Read The Merchant of Venice Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice (7 page)
BASSANIO
Thou speak’st it well. Go, father, with thy son.
Take leave of thy old master and
inquire
My lodging out
136
.—Give him a livery
To a Servant
More
guarded
138
than his fellows’. See it done.
LANCELET
Father, in. I cannot get a service, no. I have ne’er a
tongue in my head. Well, if any man in Italy have a
Points to his palm
fairer
table
141
which doth offer to swear upon a book,
I shall have good fortune. Go to, here’s a
simple
142
line of life,
here’s a small
trifle
143
of wives. Alas, fifteen wives is nothing!
Eleven widows and nine maids is a
simple
144
coming-in for one
man, and then to
scape
145
drowning thrice, and to be in peril
of my life with the
edge of a feather-bed
146
. Here are simple
scapes
147
. Well, if Fortune be a woman, she’s a good wench for
this
gear
148
. Father, come; I’ll take my leave of the Jew in the
twinkling.
Exit Clown
[
Lancelet with Old Gobbo
]
BASSANIO
I pray thee good Leonardo, think on this.
Gives a list
These things being bought and orderly
bestowed
151
,
Return in haste, for I do
feast
152
tonight
My best-esteemed acquaintance. Hie thee, go.
LEONARDO
My best endeavours shall be done
herein
154
.
Enter Gratiano
GRATIANO
Where’s your master?
LEONARDO
Yonder, sir, he walks.
Exit
GRATIANO
Signior Bassanio!
BASSANIO
Gratiano!
GRATIANO
I have a suit to you.
BASSANIO
You have
obtained it
160
.
GRATIANO
You must not deny me. I must go with you to
Belmont.
BASSANIO
Why then you must. But hear thee, Gratiano,
Thou art too wild, too
rude
164
and bold of voice,
Parts
165
that become thee happily enough
And in such eyes as ours appear not faults;
But where they are not known, why, there they
show
167
Something too
liberal
168
. Pray thee take pain
To
allay
169
with some cold drops of modesty
Thy
skipping
170
spirit, lest through thy wild behaviour
I be
misconstered
171
in the place I go to,
And lose my hopes.
GRATIANO
Signior Bassanio, hear me:
If I do not put on a sober
habit
174
,
Talk with respect and swear
but
175
now and then,
Wear prayer-books in my pocket, look demurely,
Nay more, while grace is
saying
177
, hood mine eyes
Thus with my hat, and sigh and say ‘Amen’,
Covers his face
Use all the observance of civility,
Like one well
studied in a sad ostent
180
To please his
grandam
181
, never trust me more.
BASSANIO
Well, we shall see your bearing.
GRATIANO
Nay, but I
bar
183
tonight. You shall not gauge me
By what we do tonight.
BASSANIO
No, that were pity.
I would entreat you rather to put on
Your boldest suit of mirth, for we have friends
That
purpose
188
merriment. But fare you well.
I have some business.
GRATIANO
And I must to Lorenzo and the rest,
But we will visit you at suppertime.
Exeunt
running scene 6
Enter
Jessica
and the Clown
[
Lancelet
]
JESSICA
I am sorry thou wilt leave my father so.
Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil,
Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness;
But fare thee well. There is a ducat for thee.
Gives money
And, Lancelet, soon at supper shalt thou see
Lorenzo, who is thy new master’s guest:
Give him this letter. Do it secretly.
Gives a letter
And so farewell. I would not have my father
See me talk with thee.
LANCELET
Adieu! Tears
exhibit
10
my tongue, most beautiful
pagan, most sweet Jew! If a Christian did not play the knave
and
get
12
thee, I am much deceived; but adieu. These foolish
drops do somewhat drown my manly spirit. Adieu.
Exit
JESSICA
Farewell, good Lancelet.
Alack, what heinous sin is it in me
To be ashamed to be my father’s child!
But though I am a daughter to his blood,
I am not to his
manners
18
. O Lorenzo,
If thou keep promise, I shall end this
strife
19
,
Become a Christian and thy loving wife.
Exit
running scene 7
Enter Gratiano, Lorenzo, Salerio and Solanio
LORENZO
Nay, we will slink away
in
1
suppertime,
Disguise us at my lodging and return
All in an hour.
GRATIANO
We have not made good preparation.
SALERIO
We have not
spoke us yet of
5
torchbearers.
SOLANIO
’Tis
vile
6
, unless it may be quaintly ordered,
And better in my mind not undertook.
LORENZO
’Tis now but four of clock. We have two hours
To
furnish us
9
.—Friend Lancelet, what’s the news?
Enter Lancelet, with a letter
LANCELET
An
10
it shall please you to break up this,
Gives him the letter
shall it
seem to signify
11
.
LORENZO
I know the
hand
12
. In faith, ’tis a fair hand,
And whiter than the paper it writ on
Is the fair hand that writ.
GRATIANO
Love-news, in faith.
LANCELET
By your leave
16
, sir.
Starts to leave
LORENZO
Whither goest thou?
LANCELET
Marry, sir, to bid my old master the Jew to
sup
18
tonight with my new master the Christian.
LORENZO
Hold here, take this. Tell gentle Jessica
Gives money
I will not fail her. Speak it privately.
Go
22
, gentlemen,
Will you prepare you for this
masque
23
tonight?
I am provided
of
24
a torchbearer.
Exit Clown
[
Lancelet
]
SALERIO
Ay, marry, I’ll be gone about it straight.
SOLANIO
And so will I.
LORENZO
Meet me and Gratiano
At Gratiano’s lodging
some
28
hour hence.
SALERIO
’Tis good we do so.
Exit
[
Salerio with Solanio
]
GRATIANO
Was not that letter from fair Jessica?
LORENZO
I
must needs
31
tell thee all. She hath directed
How I shall take her from her father’s house,
What gold and jewels she is furnished 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
36
daughter’s sake;
And never dare misfortune cross her
foot
37
,
Unless
she
38
do it under this excuse,
That
she
39
is issue to a faithless Jew.
Come, go with me, peruse this as thou goest.
Gives the letter
Fair Jessica shall be my torchbearer.
Exeunt
running scene 8
Enter
[
Shylock the
]
Jew and
[
Lancelet
,]
his man that was, the Clown
SHYLOCK
Well, thou shall see, thy eyes shall be thy judge,
The difference
of
2
old Shylock and Bassanio.—
What, Jessica!—Thou shalt not
gormandize
3
As thou hast done with me—What, Jessica!—
And sleep and snore, and
rend apparel out
5
—
Why, Jessica, I say!
LANCELET
Why, Jessica!
SHYLOCK
Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call.
LANCELET
Your worship was
wont
9
to tell me
I could do nothing without bidding.
Enter Jessica
JESSICA
Call you? What is your will?
SHYLOCK
I am
bid forth
12
to supper, Jessica.
There are my keys. But
wherefore
13
should I go?
I am not bid for love, they flatter me.
But yet I’ll go in hate, to feed
upon
15
The
prodigal
16
Christian. Jessica, my girl,
Look
to
17
my house. I am right loath to go.
There is some
ill
18
a-brewing towards my rest,
For I did dream of money-bags
tonight
19
.
LANCELET
I beseech you, sir, go. My young master doth
expect
20
your
reproach
21
.
SHYLOCK
So do I his.
LANCELET
An 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
25
on Black Monday last at
six o’clock i’th’morning, falling out that year on Ash
Wednesday was four year, in th’afternoon.
SHYLOCK
What, are there masques? Hear you me, Jessica:
Lock up my doors, and when you hear the drum
And the vile squealing of the
wry-necked
30
fife,
Clamber not you up to the
casements
31
then,
Nor thrust your head into the public street
To gaze on Christian fools with
varnished faces
33
,
But
stop
34
my house’s ears, I mean my casements.
Let not the sound of shallow
fopp’ry
35
enter
My sober house. By
Jacob’s staff
36
, I swear,
I have no
mind of
37
feasting forth tonight,
But I will go. Go you before me, sirrah,
Say I will come.
LANCELET
I will go before, sir.—Mistress, look out
Aside to Jessica
at window,
for
41
all this,
There will come a Christian by,
Will be worth
a Jewès eye
43
.
[
Exit Lancelet
]
SHYLOCK
What says that fool of
Hagar’s offspring
44
, ha?
JESSICA
His words were ‘Farewell mistress’, nothing else.
SHYLOCK
The
patch
46
is kind enough, but a huge feeder,
Snail-slow in
profit
47
, but he sleeps by day
More than the wild-cat.
Drones
48
hive not with me:
Therefore I part with him, and part with him
To one that I would have him help to waste
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
54
—
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.
Exit
JESSICA
Farewell, and if my fortune be not
crossed
56
,
I have a father, you a daughter lost.
Exit
running scene 9
Enter the masquers, Gratiano and Salerio
GRATIANO
This is the
penthouse
1
under which Lorenzo
Desired us to
make a stand
2
.
SALERIO
His hour is almost past
3
.
GRATIANO
And it is
marvel
4
he out-dwells his hour,
For lovers
ever
5
run before the clock.
SALERIO
O, ten times faster
Venus’ pigeons
6
fly
To seal love’s bonds new-made, than they are wont
To keep
obligèd
8
faith unforfeited!