enter the
Clown
[
Lancelet
]
alone
LANCELET
Certainly my conscience will
serve
1
me to run from
this Jew my master. The fiend is at mine elbow and tempts me,
saying to me, ‘
Gobbo
3
, Lancelet Gobbo, good Lancelet’, or
‘Good Gobbo’, or ‘Good Lancelet Gobbo, use your legs, take the
start
5
, run away.’ My conscience says, ‘No; take heed, honest
Lancelet, take heed, honest Gobbo’, or, as aforesaid, ‘Honest
Lancelet Gobbo, do not run, scorn running
with thy heels
7
.’
Well, the most
courageous
8
fiend bids me pack: ‘Fia!’ says the
fiend, ‘Away!’ says the fiend, ‘
For the heavens
9
, rouse up a brave
mind’, says the fiend, ‘and run.’ Well, my conscience, hanging
about the neck of my heart, says very wisely to me, ‘My honest
friend Lancelet, being an
honest
12
man’s son’, or rather an
honest woman’s son—for indeed my father did
something
13
smack
14
, something grow to, he had a kind of taste—well, my
conscience says ‘Lancelet, 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
19
, is a kind of devil; and to run away from the
Jew, I should be ruled by the fiend, who,
saving your reverence
20
,
is the devil himself. Certainly the Jew is the very devil
incarnation
22
, and in my conscience, my conscience is 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 commandment. I will run.
Enter Old Gobbo, with a basket
GOBBO
Master young man, you, I pray you which is the
way to Master Jew’s?
LANCELET
O heavens, this is my
true-begotten
28
father,
Aside
who, being more than
sand-blind
29
, high-gravel-blind, knows
me not. I will try
confusions
30
with him.
GOBBO
Master young gentleman, I pray you which is the
way to Master Jew’s?
LANCELET
Turn upon 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
35
, but turn down indirectly to
the Jew’s house.
GOBBO
By God’s
sonties
37
, ’twill be a hard way to hit. Can you
tell me whether one Lancelet, that dwells with him, dwell
with him or no?
LANCELET
Talk you of young Master Lancelet?—
Aside
Mark me now, now will I
raise the waters
41
.—Talk you of
young Master Lancelet?
GOBBO
No
master
43
, 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
45
.
LANCELET
Well, let his father be what
a
46
will, we talk of young
Master Lancelet.
GOBBO
Your worship’s
friend and Lancelet
48
.
LANCELET
But I pray you
ergo
49
, old man,
ergo
, I beseech you talk
you of young Master Lancelet?
GOBBO
Of Lancelet,
an’t
51
please your mastership.
LANCELET
Ergo
, Master Lancelet. Talk not of Master Lancelet,
father
53
, for the young gentleman—according to fates and
destinies and such odd sayings, the
Sisters Three
54
and such
branches of learning—is indeed deceased, or as you would
say in plain terms, gone to heaven.
GOBBO
Marry, God forbid! The boy was the very staff of my
age, my very prop.
LANCELET
Do I look like a cudgel or a
hovel-post
59
, a staff or a
prop? Do you know me, father?
GOBBO
Alack the day, I know you not, young gentleman,
but I pray you tell me, is my boy, God rest his soul, alive or
dead?
LANCELET
Do you not know me, father?
GOBBO
Alack, sir, I am sand-blind. I know you not.
LANCELET
Nay, indeed if you had your eyes you might fail
of
the knowing
66
me:
it is a wise father that knows his own
child
67
.
Well, old man, I will tell you news of your son. Give
He kneels
me your blessing. Truth will come to light, murder cannot be
hid long, a man’s son may, but in the end truth will out.
GOBBO
Pray you, sir, stand up. I am sure you are not
Lancelet, my boy.
LANCELET
Pray you let’s have no more fooling about it, but
give me your blessing. I am Lancelet,
your boy that was, your
son that is, your child that shall be
74
.
GOBBO
I cannot think you are my son.
LANCELET
I know not what I shall think of that. But I am
Lancelet, the Jew’s man, and I am sure Margery your wife is
my mother.
GOBBO
Her name is
Margery
80
, indeed. I’ll be sworn, if thou
be Lancelet, thou art mine own flesh and blood. Lord
worshipped might he be! What a beard hast thou got! Thou
hast got more hair on thy chin than Dobbin my
fill-horse
83
has
on his tail.
LANCELET
It should seem, then, that Dobbin’s tail
He rises
grows
backward
86
. I am sure he had more hair of his tail than
I have of my face when I last saw him.
GOBBO
Lord, how art thou changed! How dost thou and thy
master
agree
89
? I have brought him a present. How ’gree you
now?
LANCELET
Well, well. But for mine own part, as I have
set up
my rest
91
to run away, so I will not
rest
92
till I have run some
ground; my master’s a
very
93
Jew. Give him a present? Give
him a
halter
94
! I am famished in his service. You may tell every
finger I have with my ribs
95
. Father, I am glad you are come.
Give me
96
your present to one Master Bassanio, who, indeed,
gives
rare
97
new liveries. If I serve not him, I will run as far as
God has any ground. O rare fortune! Here comes the man. To
him, father, for I am a
Jew
99
if I serve the Jew any longer.
Enter Bassanio, with a follower or two
[
including Leonardo
]
BASSANIO
You may do so, but let it be so
hasted
100
To a Servant
that supper be ready at the
farthest
101
by five of the clock. See
these letters delivered, put the liveries to making, and desire
Gratiano to come
anon
103
to my lodging.
[
Exit a Servant
]
LANCELET
To him, father.
GOBBO
God bless your worship!
Comes forward
BASSANIO
Gramercy
106
! Wouldst thou aught with me?
GOBBO
Here’s my son, sir, a poor boy—
LANCELET
Not a
poor
108
boy, sir, but the rich Jew’s man, that
would, sir, as my father shall specify—
GOBBO
He hath a great
infection
110
, sir, as one would say, to
serve—
LANCELET
Indeed, the short and the long is, I serve the Jew and
have a desire, as my father shall specify—
GOBBO
His master and he, saving your worship’s reverence,
are
scarce
115
cater-cousins—
LANCELET
To be brief, the very truth is that the Jew, having
done me wrong, doth cause me, as my father, being, I hope,
an old man, shall
frutify
118
unto you—
GOBBO
I have here a dish of doves that I would bestow upon
your worship, and my suit is—
LANCELET
In very brief, the suit is
impertinent
121
to myself, as
your worship shall know by this honest old man, and though
I say it, though old man, yet poor man, my father.
BASSANIO
One speak for both. What would you?
LANCELET
Serve you, sir.
GOBBO
That is the very
defect
126
of the matter, sir.
BASSANIO
I know thee well, thou hast obtained thy suit.
Shylock thy master spoke with me this day,
And hath
preferred
129
thee, if it be preferment
To leave a rich Jew’s service, to become
The follower of so poor a gentleman.
LANCELET
The
old proverb
132
is very well parted between my
master Shylock and you, sir: you have the grace of God, sir,
and he hath enough.