Por. Therefore, lay bare your bosom. , Ay, his breast : So says the bond ;-Doth it not, noble judge?Nearest his heart, those are the very words. Por. It is so. Are there balance here, to weigh The flesh. Shy. I have them ready. Por. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge, To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death. Shy. Is it so nominated in the bond ? Por. It is not so express’d; But what of that? "Twere good you do so much for charity. Shy. I cannot find it; 'tis not in the bond. Ant. But little; I am arm'd, and well prepar'd.- I'll pay it instantly with all my heart. Bass. 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. Por. Your wife would give you little thanks for that, If she were by, to hear you make the offer. Gra. 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. Ner. 'Tis well you offer it behind her back; The wish would make else an unquiet house. Shy. These be the christian husbands : I have a daughter; 'Would, any of the stock of Barrabas Had been her husband, rather than a Christian! [Aside. We trifle time; I pray thee, pursue sentence. Por. A pound of that same merchant's fesh is thine ; The court awards it, and the law doth give it. Shy. Most rightful judge ! breast; The law allows it, and the court awards it. prepare. G This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood; judge! Thyself shalt see the act: For, as thou urgest justice, be assur'd, Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desir’st. Gra. O learned judge!-Mark, Jew ;-a learned judge ! Shy. I take this offer then ;--pay the bond thrice, And let the Christian go. Bass. Here is the money. Por. Soft; The Jew shall have all justice ;-soft!--no haste;He shall have nothing but the penalty. Gra. O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge ! Por. Therefore, prepare thee to cut off the flesh. Shed thou no blood; nor cut thou less, nór 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. Gra. A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew! Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip. feiture. Por. He hath refus’d it in the open court; He shall have merely justice, and his bond. Gra. A Daniel, still say I; a second Daniel!I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word. Shy. Shall I not have barely my principal? Por. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture To be so taken at thy peril, Jew. Shy. Why then the devil give him good of it! Tarry, Jew; life Of the defendant; and thou hast incurr'd The danger formerly by me rehears?d. Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke. thyself : spirit, Por. Ay, for the state; not for Antonio.. Shy. Nay, take my life and all, pardon not that: You take my house, when you do take the prop That doth sustain my take life, When you do take the means whereby I live. Por. What mercy can you render him, Antonio? Gra. A halter gratis; nothing else; for God's sake. Ant. So please my lord the duke, and all the court, To quát 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. He shall do this; or else I do recant The pardon, that I late pronounced here. house; you |