Act 4

Scene 1 / running scene 18

Enter the Duke, the Magnificoes, Antonio, Bassanio and Gratiano [ with Salerio and others ]

DUKE What, is Antonio here?

ANTONIO Ready, so please your grace.

DUKE I am sorry for thee. Thou art come to answer

A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch

Uncapable of pity, void and empty

From any dram of mercy.

ANTONIO I have heard

Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify

His rigorous course, but since he stands obdurate

And that no lawful means can carry me

Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose

My patience to his fury, and am armed

To suffer with a quietness of spirit

The very tyranny and rage of his.

DUKE Go one, and call the Jew into the court.

SALERIO He is ready at the door. He comes, my lord.

Enter Shylock

DUKE Make room, and let him stand before our face.

Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too,

That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice

To the last hour of act , and then 'tis thought

Thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse more strange

Than is thy strange apparent cruelty;

And where thou now exact'st the penalty,

Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh,

Thou wilt not only loose the forfeiture,

But, touched with humane gentleness and love,

Forgive a moiety of the principal,

Glancing an eye of pity on his losses,

That have of late so huddled on his back,

Enow to press a royal merchant down

And pluck commiseration of his state

From brassy bosoms and rough hearts of flints,

From stubborn Turks and Tartars , never trained

To offices of tender courtesy.

We all expect a gentle answer, Jew.

SHYLOCK I have possessed your grace of what I purpose,

And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn

To have the due and forfeit of my bond.

If you deny it, let the danger light

Upon your charter and your city's freedom.

You'll ask me why I rather choose to have

A weight of carrion flesh than to receive

Three thousand ducats: I'll not answer that,

But say it is my humour ; is it answered ?

What if my house be troubled with a rat

And I be pleased to give ten thousand ducats

To have it baned ? What, are you answered yet?

Some men there are love not a gaping pig,

Some that are mad if they behold a cat,

And others when the bagpipe sings i'th'nose

Cannot contain their urine, for affection ,

Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood

Of what it likes or loathes. Now, for your answer:

As there is no firm reason to be rendered,

Why he cannot abide a gaping pig,

Why he , a harmless necessary cat,

Why he, a woollen bagpipe, but of force

Must yield to such inevitable shame

As to offend, himself being offended.

So can I give no reason, nor I will not,

More than a lodged hate and a certain loathing

I bear Antonio, that I follow thus

A losing suit against him. Are you answered?

BASSANIO This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,

To excuse the current of thy cruelty.

SHYLOCK I am not bound to please thee with my answer.

BASSANIO Do all men kill the things they do not love?

SHYLOCK Hates any man the thing he would not kill?

BASSANIO Every offence is not a hate at first.

SHYLOCK What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?

ANTONIO I pray you think you question with the Jew:

You may as well go stand upon the beach

And bid the main flood bate his usual height,

Or even as well use question with the wolf

Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb.

You may as well forbid the mountain pines

To wag their high tops and to make no noise

When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven.

You may as well do anything most hard

As seek to soften that — than which what harder? —

His Jewish heart: therefore, I do beseech you

Make no more offers, use no further means,

But with all brief and plain conveniency

Let me have judgement and the Jew his will.

BASSANIO For thy three thousand ducats here is six.

SHYLOCK If every ducat in six thousand ducats

Were in six parts and every part a ducat,

I would not draw them. I would have my bond!

DUKE How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend'ring none?

SHYLOCK What judgement shall I dread, doing no wrong ?

You have among you many a purchased slave,

Which, like your asses and your dogs and mules,

You use in abject and in slavish parts ,

Because you bought them. Shall I say to you,

Let them be free, marry them to your heirs?

Why sweat they under burdens? Let their beds

Be made as soft as yours and let their palates

Be seasoned with such viands ? You will answer

'The slaves are ours.' So do I answer you:

The pound of flesh which I demand of him

Is dearly bought, 'tis mine and I will have it.

If you deny me, fie upon your law!

There is no force in the decrees of Venice.

I stand for judgement. Answer: shall I have it?

DUKE Upon my power I may dismiss this court,

Unless Bellario, a learnèd doctor,

Whom I have sent for to determine this,

Come here today.

SALERIO My lord, here stays without

A messenger with letters from the doctor,

New come from Padua.

DUKE Bring us the letters. Call the messenger.

BASSANIO Good cheer, Antonio! What, man, courage yet!

The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones and all,

Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood.

ANTONIO I am a tainted wether of the flock,

Meetest for death. The weakest kind of fruit

Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me;

You cannot better be employed, Bassanio,

Than to live still and write mine epitaph.

Enter Nerissa [ dressed like a law clerk ]

DUKE Came you from Padua, from Bellario?

NERISSA From both. My lord Bellario greets your grace.

She gives the Duke a letter while Shylock whets his knife on his shoe

BASSANIO Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?

SHYLOCK To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there.

GRATIANO Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew,

Thou mak'st thy knife keen . But no metal can,

No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness

Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee?

SHYLOCK No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.

GRATIANO O, be thou damned, inexecrable dog!

And for thy life let justice be accused .

Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith

To hold opinion with Pythagoras ,

That souls of animals infuse themselves

Into the trunks of men. Thy currish spirit

Governed a wolf who, hanged for human slaughter,

Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet ,

And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallowed dam ,

Infused itself in thee, for thy desires

Are wolvish, bloody, starved and ravenous.

SHYLOCK Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond,

Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud:

Repair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall

To endless ruin. I stand here for law.

DUKE This letter from Bellario doth commend

A young and learnèd doctor in our court;

Where is he?

NERISSA He attendeth here hard by,

To know your answer, whether you'll admit him.

DUKE With all my heart. Some three or four of you

Go give him courteous conduct to this place.

[ Exeunt some ]

Meantime the court shall hear Bellario's letter.

'Your grace shall understand that at the receipt of your letter I am very sick, but in the instant that your messenger came, in loving visitation was with me a young doctor of Rome. His name is Balthasar. I acquainted him with the cause in controversy between the Jew and Antonio the merchant. We turned o'er many books together. He is furnished with my opinion, which — bettered with his own learning, the greatness whereof I cannot enough commend — comes with him, at my importunity , to fill up your grace's request in my stead. I beseech you, let his lack of years be no impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation, for I never knew so young a body with so old a head. I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial shall better publish his commendation .'

Reads

Enter Portia for Balthasar

Dressed like a lawyer

You hear the learnèd Bellario, what he writes,

And here, I take it, is the doctor come.

Give me your hand. Came you from old Bellario?

PORTIA I did, my lord.

DUKE You are welcome. Take your place.

Are you acquainted with the difference

That holds this present question in the court?

PORTIA I am informèd throughly of the cause.

Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?

DUKE Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth.

PORTIA Is your name Shylock?

SHYLOCK Shylock is my name.

PORTIA Of a strange nature is the suit you follow,

Yet in such rule that the Venetian law

Cannot impugn you as you do proceed.—

You stand within his danger , do you not?

ANTONIO Ay, so he says.

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 enthronèd 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 establishèd.

'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 do I honour thee!

PORTIA I pray you let me look upon the bond.

SHYLOCK Here 'tis, most reverend doctor, here it is.

Gives Portia the bond

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. Be merciful.

Take thrice thy money, bid me tear the bond.

SHYLOCK When it is paid according to the tenure .

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 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 should 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.

Looking at the bond

PORTIA Come, 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 not 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 Your wife would give you little thanks for that,

If she were by to hear you make the offer.

GRATIANO 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.

NERISSA 'Tis well you offer it behind her back,

The wish would make else an unquiet house.

SHYLOCK These be the Christian husbands. I have a daughter.

Would any of the stock of Barabbas

Aside?

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 learnèd 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'.

Then take 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 learnèd 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 desirest.

GRATIANO 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.

GRATIANO O Jew! An upright judge, a learnèd 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 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 thee 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.

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 taken so at thy peril, Jew.

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

I'll stay no longer question .

Starts to go

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.

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 hanged at the state's charge .

DUKE 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 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 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.

GRATIANO In christening thou shalt 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 Sir, I entreat you home with me to dinner.

To Portia

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 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.

Offers money

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.

Starts to 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 .

Give me your gloves, I'll wear them for your sake.

To Antonio

And, for your love , I'll take this ring from you.

To Bassanio

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 forever

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 against your wife's commandment.

BASSANIO Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him.

Give him the ring, and bring him, if thou canst,

Unto Antonio's house. Away, make haste!

Exit Gratiano

Come, you and I will thither presently,

And in the morning early will we both

Fly toward Belmont. Come, Antonio.

Exeunt

Scene 2 / running scene 19

Enter Portia and Nerissa

Still disguised

PORTIA Inquire the Jew's house out , give him this deed ,

And let him sign it. We'll away tonight

Gives her a deed

And be a day before our husbands home.

This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo.

Enter Gratiano

GRATIANO 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.

Gives her the ring

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.

GRATIANO That will I do.

NERISSA Sir, I would speak with you.

I'll see if I can get my husband's ring,

Aside to Portia

Which I did make him swear to keep for ever.

PORTIA Thou mayst, I warrant.

Aside to Nerissa

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.

Aloud

NERISSA Come, good sir, will you show me to this house?

Exeunt HeVp9P6W4wRiuUktJofOk3uPnyqZiaLP6ABLvbC5g9cboUxoo5EReEviYga4RsFw