Hawkins' conjecture, swollen;' Dyce follows Collier's MS. corrector, and reads 'bollen.' 'Wawling' comes nearer to the required sense.

57. As to offend, himself being offended. This is the punctuation of the first quarto. The second quarto and earlier folios omit the comma, and the fourth folio puts a comma after himself."' Both the context and the

rhythm of the verse seem to us to favour the punctuation given in the text. 58. nor I will not. See note on iii. 4. II.

59. lodged, fixed, settled, abiding.

60. that I follow, why I follow.

61. A losing suit, a suit in which I have nothing to gain.

63. the current, the unimpeded course. See King John, ii. 1. 335: 'Say, shall the current of our right run on?'

64. answers. So the second quarto.

answer.

The first has answere, the folios

See

67. Offence means the resentment of the injured party as well as the injury itself, as in the phrases to give offence,' 'to take offence.' 3 Henry VI. i. 3. 44:

'And when I give occasion of offence,

Then let me die.'

Bassanio uses the word in the former sense, Shylock's reply alludes to the latter.

69. think you question with the Jew, remember you are arguing with Shylock, whose cruel nature is known. The two later folios read a Jew,' for the Jew.' For question,' as a verb, see Merry Wives of Windsor, iii. 1. 78: Disarm them and let them question.' Question' occurs also as a substantive, meaning 'discussion,' argument.' See As You Like It, iii. 4. 39: 'I met the Duke yesterday and had much question with him.'

Called also

71. main flood, ocean. the main,' 'the main of waters,' the flood,''the salt flood.' The word flood' is also applied to a river, when the context prevents misunderstanding, as Much Ado About Nothing, i. I. 318:

'What need the bridge much broader than the flood?'

75. and to make no noise, i. e. and command them to make no noise. Shakespeare is often careless as to his grammar where it is not possible to misunderstand the meaning, especially in double negatives. See Comedy of Errors, iv. 2. 7:

'First he denied you had in him no right.' See also line 162 of this scene.

76. fretten. So the quartos.

ii. 6. 35:

The folios have 'fretted.' See 3 Henry VI.

'As doth a sail, fill'd with a fretting gust.'

81. with all brief and plain conveniency, with such brevity and directness as befits the administration of justice.

82. Let me bave judgement, let me have sentence given against me. So 'judge' is used in the sense of condemn,' Luke xix. 22.

103. Upon my power. We still say on my authority.' 104. Bellario. Shakespeare has not made it clear whether Portia was aware that the Duke had sent for Bellario or not. See iii. 4. 50.

105. determine, decide. See 2 Henry VI. iv. 7. 92:

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'Long sitting to determine poor men's causes.'

122. sole. soul. The folio first distinguished between these words, spelling them soale' and 'soule' respectively. In the quartos both are spelt soule.' The same play upon the words is found, Julius Cæsar, i. 1. 15. For the meaning of Gratiano's taunt, compare 2 Henry IV. iv. 5. 108: Thou hidest a thousand daggers in thy thoughts,

6

Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart.'

See also Richard III. iv. 4. 227.

124. bangman, used generally, for 'executioner.'

127. inexecrable, that cannot be execrated enough. The third folio substituted inexorable.'

128. Justice herself should be impeached for allowing thee to live. 135. Pythagoras, the philosopher of Samos, to whom was attributed the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. See Twelfth Night, iv. 2. 54: 'Clown. What is the opinion of Pythagoras concerning wild-fowl? Malvolio. That the soul of our grandam might haply inhabit a

bird.'

133. who hang'd for human slaughter. This is another instance of what is called nominativus pendens in Latin. See note on i. 3. 124.

134. fleet, flit, take flight. We have had this verb before, iii. 2. 108. 139. offend'st, annoyest. The word offend' is used to denote the infliction of physical pain in All's Well that Ends Well, v. 3. 55:

'In mine eye

The dust that did offend it.'

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141. cureless, past restoring. So the quartos. The folios have endless.' Pope reads careless.'

158. fill up, fulfil. Up' intensifies the verb to which it is attached, like Kaтá in Greek. Troilus and Cressida, iii. 2. 189:

"As true as Troilus" shall crown up the verse.' On the other hand, in Measure for Measure, i. 2. 168, 'up' is almost redundant :

'Whether the tyranny be in his place,

Or in his eminence that fills it up.'

159. no impediment to let him lack, no hindrance to his receiving. So un is used in Greek after words signifying to 'hinder,' 'forbid,' &c., a usage which sprang originally from a confusion of thought, similar to that in iv. 1. 76: forbid . . . to make no noise.'

162. whose trial. It may be doubted whether whose' here is a possessive or objective pronoun, i. e. whether the antecedent be 'you' (from 'your '), or him.' The relative is frequently used in older authors with a laxity not admissible in modern English.

164. Enter Portia . . . laws.

This stage direction was inserted by Rowe. The quartos and folios have Enter Portia for Balthasar.'

166. take your place, i. e. as judge, either beside, or just below, the Duke; probably the former, since he gives her his hand, and it would be awkward to converse, as they do, in the other position.

167, 168. the difference That holds this present question, the dispute [between Shylock and Antonio] that is the subject of the present discussion. For difference,' see Richard II. i. 1. 201:

'Arbitrate

The swelling difference of your settled hate.'

169. throughly. In Shakespeare's time through' and thorough,' throughly' and thoroughly,' were all in use. The one form has become obsolete in the preposition, the other in the adverb.

174. in such rule &c., so strictly according to form, that the law can detect no flaw in your procedure.

176. within his danger. To be in the danger of any one, être en son danger, came to signify to be subjected to any one, to be in his power, or liable to a penalty to be inflicted by him or at his suit. (Wedgwood, Dict. of English Etymology.) The word 'danger' is derived from the Low Latin domigerium, the power of inflicting a damnum or fine for trespass. The phrase occurs, with some reference to its legal usage, in Venus and Adonis, 639: 'Come not within his danger by thy will.'

Compare Matthew v. 22, where in danger of' is a translation of the Greek ěvoxos. The Latin equivalent is obnoxius. The old proverb 'Out of debt out of danger' refers to the legal signification of the word.

180. It is worth observing how naturally this magnificent speech rises out of the ordinary level of the dialogue, and has not the least appearance of being a purpureus pannus. Shylock takes hold of the word 'must,' and gives it an emphasis and a meaning which it had not as used by Portia.

181. It is possible, as Douce says, that Shakespeare remembered Ecclesiasticus xxxv. 20: Mercy is seasonable in the time of affliction, as clouds of rain in the time of drought.'

198. spoke, frequently used by Shakespeare for 'spoken,' as iii. 2. 180. So undertook' for 'undertaken,' ii. 4. 7.

200. Which if thou follow, if you insist upon strict justice.

204. discharge the money, discharge the money due, the debt. 'Discharge the Jew,' iii. 2. 276, is to pay the Jew off.'

206. twice the sum. This, says Ritson, should be thrice the sum,' comparing lines 230, 314. But as Bassanio offers ten times the sum, Portia is authorized to offer thrice the sum in his name, as omne majus continet in se minus. Or Bassanio here may be supposed to offer twice the sum in addition to his previous tender of the sum itself; thrice the sum in all.

210. truth, honour, honesty. A really honest and true man could require no more than the payment of the debt due to him.

2II. once. For once make the law yield to your authority.

213. curb... of his will. See 1 Henry IV. iii. I. 171:

'And curbs himself even of his natural scope.'

219. A Daniel come to judgement ! The Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young child, whose name was Daniel,' &c. (History of Susanna, 45 sqq.) So the Geneva and the Bishops' version, which was read in churches in Shakespeare's time. The Authorized version substituted 'young youth' for 'young child.'

244. bath full relation, is fully applicable. The meaning of the law clearly is, that every penalty due upon every bond should be paid; therefore it includes the present case.

247. more elder. For instances of this double comparative see Tempest, i. 2. 19:

Than Prospero :'

'Nor that I am more better

and Tempest, i. 2. 439: 'his more braver daughter.'

250. In i. 3. 137 Shylock stipulated for

'an equal pound

Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken

In what part of your body pleaseth me.'

We must suppose that in dictating the terms of the bond he had specified that it was to be cut off from his breast nearest his heart. The old ballad of Gernutus has:

'No, no, quoth he; no: judgement here:

For this it shall be tried,

For I will have my pound of flesh

From under his right side.'

251. Are there balance. See Lilly's Mydas, i. I: the ballance she holdeth are not to wey the right of the cause, but the weight of the bribe.' This is the only instance where 'balance' is used as a plural by Shakespeare. We find 'ballances, or a payre of ballance: libra' in Baret's Alvearie (1580). Cotgrave (1611) has balance; a pair of balances.' It is common to find a confusion in the number of nouns ending in a sibilant. See Love's Labour 's Lost, iv. 3. 345:

'The voice of all the gods Make heaven drowsy with the harmony.' 253. Have a surgeon present at your expense.

264. it is still ber use, it is constantly her custom. For 'still' see note on i. 1. 136.

268. such. For 'such' it has been suggested that we should read 'sordid,' or 'so much,' or 'such-like,' or 'searching,' to mend the rhythm of the line. But misery' is used with the metrical accent on the second syllable in King John, iii. 4. 35:

'And buss thee as thy wife. Misery's love,

O, come to me.'

271. speak me fair in death, speak well of me when I am dead. Romeo and Juliet, iii. 1. 158, 'Romeo that spoke him fair,' means 'Romeo that spoke to him in conciliatory terms.' This is the usual meaning of the phrase.

273. love, like 'lover,' was used for a dear friend.

274. Repent but you. So the quartos. The folios have 'Repent not you,' which most editors have adopted. But surely Antonio would wish his friend to regret his loss. In both lines repent' is used in the sense of regret,' ' sorrow for,' as in Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 2. III: 'I do repent

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The tedious minutes I with her have spent.'

Cotgrave gives repent' as one of the translations of 'regretter.'

277. presently. So the first quarto. The second quarto and the folios have 'instantly.' Presently' however is used elsewhere in the sense of 'instantly.' See line 383 of this scene, and note on i. 1. 183.

Ib. with all my heart. A jest like this enhances the pathos. Men at the point of death have a natural tendency to beguile the misery of the time by playing upon words. Compare the death scene in King John. v. 7. So Shakespeare makes Gaunt jest on his name in Richard II. ii. 73 sqq. So also Sophocles makes Ajax 'play nicely with his name,' line 430. 279. which, for who,' as in the Lord's Prayer.

292. Barrabas. So spelt in Tyndale's and Coverdale's versions. lowe's Jew of Malta this name is Barabas, not Barabbas :

Tush! who amongst 'em knows not Barabas?'

In Mar