Venice. The Court of Justice.
 Enter the DUKE, the MAGNIFICOES, ANTONIO, BASSANIO,
 GRATIANO, 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 exacts the penalty,
	Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh,
	Thou wilt not only loose the forfeiture,
	But, touched with human 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 flint,
	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,
	Master 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 answers.

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;
	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 noise
	When they are fretten with the gusts of heaven;
	You may as well do anything most hard
	As seek to soften that - than which what's 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 judgment, 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, rendering none?

Shylock	What judgment 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 judgment. Answer - shall I have it?

Duke	Upon my power I may dismiss this court,
	Unless Bellario, a learnd 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 lawyer's clerk.

Duke	Came you from Padua, from Bellario?

Nerissa	From both, my lord. Bellario greets your grace.
														[Presents a letter.

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 layest 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 cureless ruin. I stand here for law.

Duke	This letter from Bellario doth commend
	A young and learnd doctor to 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.
	Meantime, the court shall hear Bellario's letter.

	[Reads.]	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.

        Enter PORTIA as Balthasar, dressed like a doctor of laws.

	You hear the learned 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 informd 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.
	[To ANTONIO.] 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 thrond 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 enthrond 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 establishd:
	'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 judgment! 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. 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 judgment. 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 judgment.

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 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	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 lingering 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 who 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	[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 learnd 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'.
	Take then 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 learnd 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.

Gratiano	O learnd judge! Mark, Jew. A learnd 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 learnd 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 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.

Gratiano	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.

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 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.

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 pronouncd 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 christ'ning shalt thou 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.

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 with 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.

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 a 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 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.
