A coin, that bears the figure of an angel
Stamped in gold, but that's infculpt upon :
But here an angel in a golden bed
Lyes all within. Deliver me the key;
Here do I chufe, and thrive I as I may !
Por. There take it, Prince, and if my form lye there,
[Unlocking the gold cafket. Mor. O hell! what have we here? a carrion death, Within whose empty eye there is a fcrowl:
All that glifters is not gold,
Often have you heard that told
Many a man his life hath fold,
But my outfide to behold.
Gilded wood may worms infold:
Had you been as wife as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,
Your anfwer had not been infcrol'd;
Fare you well, your fuit is cold.
Mor. Cold, indeed, and labour loft:
Then farewel, heat; and welcome, froft;
Portia, adieu; I have too griev'd a heart
To take a tedious leave: thus lofers part.
Por. A gentle riddance: draw the curtains; go
Let all of his complexion chufe me fo.
SCENE changes to Venice.
Enter Solarino and Salanio.
Sal. WHY, man, I faw Bassanio under fail;
With him is Gratiano gone along ;
And in their fhip, I'm fure Lorenzo is not.
Sola. The villain Few with outcries rais'd the Duke,
Who went with him to fearch Baffanio's fhip.
Sal. He came too late, the fhip was under fail;
But there the Duke was giv'n to understand,
That in a Gondola were feen together
Lorenzo and his am'rous Jeffica:
Befides, Anthonio certify'd the Duke,
They were not with Bassanio in his ship.
Sola. I never heard a paffion fo confus'd,
So ftrange, outrageous, and fo variable,
As the dog few did utter in the streets;
My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!
Fled with a chriftian? O my christian ducats!
Juftice, the law, my ducats, and my daughter!
A fealed bag, two fealed bags of ducats,
Of double ducats, ftoll'n from me by my daughter!
And jewels, two ftones, rich and precious stones,
Stoll'n by my daughter! juftice! find the girl;
She hath the ftones upon her, and the ducats.
Sal. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him,
Crying his ftones, his daughter, and his ducats.
Sola. Let good Anthonio look, he keep his day;
Or he shall pay for this.
Sal. Marry, well remember'd.
I reafon'd with a Frenchman yesterday,
Who told me, in the narrow feas, that part
The French and English, there miscarried
A veffel of our country richly fraught:
I thought upon Anthonio, when he told me,
And wish'd in filence, that it were not his.
Sola. You were beft to tell Anthonio what you hear, Yet do not fuddenly, for it may grieve him.
Sal. A kinder Gentleman treads not the earth.
I faw Baffanio and Anthonio part.
Baffanio told him, he would make some speed
Of his return he answer'd, do not fo,
Slubber not bufinefs for my fake, Baffanio,
But ftay the very riping of the time;
And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me,
Let it not enter in your mind of love:
Be merry, and employ your chiefeft thoughts
To courtship, and fuch fair oftents of love,
As fhall conveniently become you there.
And even there, his eye being big with tears,
Turning his face, he put his hand behind him,
And with affection wond'rous fenfible
He wrung Baffanio's hand, and fo they parted.
Sola I think, he only loves the world for him.
pray thee, let us go and find him out,
And quicken his embraced heaviness
With fome delight or other.
SCENE changes to Belmont.
Enter Neriffa with a Servant.
UICK,quick, Ipray thee, draw the curtain ftrait; The Prince of Arragon has ta'en his oath, And comes to his election prefently.
Enter Arragon, his train, Portia. Florish Cornets. The Cafkets are difcover'd.
Por. Behold, there ftand the caskets, noble Prince; If you chufe that, wherein I am contain'd,
Strait fhall our nuptial rites be folemniz'd:
But if you fail, without more fpeech, my lord,
You must be gone from hence immediately.
Ar. I am enjoin'd by oath t' obferve three things; First, never to unfold to any one
Which cafket 'twas I chofe; next, if I fail
Of the right cafket, never in
my life
To woo a maid in way of marriage:
Laft, if I fail in fortune of my choice,
Immediately to leave you and be gone.
Por. To thefe injunctions every one doth fwear, That comes to hazard for my worthless felf.
Ar. And fo have I addreft me; fortune now
Το my heart's hope! gold, filver, and base lead.
Who chufeth me, must give and hazard all he hath.
You shall look fairer, ere I give or hazard.
What fays the golden cheft? ha, let me fee,
Who chufeth me, fhall gain what many men defire.
What many men defire- -that may be meant
Of the fool-multitude, that chufe by fhow,
Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach;
Which pry not to th' interior, but like the martlet
Builds in the weather on the outward wall,
Ev'n in the force and road of casualty.
I will not chufe what many men defire,
Because I will not jump with common spirits,
And rank me with the barb'rous multitudes.
Why then to thee, thou filver treasure-house:
Tell me once more, what title thou doft bear.
Who chufeth me, shall get as much as he deferves;
And well faid too, for who fhall go about
To cozen fortune, and be honourable
Without the ftamp of merit? let none prefume
To wear an undeserved dignity:
O that estates, degrees, and offices,
Were not deriv'd corruptly, that clear honour
Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer!
How many then should cover, that stand bare?
How many be commanded, that command?
How much low peafantry would then be gleaned
From the true feed of honour? how much honour (13)
Pickt from the chaff and ruin of the times,
To be new varnish'd? well, but to my choice:
Who chufeth me, fhall get as much as he deferves.
I will affume defert; give me a key for this,
And inftantly unlock my fortunes here.
Por. Too long a pause for that which you find there. [Unlocking the filver cafket.
Pick'd from the Chaff and ruin of the times,
To be new varnish'd.] Mr. Warburton very justly observ'd to me upon the confufion and difagreement of the Metaphors here; and is of opinion, that Shakespeare might have wrote;
i. e. winnow'd, purged: from the French word, vanner; Which is deriv'd from the Latin, Vannus, ventilabrum, the Fann ufed for winnowing the chaff from the corn. This alteration, as he obferves, reftores the metaphor to its integrity: and our poet frequently uses the fame thought. So, in the 2d part of Henry IV.
We shall be ruinnow'd with fo rough a wind, That ev'n our corn fhall feem as light as chaff. And, again, in K. Henry V.
Such, and fo finely boulted did'ft thou feem,
for boulted fignifies fifted, refin'd. The correction is truly ingenious, and probable: But as Shakespeare is fo loose and licentious in the blending of different metaphors, I have not ventur'd to disturb the text.
Ar. What's here! the portrait of a blinking idiot,
Prefenting me a schedule? I will read it:
How much unlike art thou to Portia ?
How much unlike my hopes and my deservings?
Who chufes me, fhall have as much as he deferves.
Did I deferve no more than a fool's head?
Is that my prize? are my deferts no better?
Por. To offend, and judge, are diftinct offices,
And of oppofed natures.
Ar. What is here?
The fire fev'n times tried this ;
Sev'n times tried that judgment is,
That did never chufe amifs.
Some there be, that shadows kifs;
Such have but a fhadow's blifs:
There be fools alive, I wis,
Silver'd o'er, and fo was this:
Take what wife you will to bed,
I will ever be
head:
So be gone, Sir, you are sped.
Ar. Still more fool I fhall appear,
By the time I linger here;
With one fool's head I came to woo,
But I go away with two.
Sweet, adieu! I'll keep my oath,
Patiently to bear my wroth.
Por. Thus hath the candle fing'd the moth:
O thefe deliberate fools! when they do chufe,
They have the wisdom by their wit to lose.
Ner. The ancient faying is no heresy,
Hanging and wiving goes by deftiny.
Por. Come, draw the curtain, Nerissa.
Enter a Servant.
Serv. Where is my lady?
Por. Here, what would my lord?
Serv. Madam, there is alighted at your gate
A young Venetian, one that comes before
To fignify th' approaching of his lord,
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