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Do

you desire?-Rest you fair, good signior;

[TO ANTONIO.

Your worship was the last man in our mouths.

Ant. Shylock, albeit I neither lend nor borrow, By taking, nor by giving of excess,

Yet, to supply the ripe wants3 of my friend,
I'll break a custom :-Is he yet possess'd *,

How much you would?

Shy.

Ay, ay, three thousand ducats. Ant. And for three months.

Shy. I had forgot,-three months, you told me so. Well then, your bond; and, let me see,- -But hear you;

Methought, you said, you neither lend, nor borrow, Upon advantage.

Ant.

I do never use it.

Shy. When Jacob graz'd his uncle Laban's sheep,
This Jacob from our holy Abraham was
(As his wise mother wrought in his behalf,)
The third possessor; ay, he was the third.
Ant. And what of him? did he take interest?
Shy. No, not take interest; not, as you would say,
Directly interest: mark what Jacob did.
When Laban and himself were compromis'd,
That all the eanlings 5 which were streak'd, and pied,
Should fall as Jacob's hire; the ewes, being rank,

In the end of autumn turned to the rams:
And when the work of generation was
Between these woolly breeders in the act,
The skilful shepherd peel'd me certain wands,
And in the doing of the deed of kind 6,

3 Wants come to the height, which admit no longer delay.
4 Informed.

It is applied par

5 Young lambs just dropt, or ean'd. This word is usually spelt yean but the Saxon etymology demands ean. ticularly to ewes.

6 i, e. of nature.

He stuck them up before the fulsome 7 ewes ;
Who, then conceiving, did in eaning time
Fall party-colour'd lambs, and those were Jacob's.
This was a way to thrive, and he was blest;
And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not.

Ant. This was a venture, sir, that Jacob serv'd for;
A thing not in his power to bring to pass,
But sway'd, and fashion'd, by the hand of heaven.
Was this inserted to make interest good?

:

Or is your gold and silver, ewes and rams?
Shy. I cannot tell; I make it breed as fast:-
But note me, signior.

Ant.
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 apple rotten at the heart;

8

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

Shy. Three thousand ducats,-'tis a good round

sum.

Three months from twelve, then let me see the rate.

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7 Fulsome,' says Mr. Douce, has, doubtless, the same signification with the preceding epithet rank.' It is true that rank has sometimes the interpretation affixed to it of rammish in old Dictionaries, but there is also another meaning of the word which may be found in Baret's Alvearie, 1573, viz. Fruitefull, ranck, battle, Lat. fertilis. This sense would also, I think, better accord with fulsome, if it could be shown to be a synonyme. It is quite evident that Steevens's interpretation is not supported by his quotations, most of which have one of the old senses of the word foul or foulsome. Mr. Boswell's interpretation, pregnant, is inadmissible; and the quotation from Golding's Ovid is much in favour of my suggestion. The fulsome ewes may therefore only mean the fruitful ewes :

'But what have your poor sheepe misdone, a cattel meeke and meeld,

Created for to maintaine man, whose fulsome dugs do yeeld Sweete nectar.'

8 Falsehood here means knavery, treachery, as truth is sometimes used for honesty.

Ant. Well, Shylock, shall we be beholden to you?
Shy. Signior Antonio, many a time and oft,
In the Rialto you have rated me

About my monies, and my usances 9:
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug;
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe:
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine,

And all for use of that which is mine own.

Well then, it now appears, you need my help:
Go to then; you come to me, and you say,
Shylock, we would have monies; You say so;
You, that did void your rheum upon my beard,
And foot me, as you spurn a stranger cur
Over your threshold; monies is your suit.
What shall I say to you? Should I not say,
Hath a dog money; is it possible,

A cur can lend three thousand ducats? or
Shall I bend low, and in a bondman's key,
With 'bated breath, and whispering humbleness,
Say this,-

Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last;
You spurn'd me such a day; another time
You call'd me-dog; and for these courtesies
I'll lend you thus much monies?

Ant. I am as like 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 10 for barren metal of his friend?)

But lend it rather to thine enemy;

9 Interest.

10 i. e. interest, money bred from the principal. Meres says, Usurie and encrease of gold and silver is unlawful, because against nature; nature hath made them sterill and barren, usurie makes them procreative.' The honour of starting this conceit belongs to Aristotle. See De Republ. 1. 1.

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Who, if he break, thou may'st with better face
Exact the penalty.

Shy. Why, look you, how you storm! I would be friends with you, and have your love, Forget the shames that you have stain'd me with, Supply your present wants, and take no doit

Of usance for my monies, and you'll not hear me : This is kind I offer.

Ant.

This were kindness.
Shy. This kindness will I show:-

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Go with me to a notary, seal me there
Your single 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
Express'd in the condition, let the forfeit
Be nominated for an equal pound

Of

your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken

In what part of your body pleaseth me.

Ant. Content, in faith; I'll seal to such a bond, And say, there is much kindness in the Jew.

Bass. You shall not seal to such a bond for me, I'll rather dwell 11 in my necessity.

Ant. 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.

Shy. O father Abraham, what these Christians are; Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect The thoughts of others! Pray you, tell me this; If he should break his day, what should I gain By the exaction of the forfeiture?

A pound of man's flesh, taken from a man,

Is not so estimable, profitable neither,

As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say,

11 i. e. continue; to abide has both the senses of habitation and continuance.

To buy his favour, I extend this friendship:
If he will take it, so; if not, adieu;

And, for my love, I pray you wrong me not.
Ant. Yes, Shylock, I will seal unto this bond.
Shy. Then meet me forthwith at the notary's;
Give him direction for this merry bond,

12

And I will go and purse the ducats straight;
See to my house, left in the fearful 1o guard
Of an unthrifty knave; and presently

I will be with you.

[Exit. Ant. Hie thee, gentle Jew. This Hebrew will turn Christian; he grows kind. Bass. I like not fair terms, and a villain's mind. Ant. Come on in this there can be no dismay, My ships come home a month before the day.

[Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I. Belmont.

A Room in Portia's House. Flourish of Cornets.

Enter the Prince of Morocco, and his Train; POR-
TIA, NERISSA, and other of her Attendants.
Mor. Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadow'd livery of the burnish'd sun,
To whom I am a neighbour, and near bred.
Bring me the fairest creature northward born,
Where Phoebus' fire scarce thaws the icicles,

12 Fearful guard is a guard that is not to be trusted, but gives cause of fear. To fear was anciently to give as well as feel terSo in K. Henry IV. Part I.

rors.

A mighty and a fearful head they are.'

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