that is quick by him; and hang'd, for Pompey that Have misbecom❜d our oaths and gravities, is dead by him. Dum. Most rare Pompey ! Boyet. Renowned Pompey! Those heavenly eyes, that look into these faults, Biron. Greater than great, great, great, great Pom- Is likewise yours: we to ourselves prove false, pey! Pompey the huge! Dum. Hector trembles. Biron. Pompey is mov'd :-More Ates, more Ates; stir them on! stir them on! Dum. Hector will challenge him. Biron. Ay, if he have no more man's blood in's belly than will sup a flea. Arm. By the north pole, I do challenge thee. Cost. I will not fight with a pole, like a northern man; I'll slash; I'll do it by the sword:-I pray you, let me borrow my arms again.. Dum. Room for the incensed worthies. Dum. Most resolute Pompey! Moth. Master, let me take you a button-hole lower. Do you not see, Pompey is uncasing for the combat? What mean you? you will lose your reputation. Arm. Gentlemen, and soldiers, pardon me I will not combat in my shirt. Dum. You may not deny it; Pompey hath made the challenge. Arm. Sweet bloods, I both may and will. Biron. What reason have you for't? Arm. The naked truth of it is, I have no shirt; I go woolward for penance. Boyet. True, and it was enjoin'd him in Rome for want of lien since when, I'll be sworn, he wore none, but a dish-clout of Jaquenetta's; and that 'a wears next his heart, for a favour. Enter Mercade. Mer. God save you, madam! But that thou interrupt'st our merriment. Mer. I am sorry, madam; for the news I bring, Is heavy in my tongue. The king your fatherPrin. Dead, for my life. Mer. Even so; my tale is told. Biron. Worthies, away; the scene hegins to cloud. Arm. For mine own part, I breathe free breath: 1 have seen the day of wrong through the little hole of discretion, and I will right myse like a soldier. [Exeunt Worthies. King. How fares your majesty! Prin. Boyet, prepare; I will away to-night. King. Madam, not so; I do beseech you, stay. Prin. Prepare, I say. I thank you, gracious lords, For all your fair endeavours; and entreat, Out of a new-sad soul, that you vouchsafe In your rich wisdom, to excuse, or hide, The liberal opposition of our spirits If over-holdly we have borne ourselves. In the converse of breath, your gentleness Was guilty of it.-Farewell, worthy lord! A heavy heart bears not an humble tongue : Excuse me so, coming so short of thanks For my great suit so easily obtain'd. King. The extreme parts of time extremely form That which long process could not arbitrate: The holy suit which fain it would convince; From what it purposed; since, to wail friends lost Prin. I understand you not: my griefs are double. Biron. Honest plain words best pierce the ear of grief;-- And by these badges understand the king. By being once false for ever to be true Prin. We have receiv'd your letters full of love; Prin. A time, methinks, too short To make a world-without-end bargain in No, no, my lord, your grace is perjur'd much, Full of dear guiltiness; and, therefore, this,--If for my love (as there is no such cause) You will do aught, this shall you do for me: Your oath I will not trust; but go with speed To some forlorn and naked hermitage, Remote from all the pleasures of the world; There stay until the twelve celestial signs Have brought about their annual reckoning; If this austere insociable life Change not your offer made in heat of blood; If frosts, and fasts, hard lodging, and thin weeds, Nip not the gaudy blossoms of your love, But that it bear this trial, and last love: Then, at the expiration of the year, Come challenge, challenge me by these deserts, And, by this virgia palm now kissing thine, I will be thine; and till that instant, shut My woefu! self up in a mourning house; Raining the tears of lamentation, For the remembrance of my father's death. If this thou do deny, let our hands part; Neither intitled in the other's heart. King. If this, or more than this, I would deny, To flatter up these powers of mine with rest, The sudden hand of death close up mine eye! Hence ever then any heart is in thy breast. Biron. And what to me, my love? and what to me? Ros. You must be purged too, your sins are rank; You are attaint with faults and perjury; Therefore, if you my favour mean to get, A twelvemonth shall you spend, and never rest, But seek the weary beds of people sick. Dum. But what to me, my love! but what to me ?, Dum. I'll serve thee true and faithfully till then. At the twelvemonth's end, Ros. Oft have I heard of you, my lord Biron, To weed this wormwood from your fruitful brain; To enforce the painted impotent to smile. Biron. To move wild laughter in the throat of death? It cannot be; it is impossible : Mirth cannot move a soul in agony. SONG. Ros. Why, that's the way to choke a gibing spirit, Spring. When daisies pied, and violets blue, Whose influence is begot of that loose grace, Which shallow laughing hearers give to fools: Of him that hears it, never in the tongue Of him that makes it: then, if sickly ears, Deaf'd with the clamours of their own dear groans, Biron. A twelvemonth? well, befall what will be fall, I'll jest a twelvemonth in an hospital. Prin. Ay, sweet my lord; and so I take my leave. [To the King. King. No, madam: we will bring you on your way. Biron. Our wooing doth not end like an old play; Jack hath not Jill: these ladies' courtesy Might well have made our sport a comedy. King. Come, sir, it wants a twelvemonth and a day, And then will end. Biron. That's too long for a play. Enter Armado. Arm. Sweet majesty, vouchsafe me,-- Dum. The worthy knight of Troy. Arm. I will kiss thy royal finger, and take leave: I am a votary; I have vowed to Jaquenetta to hold the plough for her sweet love three years. But, most esteemed greatness, will you hear the dialogue that the two learned men have compiled, in praise of the owl and the cuckoo? it should have followed in the end of our show. King. Call them forth quickly, we will do so. Enter Holofernes, Nathaniel, Moth, Costard, and others. This side is Hiems, winter; this Ver, the spring; the one maintained by the owl, the other by the cuckoo. Ver, begin. And lady-smocks all silver-white, Cuckoo, cuckoo,-O word of fear, II. Shylock, a Jew. Tubal, a Jew, his Friend. Launcelot Gobbo, a Clown, Servant to Shylock. Nerissa, her waiting Maid. Magnificoes of Venice, Officers of the Court of Justice, SCENE, partly at Venice, and partly at Belmont, the Seat of Portia, on the Continent. ACT I. SCENE I. Venice. A Street. Ant. IN sooth, I know not why I am so sad ; And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, Salar. Your mind is tossing on the ocean; That curt'sy to them, do them reverence, Be with my hopes abroad. I should be still And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks? And now worth nothing? Shall I have the thought, To think on this; and shall I lack the thought, Is sad to think upon his merchandise. Ant. Believe me, no: I thank my fortune for it, Ant. Fie, fie! Salan. Not in love neither? Then let's say, you are That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile, Enter Bassanio, Lorenzo, and Gratiano. Ant. Your worth is very dear in my regard. I take it, your own business calls on you, To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage, Bass. "Tis not unknown to you, Antonio, Ant I pray you, good Bassanio, let me know it; Bass. In my school-days, when I had lost one shaft, Bass. Good signiors both, when shall we laugh? You grow exceeding strange: Must it be so? Gra. You look not well, signior Antonio; Gra. Let me play the fool: With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come; Sleep when he wakes? and creep into the jaundice If they should speak, would almost damn those ears, Gra. Well, keep me company but two years more, In a neat's tongue dried, and a maid not vendible. Ant. Is that any thing now? Ant. Well; tell me now, what lady is this same Ant. You know me well; and herein spend but time, Bass. In Belmont is a lady richly left, O my Antonio, had I but the means Ant. Thou know'st, that all my fortunes are at sea; To raise a present sum: therefore go forth, [Exeunt. SCENE II. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House. Por. By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is a weary of this great world. Ner. You would be, sweet madam, if your miseries were in the same abundance as your good fortunes are: And yet, for aught I see, they are as sick, that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing: It is no mean happiness therefore, to be seated in the mean; superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer. Por. Good sentences, 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 instructions: I can easier teach. twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching. The brain may devise laws for the blood; but a hot temper leaps over a cold decree such a hare is madness the youth, to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel the cripple. But this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me husband:--O me, the word choose! I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curb'd by the will of a dead father:-Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none? Ner. Your father was ever virtuous; and holy men, at their death, have good inspirations; therefore, the lottery, that he hath devised in these three chests, of gold, silver, and lead (whereof who chooses his meaning, chooses you), will, no doubt, never be chosen by any rightly, but one who you shall rightly love. But what warmth is there in your affection towards any of these princely suitors that are already come? Por. I pray thee, over-name them; and as thou namest them, I will describe them; and, according 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 horse; and he makes it a great appropriation to his own good parts, that he can shoe him himself: I am much afraid my lady, his mother, played false with a smith. Ner. Then, is there the county Palatine. Por. He does nothing but frown; as who should say, An if you will not have me choose: he hears merry tales, and smiles not: I fear, he will prove the weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so full of unmannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather be married to a death's head with a bone in his mouth, than to either of these. God defend me from these two! Ner. How say you by the French lord, monsieur le Bon? Por. God made him, and therefore let him pass for a man. In truth, I know it is a sin to be a mocker: But, he! why, he hath a horse better than the Neapolitan's; a better bad habit of frowning than the that came hither in company of the marquis of Montferrat? Por. Yes, yes, it was Bassanio; as I think, so was he called. Ner. True, madam; he, of all the men that ever my foolish eyes looked upon, was the best deserving a fair lady. Por. I remember him well; and I remember him worthy of thy praise.-How now! what news? Enter a Servant. Serv. The four strangers seek for you, madam, to take their leave: and there is a forerunner come from a fifth, the prince of Morocco; who brings word, the prince, his master, will be here to-night. Por. If I could bid the fifth welcome with so good heart as I can bid the other four farewell, I should be glad of his approach: if he have the condition of a saint, and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me. Come, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before.-Whiles we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the door. [Exeunt. SCENE III. Venice. A public Place. Bass. For the which, as I told you, Antonio shall be bound. Shy. Antonio shall become bound,-well. Bass. May you stead me? Will you pleasure me? Shall I know your answer? Shy. Three thousand ducats, for three months, and Antonio bound. Bass. Your answer to that. Bass. Have you heard any imputation to the con count Palatine: he is every man in no man: if a trary. Ho, no, no, no, no;-my meaning, in saying he Shy. throstle sing, he falls straight a capering; he will fence with his own shadow if I should marry him, is a good man, is to have you understand me, that he I should marry twenty husbands: If he would de-is sufficient: yet his means are in supposition: he spise me, I would forgive him; for if he love me to madness, I shall never requite him. Ner. What say you then to Faulconbridge, the young baron of England? Por. You know I say 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 swear, that I have a poor pennyworth in the Eng lish. He is a proper man's picture; But, alas! who can converse with a dumb show? How oddly he is suited! I think he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose 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 swore he would pay him again when he was able! think the Frenchman became his surety, and sealed 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 sober; 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 worst, he is little better than a beast: and the worst fall that ever fell, I hope, I shall make shift to go without him. Ner. If he should offer to choose, and choose the right casket, you should refuse to perform your father's will, if you should refuse to accept him. Por. Therefore, for fear of the worst, I pray thee, set a deep glass of Rhenish wine on the contrary casket: for, if the devil be within, and that temptation without, I know he will choose it. I will do any thing, Nerissa, ere I will be married to a spunge. Ner. You need not fear, lady, the having any of these lords; they have acquainted me with their determinations which is, indeed, to return to their home, and to trouble you with no more suit; unless you may be won by some other sort than your father's imposition, depending on the caskets. Por. If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the manner of my father's will: I am glad this parcel of wooers are so reasonable: for there is not one among them but I dote on his very absence, and I pray God grant them a fair departure. Ner. Do you not remember, lady, in your father's time, a Venetian, a scholar, and a soldier, hath an argosy bound to Tripolis, another to the Indies; I understand moreover upon the Rialto, he hath a third at Mexico, a fourth for England,and other ventures he hath, squander'd abroad: But ships are but boards, sailors but men there be land-rats, and water-rats, water-thieves, and land-thieves; I mean, pirates; and then, there is the peril of waters, winds, and rocks: The man is, notwithstanding, sufficient;-three thousand ducats;-I think I may take his bond. Bass. Be assured you may. Shy. I will be assured I may; and, that I may be assured, I will bethink me: May I speak with Antonio! Bass. If it please you to dine with us. which your prophet, the Nazarite, conjured the devil Shy. Yes, to smell pork; to eat of the habitation into: I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you. What news on the Rialto!-Who is he comes here! Enter Antonio. Bass. This is signior Antonio. I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. Bass. [Aside. Shylock, do you hear? Shy. I am debating of my present store; And, by the near guess of my memory, I cannot instantly raise up the gross Of full three thousand ducats: What of that? Tubal, a wealthy Hebrew of my tribe, Will furnish me: But soft; How many months Do you desire ?-Rest you fair, good signior; [To Antonio. Your worship was the last man in our mouths. 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? And when the work of generation was He stuck them up before the fulsome ewes ; Ant. This was a venture, sir, that Jacob serv'd for; Shy. I cannot tell: I make it breed as fast :- Ant. Shy. Three thousand ducats,-'tis a good round sum. And all for use of that which is mine own. A cur can lend three thousand ducats? or Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last; Ant. I am as like to call thee so again, As to thy friends; (for when did friendship take Who if he break, thou mayst with better face Shy. Of usance for my monies, and you'll not hear me: Ant. This were kindness. This kindness will I show:- In such a place, such sum, or sums, as are 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 in my necessity. Ant. Why, fear not, man, I will not forfeit it; Within these two months, that's a month before This hond expires, I do expect return Of thrice three times the value of this bond. Shy. O father Abraham, what these Christians are ; A pound of man's flesh, taken from a man, Ant. Yes, Shylock, I will seal unto this bond. Ant. [Exit. 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; Portia, 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, And let us make incision for your love, To prove whose blood is reddest, his or mine. I tell thee, lady, this aspect of mine Have fear'd the valiant; by my love, I swear, The best-regarded virgins of our clime Have lov'd it too: I would not change this hue, Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle queen. Por. In terms of choice I am not solely led By nice direction of a maiden's eyes: Besides the lottery of my destiny Bars me the right of voluntary choosing: But, if my father had not scanted me, And hedg'd me by his wit, to yield myself His wife, who wins me by that means I told you, Yourself, renowned prince, then stood as fair, As any comer I have look'd on yet, For my affection. Mor. Even for that I thank you; Therefore, I pray you, lead me to the caskets, To try my fortune. By this scimitar,That slew the Sophy, and a Persian prince, That won three fields of Sultan Solyman,I would out-stare the sternest eyes that look, Out-brave the heart most daring on the earth, Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear, Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey, To win thee, lady: But, alas the while! I Hercules, and Lichas, play at dice Which is the better man, the greater throw May turn by fortune from the weaker hand: So is Alcides beaten by his page; And so may I, blind fortune leading me, Miss that which one unworthier may attain, And die with grieving.. You must take your chance; And either not attempt to choose at all, Or swear before you choose,-if you choose wrong, Never to speak to lady afterward Por. In way of marriage; therefore, be advis'd. |