Read The Merchant of Venice Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice (14 page)
Offers money
ANTONIO
And stand indebted, over and above,
In love and service to you evermore.
PORTIA
He is well paid that is well satisfied,
And I, delivering you, am satisfied
And therein do
account
430
myself well paid.
My mind was never yet more mercenary.
I pray you
know
432
me when we meet again.
I wish you well, and so I take my leave.
Starts to leave
BASSANIO
Dear sir, of force I must
attempt
434
you further.
Take some remembrance of us as a tribute,
Not as fee. Grant me two things, I pray you:
Not to deny me, and to
pardon me
437
.
PORTIA
You
press
438
me far, and therefore I will yield.
Give me your gloves, I’ll wear them for your sake.
To Antonio
And, for your
love
440
, I’ll take this ring from you.
To Bassanio
Do not draw back your hand, I’ll take no more,
And you
in
442
love shall not deny me this.
BASSANIO
This ring, good sir, alas, it is a trifle!
I will not shame myself to give you this.
PORTIA
I will have nothing else but only this,
And now methinks I have a
mind to
446
it.
BASSANIO
There’s more depends on this than on the value.
The
dearest
448
ring in Venice will I give you,
And find it out by proclamation.
Only for this, I pray you pardon me.
PORTIA
I see, sir, you are
liberal
451
in offers.
You taught me first to beg, and now methinks
You teach me how a beggar should be answered.
BASSANIO
Good sir, this ring was given me by my wife,
And when she put it on, she made me vow
That I should neither sell nor give nor lose it.
PORTIA
That ’scuse serves many men to save their gifts.
An if your wife be not a madwoman,
And know how well I have deserved this ring,
She would not hold out enemy forever
For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you!
Exeunt
[
Portia and Nerissa
]
ANTONIO
My lord Bassanio, let him have the ring.
Let his deservings and my love withal
Be valued against your wife’s commandment.
BASSANIO
Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him.
Give him the ring, and bring him, if thou canst,
Unto Antonio’s house. Away, make haste!
Exit Gratiano
Come, you and I will thither presently,
And in the morning early will we both
Fly
470
toward Belmont. Come, Antonio.
Exeunt
running scene 19
Enter Portia and Nerissa
Still disguised
PORTIA
Inquire the Jew’s house out
1
, give him this deed,
And let him sign it. We’ll away tonight
Gives her a deed
And
be
3
a day before our husbands home.
This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo.
Enter Gratiano
GRATIANO
Fair sir,
you are well o’erta’en
5
.
My lord Bassanio upon more
advice
6
Hath sent you here this ring, and doth entreat
Your company at dinner.
Gives her the ring
PORTIA
That cannot be;
His ring I do accept most thankfully,
And so, I pray you tell him. Furthermore,
I pray you show my youth old Shylock’s house.
GRATIANO
That will I do.
NERISSA
Sir, I would speak with you.
I’ll see if I can get my husband’s ring,
Aside to Portia
Which I did make him swear to keep for ever.
PORTIA
Thou mayst, I warrant. We shall have
old
17
swearing
Aside to Nerissa
That they did give the rings away to men;
But we’ll
outface
19
them, and outswear them too.—
Away, make haste! Thou know’st where I will tarry.
Aloud
NERISSA
Come, good sir, will you show me to this house?
Exeunt
running scene 20
Location: Belmont
Enter Lorenzo and Jessica
LORENZO
The moon shines bright. In such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees
And they did make no noise, in such a night
Troilus
4
methinks mounted the Trojan walls
And sighed his soul toward the Grecian tents
Where Cressid lay that night.
JESSICA
In such a night
Did
Thisbe
8
fearfully o’ertrip the dew,
And saw the lion’s shadow
ere himself
9
,
And ran dismayed away.
LORENZO
In such a night
Stood
Dido
12
with a willow in her hand
Upon the
wild
13
sea banks and waft her love
To come again to Carthage.
JESSICA
In such a night
Medea
16
gathered the enchanted herbs
That did
renew
17
old Aeson.
LORENZO
In such a night
Did Jessica
steal
19
from the wealthy Jew
And with an
unthrift
20
love did run from Venice
As far as Belmont.
JESSICA
In such a night
Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well,
Stealing her soul with many vows of faith,
And ne’er a true one.
LORENZO
In such a night
Did pretty Jessica, like a little
shrew
27
,
Slander her
love
28
, and he forgave it her.
JESSICA
I would
out-night you
29
, did nobody come.
But hark, I hear the
footing
30
of a man.
Enter
[
Stephano, a
]
Messenger
LORENZO
Who comes so fast in silence of the night?
STEPHANO
A friend.
LORENZO
A friend? What friend? Your name, I pray you, friend?
STEPHANO
Stephano is my name, and I bring word
My mistress will before the break of day
Be here at Belmont. She
doth stray about
36
By
holy crosses
37
, where she kneels and prays
For happy wedlock hours.
LORENZO
Who comes with her?
STEPHANO
None but a holy hermit and her maid.
I pray you is my master yet returned?
LORENZO
He is not, nor we have not heard from him.
But go we in, I pray thee, Jessica,
And ceremoniously let us prepare
Some welcome for the mistress of the house.
Enter Clown
[
Lancelet
]
LANCELET
Sola
46
, sola! Wo ha, ho! Sola, sola!
LORENZO
Who calls?
LANCELET
Sola! Did you see Master Lorenzo?
And Master Lorenzo, sola, sola!
LORENZO
Leave
hollowing
50
, man! Here.
LANCELET
Sola! Where, where?
LORENZO
Here.
LANCELET
Tell him there’s a
post
53
come from my master, with
his
horn
54
full of good news: my master will be here ere
morning.
[
Exit
]
LORENZO
Sweet soul, let’s
in
56
, and there expect their coming.
And yet no matter. Why should we go in?
My friend Stephano,
signify
58
, pray you,
Within the house, your mistress is at hand,
And bring your
music
60
forth into the air.
[
Exit Stephano
]
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
Here will we sit and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears. Soft stillness and the night
Become
64
the touches of sweet harmony.
Sit, Jessica. Look how the
floor of heaven
65
They sit
Is thick inlaid with
patens
66
of bright gold.
There’s not the smallest
orb
67
which thou behold’st
But in his
motion
68
like an angel sings,
Still choiring
69
to the young-eyed cherubins;
Such harmony is in immortal souls,
But whilst this
muddy vesture of decay
71
Doth
grossly
72
close it in, we cannot hear it.
[
Enter Musicians
]
Come, ho, and wake
Diana
73
with a hymn!
With sweetest touches pierce your mistress’ ear,
And draw her home with music.
JESSICA
I am never merry when I hear sweet music.
Play music
LORENZO
The reason is, your
spirits
77
are attentive.
For do but note a wild and
wanton
78
herd
Or
race
79
of youthful and unhandled colts,
Fetching
80
mad bounds, bellowing and neighing loud,
Which is the
hot condition
81
of their blood.
If they
but
82
hear perchance a trumpet sound,
Or any
air
83
of music touch their ears,
You shall perceive them make a
mutual stand
84
,
Their savage eyes turned to a modest gaze
By the sweet power of music: therefore
the poet
86
Did
feign
87
that Orpheus drew trees, stones and floods,
Since nought so
stockish
88
, hard and full of rage,
But music for time doth change his nature.
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons,
stratagems
92
and spoils.
The
motions
93
of his spirit are dull as night
And his
affections
94
dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.
Enter Portia and Nerissa
PORTIA
That light we see is burning in my hall.
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a
naughty
98
world.
NERISSA
When the moon shone, we did not see the candle.
PORTIA
So doth the greater glory dim the less.
A substitute shines brightly as a king
Until a king be
by
102
, and then his state
Empties itself, as doth an inland brook
Into the
main of waters
104
. Music! Hark!
Music
NERISSA
It is your music, madam, of the house.
PORTIA
Nothing is good, I see, without
respect
106
.
Methinks it sounds much sweeter than by day.
NERISSA
Silence bestows that virtue on it, madam.
PORTIA
The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark
When neither is
attended
110
, and I think
The nightingale, if she should sing by day,
When every goose is cackling, would be thought
No better a musician than the wren.
How many things by
season
114
seasoned are
To their right praise and true perfection!
Peace, ho! The moon sleeps with
Endymion
116
And would not be awaked.
Music ceases
LORENZO
That is the voice,
Or I am much deceived, of Portia.
PORTIA
He knows me as the blind man knows the cuckoo,
By the bad voice.
LORENZO
Dear lady, welcome home.
PORTIA
We have been praying for our husbands’ welfare,
Which
speed
124
, we hope, the better for our words.
Are they returned?
LORENZO
Madam, they are not yet,
But there is come a messenger
before
127
,
To signify their coming.
PORTIA
Go in, Nerissa.
Give order to my servants that they take
No note at all of our being absent hence,
Nor you, Lorenzo, Jessica, nor you.
A
tucket
132
sounds
LORENZO
Your husband is at hand. I hear his trumpet.
We are no telltales, madam; fear you not.
PORTIA
This night methinks is but the daylight sick.
It looks a little paler. ’Tis a day,
Such as the day is when the sun is hid.
Enter Bassanio, Antonio, Gratiano and their followers
BASSANIO
We
should hold day with the Antipodes
138
,
If you would walk
in absence of the sun
139
.
PORTIA
Let me give light, but let me not
be light
140
,
For a light wife doth make a
heavy
141
husband,
And never be Bassanio so for me,
But God
sort
143
all! You are welcome home, my lord.
BASSANIO
I thank you, madam. Give welcome to my friend.
This is the man, this is Antonio,
To whom I am so infinitely bound.
PORTIA
You should in all sense be much bound to him,
For, as I hear, he was much
bound
148
for you.
ANTONIO
No more than I am well
acquitted of
149
.
PORTIA
Sir, you are very welcome to our house.
It must appear in other ways than words:
Therefore I
scant
152
this breathing courtesy.
GRATIANO
By yonder moon I swear you do me wrong.
To Nerissa
In faith, I gave it to the judge’s clerk.
Would he were
gelt
155
that had it, for my part,
Since you do take it, love, so much
at
156
heart.
PORTIA
A quarrel, ho, already? What’s the matter?
GRATIANO
About a hoop of gold, a paltry ring
That she did give me, whose
posy
159
was
For all the world like cutler’s poetry
Upon a knife, ‘Love me, and leave me not.’
NERISSA
What talk you of the posy or the value?
You swore to me when I did give it you,
That you would wear it till the hour of death
And that it should lie with you in your grave.
Though
166
not for me, yet for your vehement oaths,
You should have been
respective
167
and have kept it.
Gave it a judge’s clerk! But well I know
The clerk will ne’er wear hair on’s face that had it.
GRATIANO
He will, an if he live to be a man.
NERISSA
Ay, if a woman live to be a man.
GRATIANO
Now, by this hand, I gave it to a youth,
A kind of boy, a little
scrubbèd
173
boy,
No higher than thyself, the judge’s clerk,
A
prating
175
boy, that begged it as a fee.
I could not for my heart deny it him.
PORTIA
You were to blame—I must be plain with you—
To part so
slightly
178
with your wife’s first gift.
A thing stuck on with oaths upon your finger
And so
riveted
180
with faith unto your flesh.
I gave my love a ring and made him swear
Never to part with it, and here he stands.
I dare be sworn for him he would not leave it,
Nor pluck it from his finger, for the wealth
That the world
masters
185
. Now, in faith, Gratiano,
You give your wife too unkind a cause of grief.
An ’twere to me, I should be
mad
187
at it.
BASSANIO
Why, I were best to cut my left hand off
Aside
And swear I lost the ring defending it.
GRATIANO
My lord Bassanio gave his ring away
Unto the judge that begged it and indeed
Deserved it too. And then the boy, his clerk,
That took some pains in writing, he begged mine,
And neither man nor master would take aught
But the two rings.
PORTIA
What ring gave you my lord?
Not that, I hope, which you received of me.
BASSANIO
If I could add a lie unto a fault,
I would deny it. But you see my finger
Hath not the ring upon it. It is gone.
PORTIA
Even so void is your false heart of truth.
By heaven, I will ne’er come in your bed
Until I see the ring.
NERISSA
Nor I in yours till I again see mine.
BASSANIO
Sweet Portia,
If you did know to whom I gave the ring,
If you did know for whom I gave the ring,
And would
conceive
208
for what I gave the ring,
And how unwillingly I left the ring,
When nought would be accepted but the ring,
You would abate the strength of your displeasure.