The Merchant of Venice Read online

  Then, howsome’er thou speak’st, ’mong other things

  I shall digest81 it.

  JESSICA Well, I’ll set you forth82.

  Exeunt

  Act 4 [Scene 1]

  running scene 18

  Location: Venice

  Enter the Duke, the Magnificoes, Antonio, Bassanio and Gratiano [with Salerio and others]

  DUKE What, is Antonio here?

  ANTONIO Ready, so please your grace.

  DUKE I am sorry for thee. Thou art come to answer3

  A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch

  Uncapable of pity, void and empty

  From6 any dram of mercy.

  ANTONIO I have heard

  Your grace hath ta’en great pains to qualify8

  His rigorous course, but since he stands obdurate9

  And that no lawful means can carry me

  Out of his envy’s11 reach, I do oppose

  My patience to his fury, and am armed

  To suffer with a quietness of spirit

  The very tyranny14 and rage of his.

  DUKE Go one, and call the Jew into the court.

  SALERIO He is ready at the door. He comes, my lord.

  Enter Shylock

  DUKE Make room, and let him stand before our17 face.

  Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too,

  That thou but lead’st this fashion19 of thy malice

  To the last hour of act20, and then ’tis thought

  Thou’lt show thy mercy and remorse21 more strange

  Than is thy strange22 apparent cruelty;

  And where thou now exact’st the penalty,

  Which is a pound of this poor merchant’s flesh,

  Thou wilt not only loose25 the forfeiture,

  But, touched with humane gentleness and love,

  Forgive a moiety27 of the principal,

  Glancing an eye of pity on his losses,

  That have of late so huddled on his back,

  Enow to press a royal merchant30 down

  And pluck commiseration of his state

  From brassy bosoms32 and rough hearts of flints,

  From stubborn Turks and Tartars33, never trained

  To offices of tender courtesy.

  We all expect a gentle35 answer, Jew.

  SHYLOCK I have possessed36 your grace of what I purpose,

  And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn

  To have the due38 and forfeit of my bond.

  If you deny it, let the danger39 light

  Upon your charter40 and your city’s freedom.

  You’ll ask me why I rather choose to have

  A weight of carrion42 flesh than to receive

  Three thousand ducats: I’ll not answer that,

  But say it is my humour44; is it answered?

  What if my house be troubled with a rat

  And I be pleased to give ten thousand ducats

  To have it baned47? What, are you answered yet?

  Some men there are love48 not a gaping pig,

  Some that are mad if they behold a cat,

  And others when the bagpipe sings i’th’nose50

  Cannot contain their urine, for affection51,

  Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood

  Of what it likes or loathes. Now, for your answer:

  As there is no firm reason to be rendered,

  Why he55 cannot abide a gaping pig,

  Why he56, a harmless necessary cat,

  Why he, a woollen 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 lodged61 hate and a certain loathing

  I bear Antonio, that I follow62 thus

  A losing63 suit against him. Are you answered?

  BASSANIO This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,

  To excuse the current65 of thy cruelty.

  SHYLOCK I am not bound to please thee with my answer.

  BASSANIO Do all men kill the things they do not love?

  SHYLOCK Hates any man the thing he would not kill?

  BASSANIO Every offence is not a hate at first.

  SHYLOCK What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee

  twice?

  ANTONIO I pray you think71 you question with the Jew:

  You may as well go stand upon the beach

  And bid the main flood73 bate his usual height,

  Or even as well use question74 with the wolf

  Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb.

  You may as well forbid the mountain pines

  To wag77 their high tops and to make no noise

  When they are fretted78 with the gusts of heaven.

  You may as well do anything most hard79

  As seek to soften that—than80 which what harder?—

  His Jewish heart: therefore, I do beseech you

  Make no more offers, use no further means,

  But with all brief and plain conveniency83

  Let me have judgement and the Jew his will.

  BASSANIO For thy three thousand ducats here is six.

  SHYLOCK If every ducat in six thousand ducats

  Were in six parts and every part a ducat,

  I would not draw88 them. I would have my bond!

  DUKE How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend’ring89 none?

  SHYLOCK What judgement shall I dread, doing no wrong90?

  You have among you many a purchased slave,

  Which, like your asses and your dogs and mules,

  You use in abject and in slavish parts93,

  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 viands98? You will answer

  ‘The slaves are ours.’ So do I answer you:

  The pound of flesh which I demand of him

  Is dearly bought, ’tis 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 for104 judgement. Answer: shall I have it?

  DUKE Upon my power I may dismiss this court,

  Unless Bellario, a learnèd doctor,

  Whom I have sent for to determine this,

  Come here today.

  SALERIO My lord, here stays without109

  A messenger with letters from the doctor,

  New come from Padua.

  DUKE Bring us the letters. Call the messenger.

  BASSANIO Good cheer, Antonio! What, man, courage yet!

  The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones and all,

  Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood.

  ANTONIO I am a tainted116 wether of the flock,

  Meetest117 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 law clerk]

  DUKE Came you from Padua, from Bellario?

  NERISSA From both. My lord Bellario greets your

  grace.

  She gives the Duke a letter while

  Shylock whets his knife on his shoe

  BASSANIO Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?

  SHYLOCK To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt

  there.

  GRATIANO Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew,

  Thou mak’st thy knife keen126. But no metal can,

  No, not the hangman’s127 axe, bear half the keenness

  Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee?

  SHYLOCK No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.

  GRATIANO O, be thou damned, inexecrable130 dog!

  And for thy life131 let justice be accused.

  Thou almost
mak’st me waver in my faith

  To hold opinion with Pythagoras133,

  That souls of animals infuse themselves

  Into the trunks of men. Thy currish135 spirit

  Governed a wolf who, hanged for human slaughter,

  Even from the gallows did his fell137 soul fleet,

  And, whilst thou lay’st in thy unhallowed138 dam,

  Infused itself in thee, for thy desires

  Are wolvish, bloody, starved and ravenous.

  SHYLOCK Till thou canst rail141 the seal from off my bond,

  Thou but offend’st142 thy lungs to speak so loud:

  Repair143 thy wit, good youth, or it will fall

  To endless ruin. I stand here for law.

  DUKE This letter from Bellario doth commend

  A young and learnèd doctor in our court;

  Where is he?

  NERISSA He attendeth here hard148 by,

  To know your answer, whether you’ll admit him.

  DUKE With all my heart. Some three or four of you

  Go give him courteous conduct to this place.

  [Exeunt some]

  Meantime the court shall hear Bellario’s letter.

  ‘Your grace shall understand that at the receipt of

  Reads

  your letter I am very sick, but in the instant that your

  messenger came, in loving visitation155 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 furnished159 with my opinion, which—bettered with his

  own learning, the greatness whereof I cannot enough

  commend—comes with him, at my importunity161, 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 reverend163

  estimation, for I never knew so young a body with so old a

  head. I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial165

  shall better publish166 his commendation.’

  Enter Portia for Balthasar

  Dressed like a lawyer

  You hear the learnèd Bellario, what he writes,

  And here, I take it, is the doctor come.

  Give me your hand. Came you from old Bellario?

  PORTIA I did, my lord.

  DUKE You are welcome. Take your place.

  Are you acquainted with the difference172

  That holds this present question173 in the court?

  PORTIA I am informèd throughly174 of the cause.

  Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?

  DUKE Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth.

  PORTIA Is your name Shylock?

  SHYLOCK Shylock is my name.

  PORTIA Of a strange nature is the suit you follow,

  Yet in such rule180 that the Venetian law

  Cannot impugn181 you as you do proceed.—

  You stand within his danger182, do you not?

  ANTONIO Ay, so he says.

  PORTIA Do you confess184 the bond?

  ANTONIO I do.

  PORTIA Then must the Jew be merciful.

  SHYLOCK On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.

  PORTIA The quality of mercy is not strained188,

  It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

  Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest190:

  It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

  ’Tis mightiest in the mightiest, it becomes

  The thronèd monarch better than his crown.

  His sceptre shows194 the force of temporal power,

  The attribute to awe and majesty,

  Wherein doth sit the dread196 and fear of kings.

  But mercy is above this sceptred sway197,

  It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,

  It is an attribute to God himself;

  And earthly power doth then show likest200 God’s

  When mercy seasons201 justice: therefore, Jew,

  Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

  That in the course of justice203, none of us

  Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,

  And that same prayer doth teach us all to render205

  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.

  SHYLOCK My deeds upon my head!210 I crave the law,

  The penalty and forfeit of my bond.

  PORTIA Is he not able to discharge212 the money?

  BASSANIO Yes, here I tender213 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 appear217

  That malice bears down truth218. And I beseech you

  Wrest once219 the law to your authority.

  To do a great right, do a little wrong,

  And curb this cruel devil of his will.

  PORTIA It must not be; there is no power in Venice

  Can alter a decree establishèd.

  ’Twill be recorded for224 a precedent,

  And many an error by the same example

  Will rush into the state. It cannot be.

  SHYLOCK A Daniel227 come to judgement! Yea, a Daniel!

  O wise young judge, how do I honour thee!

  PORTIA I pray you let me look upon the bond.

  SHYLOCK Here ’tis, most reverend doctor, here it is.

  Gives Portia the bond

  PORTIA Shylock, there’s thrice thy money offered thee.

  SHYLOCK An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven.

  Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?

  No, not for Venice.

  PORTIA 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.

  SHYLOCK When it is paid according to the tenure240.

  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 judgement. By my soul I swear,

  There is no power in the tongue of man

  To alter me. I stay here on my bond.

  ANTONIO Most heartily I do beseech the court

  To give the judgement.

  PORTIA Why then, thus it is:

  You must prepare your bosom for his knife.

  SHYLOCK O noble judge! O excellent young man!

  PORTIA For the intent and purpose of the law

  Hath full relation to254 the penalty,

  Which here appeareth due upon the bond.

  SHYLOCK ’Tis very true. O wise and upright judge!

  How much more elder art thou than thy looks!

  PORTIA Therefore lay bare your bosom.

  SHYLOCK Ay, his breast,

  So says the bond, doth it not, noble judge?

  ‘Nearest his heart’, those are the very words.

  PORTIA It is so. Are there balance262 here to weigh

  The flesh?

  SHYLOCK I have them ready.

  PORTIA Have by265 some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,

  To stop266 his wounds, lest he should bleed to death.

  SHYLOCK Is it so nominated in the bond?

  PORTIA It is not so expressed, but what of that?

  ’Twere good you do so much for charity.

  SHYLOCK I cannot find it, ’tis not in the bond.

  Looking at the bond

  PORTIA Come, merchant
, have you anything to say?

  ANTONIO But little. I am armed272 and well prepared.

  Give me your hand, Bassanio. Fare you well.

  Grieve not that I am fall’n to this for you,

  For herein Fortune shows herself more kind

  Than is her custom. It is still276 her use

  To let the wretched man outlive his wealth,

  To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow

  An age of poverty, from which ling’ring penance

  Of such misery doth she cut me off.

  Commend me to your honourable wife.

  Tell her the process282 of Antonio’s end.

  Say how I loved you; speak me fair in death283.

  And when the tale is told, bid her be judge

  Whether Bassanio had not once a love285.

  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 heart289.

  BASSANIO Antonio, I am married to a wife

  Which291 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 deliver295 you.

  PORTIA Your wife would give you little thanks for that,

  If she were by to hear you make the offer.

  GRATIANO 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.

  NERISSA ’Tis well you offer it behind her back,

  The wish would make else302 an unquiet house.

  SHYLOCK These be the Christian husbands. I have a daughter.

  Would304 any of the stock of Barabbas

  Aside?

  Had been her husband rather than a Christian!

  We trifle306 time. I pray thee pursue sentence.

  PORTIA A pound of that same merchant’s flesh is thine.

  The court awards it, and the law doth give it.

  SHYLOCK Most rightful judge!

  PORTIA And you must cut this flesh from off his breast.

  The law allows it, and the court awards it.

  SHYLOCK Most learnèd judge! A sentence! Come, prepare!

  PORTIA 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’.

  Then take 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 confiscate319

  Unto the state of Venice.

  GRATIANO O upright judge! Mark321, Jew. O learnèd judge!

  SHYLOCK Is that the law?