1 Then do but fay to me what I should do, Bass. In Belmont is a lady richly left, And fhe is fair, and fairer than that word, Of wond'rous virtues; fometimes from her I did receive fair fpeechlefs meffages; eyes Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth, O my Antonio, had I but the means To hold a rival place with one of them, I have a mind prefages me fuch thrift, That I fhall queftionless be fortunate. Ant. Thou know'ft that all my fortunes are at fea; Nor have I money, nor commodity To raise a prefent fum: Therefore go forth, (Exeunt. SCENE II. Enter PORTIA and NERISSA. Por. By my troth, Neriffa, my little body is weary of this great world. Ner. You would be, fweet madam, if your miferies were in the fame abundance as your good fortunes are. And yet, for aught I fee, they are as fick that furfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing. It is no mean happiness therefore, to be feated in the mean; fuperfluity comes fooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer. Por. Good fentences, and well pronounced. Ner. They would be better, if well followed. Por. If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own inftructions: I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching. But this reasoning is not in the fashion to chufe me a husband:-O me, the word chufe! I may neither chufe whom I would, nor refufe whom I diflike; fo is the will of a living daughter curbed C curbed by the will of a dead father.-Is it not hard, Neriffa, that I cannot chufe one, or refuse none? Ner. Your father was ever virtuous; and holy men, at their death, have good infpirations; there fore, the lottery, that he hath devifed in these three chefts, of gold, filver, and lead, (whereof who chufes his meaning, chufes you,) will, no doubt, never be chofen by any rightly, but one whom you fhall rightly love. But what warmth is there in your affection towards any of these princely fuitors, that are already come. Por. I pray thee, over-name them; and as thou nameft them, I will defcribe them; and, açcording to my description, level at my affection. Ner. First, there is the Neapolitan prince. Por. Ay, that's a colt, indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horfe; and he makes it a great appropriation to his own good parts, that he can fhoe him himfelf: I am much afraid, my lady his mother played falfe with a fmith. Ner. Then, there is the count Palatine. Por. He doth nothing but frown; as who fhould fay, An if you will not have me, chuse he hears merry tales, and fmiles not: I fear, he will prove the weeping philofopher when he grows old old, being fo full of unmannerly fadnefs in his youth. I had rather be married to a death's head with a bone in his mouth, than to either of thefe. Defend me from these two! Ner. How fay you by the French lord, Monfieur le Bon? Por. Nature made him, and therefore let him pass for a man. In truth, I know it is a fin to be a mocker; But, he! why, he hath a horse better than the Neapolitan's; a better bad habit of frowning than the count Palatine; he is every man' in no man: if a throftle fing, he falls ftraight a capering; he will fence with his own fhadow: if I fhould marry him, I fhould marry twenty hufbands! If he would defpife me, I would forgive him; for if he love me to madness, I fhall never requite him. Ner. What fay you then to Falconbridge, the young Baron of England? Por. You know, I fay nothing to him; for he understands not me, nor I him. He hath neither Latin, French nor Italian; and you will come into the Court and fwear, that I have a poor pennyworth in the English. He is a proper man's picture; but alas! who can converse with a dumb fhow? How oddly is he fuited! I think he bought C 2 his 1 his doublet in Italy, his round hofe in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour every where. Ner. What think you of the Scottish Lord, his neighbour? ; Por. That he hath a neighbourly charity in him for he borrowed a box of the ear of the Englishman, and fwore he would pay him again when he was able. I think the Frenchman became his furety, and fealed under for another. Ner. How like you the young German, the Duke of Saxony's nephew? Por. Very vilely in the morning, when he is fober; and most vilely in the afternoon, when he is drunk! When he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worft, he is little better than a beast: an the worst fall that ever fell, I hope, I shall make shift to go without him. Ner. If he fhould offer to chufe, and chufe the right casket, you would refuse to perform your father's will, if you should refuse to accept him. Por. Therefore, for fear of the worst, I pray thee, fet a deep glafs of Rhenifh wine on the contrary casket; for if the devil be within, and that temptation without, I know he will chufe it. I |