The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare [book recommendations based on other books txt] 📗

seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this-That in the course of justice none of us Should see salvation; we do pray for mercy, And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 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! I crave the law, The penalty and forfeit of my bond.

BASSANIO. Yes; here I tender 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 appear That malice bears down truth. And, I beseech you, Wrest once 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 established;

‘Twill be recorded for a precedent,

And many an error, by the same example, Will rush into the state; it cannot be.

SHYLOCK. A Daniel come to judgment! Yea, a Daniel!

O wise young judge, how I do honour thee!

PORTIA. I pray you, let me look upon the bond.

SHYLOCK. Here ‘tis, most reverend Doctor; here it is.

PORTIA. Shylock, there’s thrice thy money off’red 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 tenour.

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 judgment. 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 judgment.

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 to 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 balance here to weigh The flesh?

SHYLOCK. I have them ready.

PORTIA. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge, To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.

SHYLOCK. Is it so nominated in the bond?

PORTIA. It is not so express’d, but what of that?

‘Twere good you do so much for charity.

SHYLOCK. I cannot find it; ‘tis not in the bond.

PORTIA. You, merchant, have you anything to say?

ANTONIO. But little: I am arm’d and well prepar’d.

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 still 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 process of Antonio’s end; Say how I lov’d you; speak me fair in death; And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge Whether Bassanio had not once a love.

Repent but 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 heart.

BASSANIO. Antonio, I am married to a wife Which is as dear to me as life itself; But life itself, my wife, and all the world, Are not with me esteem’d above thy life; I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all Here to this devil, to deliver 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 who 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 else an unquiet house.

SHYLOCK. [Aside] These be the Christian husbands! I have a daughter-Would any of the stock of Barrabas

Had been her husband, rather than a Christian!-

We trifle 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 learned 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.’

Take then 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, confiscate Unto the state of Venice.

GRATIANO. O upright judge! Mark, Jew. O learned judge!

SHYLOCK. Is that the law?

PORTIA. Thyself shalt see the act;

For, as thou urgest justice, be assur’d Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desir’st.

GRATIANO. O learned judge! Mark, Jew. A learned judge!

SHYLOCK. I take this offer then: pay the bond thrice, And let the Christian go.

BASSANIO. Here is the money.

PORTIA. Soft!

The Jew shall have all justice. Soft! No haste.

He shall have nothing but the penalty.

GRATIANO. O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge!

PORTIA. Therefore, prepare thee to cut off the flesh.

Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more But just a pound of flesh; if thou tak’st more Or less than a just pound-be it but so much As makes it light or heavy in the substance, Or the division of the twentieth part Of one poor scruple; nay, if the scale do turn But in the estimation of a hair-Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate.

GRATIANO. A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew!

Now, infidel, I have you on the hip.

PORTIA. Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.

SHYLOCK. Give me my principal, and let me go.

BASSANIO. I have it ready for thee; here it is.

PORTIA. He hath refus’d it in the open court; He shall have merely justice, and his bond.

GRATIANO. A Daniel still say I, a second Daniel!

I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.

SHYLOCK. Shall I not have barely my principal?

PORTIA. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.

SHYLOCK. Why, then the devil give him good of it!

I’ll stay no longer question.

PORTIA. Tarry, Jew.

The law hath yet another hold on you.

It is enacted in the laws of Venice,

If it be proved against an alien

That by direct or indirect attempts

He seek the life of any citizen,

The party ‘gainst the which he doth contrive Shall seize one half his goods; the other half Comes to the privy coffer of the state; And the offender’s life lies in the mercy Of the Duke only, ‘gainst all other voice.

In which predicament, I say, thou stand’st; For it appears by manifest proceeding That indirectly, and directly too,

Thou hast contrived against the very life Of the defendant; and thou hast incurr’d The danger formerly by me rehears’d.

Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke.

GRATIANO. Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself; And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, Thou hast not left the value of a cord; Therefore thou must be hang’d at the state’s charge.

DUKE OF VENICE. That thou shalt see the difference of our spirit, I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.

For half thy wealth, it is Antonio’s; The other half comes to the general state, Which humbleness may drive unto a fine.

PORTIA. Ay, for the state; not for Antonio.

SHYLOCK. Nay, take my life and all, pardon not that.

You take my house when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house; you take my life When you do take the means whereby I live.

PORTIA. What mercy can you render him, Antonio?

GRATIANO. A halter gratis; nothing else, for God’s sake!

ANTONIO. So please my lord the Duke and all the court To quit the fine for one half of his goods; I am content, so he will let me have

The other half in use, to render it

Upon his death unto the gentleman

That lately stole his daughter—

Two things provided more; that, for this favour, He presently become a Christian;

The other, that he do record a gift,

Here in the court, of all he dies possess’d Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.

DUKE OF VENICE. He shall do this, or else I do recant The pardon that I late pronounced here.

PORTIA. Art thou contented, Jew? What dost thou say?

SHYLOCK. I am content.

PORTIA. Clerk, draw a deed of gift.

SHYLOCK. I pray you, give me leave to go from hence; I am not well; send the deed after me And I will sign it.

DUKE OF VENICE. Get thee gone, but do it.

GRATIANO. In christ’ning shalt thou have two godfathers; Had I been judge, thou shouldst have had ten more, To bring thee to the gallows, not to the font.

Exit SHYLOCK

DUKE OF VENICE. Sir, I entreat you home with me to dinner.

PORTIA. I humbly do desire your Grace of pardon; I must away this night toward Padua,

And it is meet I presently set forth.

DUKE OF VENICE. I am sorry that your leisure serves you not.

Antonio, gratify this gentleman,

For in my mind you are much bound to him.

Exeunt DUKE, MAGNIFICOES, and train BASSANIO. Most worthy gentleman, I and my friend Have by your wisdom been this day acquitted Of grievous penalties; in lieu whereof Three thousand ducats, due unto the Jew, We freely cope your courteous pains withal.

ANTONIO. And stand indebted, over and above, In love and service to you evermore.

PORTIA. He is well paid that is well satisfied, And I, delivering you, am satisfied,

And therein do account myself well paid.

My mind was never yet more mercenary.

I pray you, know me when we meet again; I wish you well, and so I take my leave.

BASSANIO. Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further; Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute, Not as fee. Grant me two things, I pray you, Not to deny me, and to pardon me.

PORTIA. You press me far, and therefore I will yield.

[To ANTONIO] Give me your gloves, I’ll wear them for your sake.

[To BASSANIO] And, for your love, I’ll take this ring from you.

Do not draw back your hand; I’ll take no more, And you in love shall not deny me this.

BASSANIO. This ring, good sir-alas, it is a trifle; I will not shame myself to give you this.

PORTIA. I will have nothing else but only this; And now, methinks,