ACT IV.

SCENE I. The Senate House in Venice.

Enter the Duke, the Senators; ANTHONIO, BASSA-
NIO, GRATIANO, and others.

Duke.

WHAT, is Anthonio here

Anth. Ready, fo please your grace.

Duke. I'm forry for thee; thou art come to answer
A ftony adverfary, an inhuman wretch

Uncapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy.

Anth. I have heard,

Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify
His rigorous course; but fince 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 arm'd
To fuffer, with a quietness of fpirit,
The very tyranny and rage of his.

Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court.
Sal. He's ready at the door: he comes, my lord.

Enter SHYLOCK.

Duke. Make room, and let him ftand before our
face.
Shylock, the world thinks, and I think fo too,
That thou but lead'ft the fashion of thy malice
To the last hour of act and then, 'tis thought,
Thou'lt fhew thy mercy, and remorse, more strange,

:

Than

Than is thy ftrange apparent cruelty:

And, where thou now exact'ft the penalty (Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh), Thou wilt not only lofe the forfeiture, But, touch'd with human gentleness and love, Forgive a moiety of the principal; Glancing an eye of pity on his loffes, That have of late fo huddled on his back; Enough to prefs a royal merchant down; And pluck commiseration of his state From braffy bofoms, and rough hearts of flint, From ftubborn Turks and Tartars, never train'd To offices of tender courtesy.

We all expect a gentle anfwer, Jew.

Shy. I have poffefs'd your grace of what I purpose;
And by our holy Sabbath have I fworn,
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, fay, it is my humour; Is it anfwer'd?
What if my house be troubled with a rat,
And I be pleas'd to give ten thousand ducats
To have it ban'd? What, are you answer'd yet!
Some men there are, love not a gaping pig;
Some, that are mad, if they behold a cat;
And others, when the bag pipe fings i' the nofe,
Cannot contain their urine; for affections,
Mafters of paffion, fway it to the mood

Of what it likes, or loaths: Now, for your answer:
As there is no firm reason to be render'd,
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig;

Why

Why he, a harmless neceffary cat;
Why he, a woolen bag-pipe; but of force
Muft yield to fuch inevitable shame,
As to offend himself, being offended;
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodg'd hate, and a certain loathing
I bear Anthonio, that I follow thus

A lofing fuit against him. Are

you

anfwer'd? Ball. This is no anfwer, thou unfeeling man, To excufe the current of thy cruelty:

Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my anfwers. Baff. Do all men kill the thing they do not love? Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill? Baff. Every offence is not a hate at first.

Shy. What, would'st thou have a serpent sting thee twice?

Anth. I pray you, think, you queftion with the You may as well go ftand upon the beach, [Jew. And bid the main flood 'bate his ufual height; You may 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 noife, When they are fretted with the gufts of heaven; You may as well do any thing moft hard, As feek to foften that (than which what's harder?) His Jewish heart :-Therefore I do befeech you, Make no more offers, ufe no farther means, But with all brief and plain conveniency Let me have judgment, and the Jew his will Ball. For thy three thousand ducats here is fix. Shy. If every ducat in fix thousand ducats Were in fix parts, and every part a ducat, I would not draw them; I would have my bond. Duke

Duke. How fhalt thou hope for mercy, rend'ring none ?

Shy. What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?

You have among you many a purchas'd slave,
Which, like your affes, and your dogs, and mules,
You ufe in abject and in flavish parts,

Because you bought them :-Shall I fay to you,
Let them be free, marry them to your heirs?
Why fweat they under burdens? let their beds
Be made as foft as yours, and let their palates
Be feafon'd with fuch viands? you will anfwer,
The flaves 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 judgment: answer; fhall I have it?
Duke. Upon my power, I may difmifs this court,
Unless Bellario, a learned doctor,

Whom I have fent for to determine this,
Come here to-day.

Sala. My lord, here stays without,

A meffenger with letters from the doctor,
New come from Padua.

Duke: Bring us the letters; Call the meffenger. Ba. Good cheer, Anthonio! What, man? courage yet!

The Jew fhall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all, Ere thou shalt lofe for me one drop of blood. Anth. I am a tainted wether of the flock, Meeteft for death; the weakest kind of fruit Drops earliest to the ground, and fo let me :

You

You cannot better be employ'd, Baffanio,
Than to live still, and write mine epitaph.

Enter NERISSA, drefs'd like a Lawyer's clerk.
Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario?
Ner. From both, my lord: Bellario greets your
grace.

Ba. Why doft thou whet thy knife fo earnestly?
Shy. To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there.
Gra. Not on thy foal, but on thy foul, harsh Jew,
Thou mak'ft thy knife keen: but no metal can,
No, nor the hangman's axe, bear half the keennefs
Of thy fharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee?
Shy. No, none that thou haft wit enough to make,
Gra. O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dog!
And for thy life let justice be accus'd.
Thou almoít mak'ft me waver in my faith,
To hold opinion with Pythagoras,
That fouls of animals infufe themselves
Into the trunks of men. Thy currith fpirit
Govern'd a wolf, who, hang'd for human flaughter,
Even from the gallows did his fell foul fleet,
And, whilft thou lay'ft in thy unhallow'd dam,
Infus'd itself in thee; for thy defires

Are wolfish, bloody, starv'd and ravenous.

Shy. Till thou canst rail the feal from off my bond, Thou but offend'ft thy lungs to speak so loud: Repair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall To cureless ruin. I ftand here for law.

Duke. This letter from Bellario doth commend A young and learned doctor to our court :

Where is he?

Ner. He attendeth here hard by,

To know your answer, whether you will admit him.

Duke.