Of what it likes or loathes. Now for your answer:
As there is no firm reason to be rendered
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig;
Why he, a harmless necessary cat;
Why he, a swollen bagpipe; but of force
Must yield to such inevitable shame
As to offend, himself being offended;
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodged hate and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus

A losing suit against him. Are you answered?
Bass. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
To excuse the current of thy cruelty.

Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my

answer.

Bass. Do all men kill the things they do not love?
Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
Bass. Every offence is not a hate at first.
Shy. What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting
thee twice?

Ant. I pray you, think you question with the
Jew.

You may as well go stand upon the beach,
And bid the main flood bate his usual height;
You may as well use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops, and to make no noise,
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven;
You may as well do anything most hard,
As seek to soften that (than which what's harder?)
His Jewish heart. Therefore, I do beseech you,
Make no more offers, use no further means,
But, with all brief and plain conveniency,
Let me have judgment, and the Jew his will.
Bass. For thy three thousand ducats here is six.
Shy. If every ducat in six thousand ducats
Were in six parts, and every part a ducat;
I would not draw them; I would have my bond,
Duke. How shalt thou hope for mercy, render-
ing none?

Shy. What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?

You have among you many a purchased slave,
Which, like your asses, and your dogs, and mules,
You use in abject and in slavish parts,
Because you bought them. Shall I say to you,
Let them be free; marry them to your heirs?
Why sweat they under burdens? let their beds
Be made as soft as yours, and let their palates
Be seasoned with such viands? You will answer,
The slaves are ours. So do I answer you:
The pound of flesh which I demand of him,
Is dearly bought; is mine, and I will have it.
If you deny me, fie upon your law!
There is no force in the decrees of Venice.

I stand for judgment: answer; shall I have it?

The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones and all, Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood.

Ant. I am a tainted wether of the flock, Meetest for death: the weakest kind of fruit Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me. You cannot better be employed, Bassanio, Than to live still, and write mine epitaph.

Enter NERISSA, dressed like a lawyer's clerk. Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario? Ner. From both, my lord: Bellario greets your [Presents a letter.

grace.

Bass. Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly? Shy. To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there.

Gra. Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, Thou mak'st thy knife keen: but no metal can, No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee? Shy. No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.

Gra. O, be thou damned, inexorable dog! And for thy life let justice be accused. Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith, To hold opinion with Pythagoras, That souls of animals infuse themselves Into the trunks of men: thy currish spirit Governed a wolf, who, hanged for human

Clerk reads.

"Your grace shall understand that, at the receipt of your letter, I am very sick: but in the instant that your messenger came, in loving visitation was with me a young doctor of Rome; his name is Balthasar. I acquainted him with the cause in controversy between the Jew and Antonio the merchant: we turned o'er many books together: he is furnished with my opinion; which, bettered with his own learning (the greatness whereof I cannot enough commend), comes with him, at my importunity, to fill up your grace's request in my stead. I beseech you, let his lack of years be no impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation; for I never knew so young a body with so old a head. I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial shall better publish his commendation."

Por.

not? you [TO ANTONIO.

Do you confess the bond?

Then must the Jew be merciful.

Shy. On what compulsion must I? tell me that.

Por. The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed; It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The thronéd monarch better than his crown. His sceptre shews the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings: But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthronéd in the hearts of kings; It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then shew likest God's

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;

Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

Shy. My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,

The penalty and forfeit of my bond.
Por. Is he not able to discharge the money?
Bass. Yes, here I tender it for him in the court;
Yea, twice the sum: if that will not suffice,
I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er,
On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart:
If this will not suffice, it must appear
That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you,
Wrest once the law to your authority:
To do a great right, do a little wrong;
And curb this cruel devil of his will.

Por. It must not be: there is no power in Venice Can alter a decree established:

'T will be recorded for a precedent;
And many an error, by the same example,
Will rush into the state: it cannot be.
Shy. A Daniel come to judgment: yea, a

Daniel!

O wise young judge, how do I honour thee!
Por. I pray you, let me look upon the bond.
Shy. Here 't is, most reverend doctor; here it is.
Por. Shylock, there's thrice thy money offered
thee.

Shy. An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven:
Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?
No, not for Venice.

Por. Why, this bond is forfeit; And lawfully by this the Jew may claim A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off Nearest the merchant's heart.-Be merciful; Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond.

Shy. When it is paid according to the tenour. It doth appear you are a worthy judge; You know the law, your exposition Hath been most sound. I charge you by the law, Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar, Proceed to judgment: by my soul I swear, There is no power in the tongue of man To alter me. I stay here on my bond.

Ant. Most heartily I do beseech the court To give the judgment.

Por.

Why then, thus it is: You must prepare your bosom for his knife: Shy. O noble judge! O excellent young man Por. For the intent and purpose of the law

Por. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your
charge,

To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.
Shy. Is it so nominated in the bond?
Por. It is not so expressed: but what of that?
"Twere good you do so much for charity.

Shy. I cannot find it; 't is not in the bond.
Por. Come, merchant, have you anything to say?
Ant. But little: I am armed, and well prepared.
Give me your hand, Bassanio: fare you well!
Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you;
For herein Fortune shews herself more kind
Than is her custom. It is still her use
To let the wretched man outlive his wealth,
To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow,
An age of poverty: from which lingering penance
Of such a misery doth she cut me off.
Commend me to your honourable wife :
Tell her the process of Antonio's end;
Say how I loved you; speak me fair in death;
And when the tale is told, bid her be judge
Whether Bassanio had not once a love.

Repent not you that you shall lose your friend, And he repents not that he pays your debt; For, if the Jew do cut but deep enough,

I'll

pay it instantly with all my heart.
Bass. Antonio, I am married to a wife
Which is as dear to me as life itself;
But life itself, my wife, and all the world,
Are not with me esteemed above thy life:
I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you.

Por. Your wife would give you little thanks for that,

If she were by, to hear you make the offer.

Gra. I have a wife, whom I protest I love: I would she were in heaven, so she could Entreat some power to change this currish Jew. Ner. "Tis well you offer it behind her back; The wish would make else an unquiet house. Shy. These be the Christian husbands! I have a daughter:

'Would any of the stock of Barrabas

Had been her husband rather than a Christian!

[Aside.

We trifle time: I pray thee pursue sentence.

Por. A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine:

The court awards it, and the law doth give it. Shy. Most rightful judge!

Por. And you must cut this flesh from off his breast:

The law allows it, and the court awards it.
Shy. Most learned judge!—A sentence: come,

prepare.

Por. Tarry a little there is something else. This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood; The words expressly are, a pound of flesh : Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh; But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate Unto the state of Venice.

Gra. O upright judge!-Mark, Jew!—O learned judge!

Shy. Is that the law?

Por.

Thyself shall see the act: For, as thou urgest justice, be assured Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest. Gra. O learned judge!—Mark, Jew: a learned

Shed thou no blood; nor cut thou less nor more,
But just a pound of flesh: if thou tak'st more
Or less than a just pound,—be it but so much
As makes it light or heavy in the substance,
Or the division of the twentieth part

Of one poor scruple; nay, if the scale do turn
But in the estimation of a hair,-

Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate.
Gra. A second Daniel; a Daniel, Jew!

Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip.

Por. Why doth the Jew pause? take thy for

feiture.

Shy. Give me my principal, and let me go. Bass. I have it ready for thee; here it is. Por. He hath refused it in the open court: He shall have merely justice and his bond.

Gra. A Daniel, still say I; a second Daniel! I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word. Shy. Shall I not have barely my principal? Por. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.

Shy. Why then the devil give him good of it! I'll stay no longer question.

The law hath yet another hold on you.
It is enacted in the laws of Venice,-

If it be proved against an alien,
That, by direct or indirect attempts,
He seek the life of any citizen,

The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive
Shall seize one half his goods: the other half
Comes to the privy coffer of the state;
And the offender's life lies in the mercy
Of the Duke only, 'gainst all other voice.
In which predicament I say thou stand'st:
For it appears by manifest proceeding,
That indirectly, and directly too,
Thou hast contrived against the very
Of the defendant; and thou hast incurred
The danger formerly by me rehearsed.
Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke.
Gra. Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang
thyself:

life

And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, Thou hast not left the value of a cord; Therefore thou must be hanged at the state's charge.

Duke. That thou shalt see the difference of our spirit,

I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.
For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's:
The other half comes to the general state,
Which humbleness may drive unto a fine.

Por. Ay, for the state; not for Antonio.
Shy. Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that:
You take my house, when you do take the prop
That doth sustain my house; you take my life,
When you do take the means whereby I live.

Por. What mercy can you render him, Antonio? Gra. A halter gratis; nothing else, for God's sake.

Ant. So please my lord the Duke, and all the court,

To quit the fine for one half of his goods;
I am content, so he will let me have
The other half in use, to render it,
Upon his death, unto the gentleman
That lately stole his daughter.

Two things provided more :-that, for this favour,

He presently become a Christian;

The other, that he do record a gift,
Here in the court, of all he dies possessed,
Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.

Duke. He shall do this; or else I do recant
The pardon that I late pronounced here.
Por. Art thou contented, Jew? what dost thou
say?

Antonio, gratify this gentleman;
For, in my mind, you are much bound to him.
[Exeunt DUKE, Magnificoes, and Train.
Bass. Most worthy gentlemen, I and my friend
Have by your wisdom been this day acquitted
Of grievous penalties: in lieu whereof,
Three thousand ducats, due unto the Jew,
We freely cope your courteous pains withal.
Ant. And stand indebted, over and above,
In love and service to you evermore.

Por. He is well paid that is well satisfied;
And I, delivering you, am satisfied,
And therein do account myself well paid:
My mind was never yet more mercenary.
I pray you know me, when we meet again:
I wish you well, and so I take my leave.

Bass. Dear sir, of force I must attempt you

further:

Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute, Not as a fee. Grant me two things, I pray you: Not to deny me, and to pardon me.

Por. You press me far, and therefore I will yield. Give me your gloves, I'll wear them for your sake; And, for your love, I'll take this ring from you:Do not draw back your hand: I'll take no more; And you in love shall not deny me this.

Bass. This ring, good sir!—alas, it is a trifle; I will not shame myself to give you this. Por. I will have nothing else but only this; And now methinks I have a mind to it.

Bass. There's more depends on this than on the
value.

The dearest ring in Venice will I give you,
And find it out by proclamation:
Only for this, I pray you pardon me.

Por. I see, sir, you are liberal in offers:
You taught me first to beg; and now methinks
You teach me how a beggar should be answered.

Bass. 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.

Por. That 'scuse serves many men to save their gifts.

An if your wife be not a mad woman,
And know how well I have deserved this ring,
She would not hold out enemy for ever,
For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you!
[Exeunt PORTIA and NERISSA.

Ant. My lord Bassanio, let him have the ring :
Let his deservings, and my love withal,
Be valued 'gainst your wife's commandment.

Bass. 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 toward Belmont: come, Antonio. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.-The same. A Street.

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA.

Por. Inquire the Jew's house out; give him this deed,

And let him sign it: we'll away to night,