PORTIA Do you confess 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 strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
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 shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway.
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute to God himself,
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy 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.
PORTIA
Is he not able to discharge the money?
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 judgement, 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 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. (To Shylock) Be merciful.
Take thrice thy money. Bid me tear the bond.
SHYLOCK
When it is paid according to the tenor.
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 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 (to Antonio)
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 expressed, but what of that?
’Twere good you do so much for charity.
SHYLOCK
I cannot find it. ’Tis not in the bond.
PORTIA (to Antonio)
You, merchant, have you anything to say?
ANTONIO
But little. I am armed 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 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 loved 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 esteemed above thy life.
I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you.
PORTIA ⌈aside⌉
Your wife would give you little thanks for that
If she were by to hear you make the offer.
GRAZIANO
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 ⌈aside⌉
’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 Barabbas
Had been her husband rather than a Christian.
(Aloud) 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: (to Antonio) 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, i
f thou dost shed
One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
Are by the laws of Venice confiscate
Unto the state of Venice.
GRAZIANO 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 assured
Thou shalt have justice more than thou desir’st.
GRAZIANO
O learnèd judge! Mark, Jew—a learnèd 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.
GRAZIANO
O Jew, an upright judge, a learned judge!
PORTIA (to Shylock)
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.
GRAZIANO
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 refused it in the open court.
He shall have merely justice and his bond.
GRAZIANO
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 incurred
The danger formerly by me rehearsed.
Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke.
GRAZIANO (to Shylock)
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 hanged at the state’s charge.
DUKE (to Shylock)
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?
GRAZIANO
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 possessed
Unto his son, Lorenzo, and his daughter.
DUKE
He shall do this, or else I do recant
The pardon that I late pronouncèd here.
PORTIA
Art thou contented, Jew? What dost thou say?
SHYLOCK
I am content.
PORTIA (to Nerissa) 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 Get thee gone, but do it.
GRAZIANO (to Shylock)
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 the font.
Exit Shylock
DUKE (to Portia)
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
I am sorry that your leisure serves you not.
Antonio, gratify this gentleman,
For in my mind you are much bound to him.
Exit Duke and his train
BASSANIO (to Portia)
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, I have a mind to it.
BASSANIO
There’s more depends on this than on the value.
The dearest ring in Venice will I
give you,
And find it out by proclamation.
Only for this, I pray you pardon me.
PORTIA
I see, sir, you are liberal in offers.
You taught me first to beg, and now methinks
You teach me how a beggar should be answered.
BASSANIO
Good sir, this ring was given me by my wife,
And when she put it on she made me vow
That I should neither sell, nor give, nor lose it.
PORTIA
That ’scuse serves many men to save their gifts.
An if your wife be not a madwoman,
And know how well I have deserved this ring,
She would not hold out enemy for ever
For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you.
Exeunt Portia and Nerissa
ANTONIO
My lord Bassanio, let him have the ring.
Let his deservings and my love withal
Be valued ’gainst your wife’s commandëment.
BASSANIO
Go, Graziano, run and overtake him.
Give him the ring, and bring him, if thou canst,
Unto Antonio’s house. Away, make haste.
Exit Graziano
Come, you and I will thither presently,
And in the morning early will we both
Fly toward Belmont. Come, Antonio. Exeunt
4.2 Enter Portia and Nerissa, still disguised
PORTIA
Enquire the Jew’s house out, give him this deed,
And let him sign it. We’ll away tonight,
And be a day before our husbands home.
This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo.
Enter Graziano
GRAZIANO Fair sir, you are well o’erta’en.
My lord Bassanio upon more advice
Hath sent you here this ring, and doth entreat
Your company at dinner.
PORTIA That cannot be.
His ring I do accept most thankfully,
And so I pray you tell him. Furthermore,
I pray you show my youth old Shylock’s house.
GRAZIANO
That will I do.
NERISSA Sir, I would speak with you.
(Aside to Portia) I’ll see if I can get my husband’s ring
Which I did make him swear to keep for ever.
PORTIA (aside to Nerissa)
Thou mayst; I warrant we shall have old swearing
That they did give the rings away to men.
But we’ll outface them, and outswear them too.
Away, make haste. Thou know’st where I will tarry.
Exit ⌈at one door⌉
NERISSA (to Graziano)
Come, good sir, will you show me to this house?
Exeunt ⌈at another door⌉
5.1 Enter Lorenzo and Jessica
LORENZO
The moon shines bright. In such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees
And they did make no noise—in such a night
Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls,
The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works Page 159
