And the vile fqueaking of the wry-neck'd fife,
Clamber not you up to the casements then,
Nor thrust your head into the publick street,
To gaze on chriftian fools with varnish'd faces:
But stop my houfe's ears, I mean, my casements,
Let not the found of fhallow foppery enter
My fober house. By Jacob's ftaff, I swear,
I have no mind of feasting forth to-night:
But I will go; go you before me, firrah:
Say, will come.

Laun. Sir, I will go before.

Mistress, look out at a window for all this;
There will come a christian by,
Will be worth a Jewess' eye.

Shy. What fays that fool of Hagar's offspring, ha?
Jef. His words were, farewel, mistress; nothing else.
Shy. The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder :
Snail-flow in profit, and he fleeps by day
More than the wild cat; drones hive not with me;
Therefore I part with him, and part with him
To one that I would have him help to wafte
His borrow'd purfe. Well, Jeffica, go in,
Perhaps, I will return immediately;
Shut the doors after you; faft bind, faft find,
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.

Jef. Farewel; and if my fortune be not croft,
I have a father, you a daughter, lost.

[Exit Laun.

Sal. His hour is aĺmost past.

Gra. And it is marvel he outdwells his hour,

For lovers ever run before the clock.

[Exit.

[Exit.

SCENE VII.

Enter Gratiano, and Salanio, in masquerade.

Gra. This is the penthouse, under which Lorenzo defired us to make a stand.

Sal.

Sal. O, ten times fafter Venus' pidgeons fly
To feal love's bonds new made, than they are wont
To keep obliged faith unforfeited!

Gra. That ever holds. Who rifeth from a feast
With that keen appetite that he fits down?
Where is the horse that doth untread again
His tedious measures with th' unbated fire
That he did pace them firft? all things that are,
Are with more spirit chased than enjoy'd.
How like a younker, or a prodigal,
The scarfed bark puts from her native bay,
Hugg'd and embraced by the ftrumpet wind!
How like the prodigal doth fhe return
With overweather'd ribs, and ragged fails,
Lean, rent, and beggar'd by the ftrumpet wind!

Enter Lorenzo.

Sal. Here comes Lorenzo: more of this hereafter..

Lor. Sweet friends, your patience for my long abode;
Not I, but my affairs, have made you wait;
When you shall please to play the thieves for wives,
I'll watch as long for you then; come, approach;
Here dwells my father Jew. Hoa, who's within?

But you, Lorenzo, whether I am yours?

Lor. Heav'n and thy thoughts are witness that thou art..
Jef. Here, catch this cafket, it is worth the pains.

I'm glad 'tis night, you do not look on me,
For I am much afham'd of my exchange;
But love is blind, and lovers cannot fee

The

The pretty follies that themselves commit;
For if they could, Gupid himself would blush
To fee me thus transformed to a boy.

Lor. Defcend, for you must be my torchbearer.
Jes. What, muft I hold a candle to my fhames?
They in themselves good-footh are too, too light.
Why, 'tis an office of difcovery, love,
And I should be obfcur'd.

Lor. So are you, sweet,

Ev'n in the lovely garnish of a boy.

But come at once

For the close night doth play the runaway,
And we are stay'd for at Baffanio's feast.

Jef. I will make faft the doors, and gild myself With fome more ducats, and be with you ftraight.

Gra. Now, by my hood, a gentile, and no few.
Lor. Befhrew me, but I love her heartily,
For fhe is wife, if I can judge of her;
And fair the is, if that mine eyes be true;
And true she is, as the hath prov'd herself;
And therefore, like herself, wife, fair, and true,
Shall fhe be placed in my conftant foul.

What, art thou come
Our masking mates by

Reenter Jeffica.

on, gentlemen, away; this time for us stay. [Exit, with Jessica.

Enter Anthonio.

Anth. Who's there?
Gra. Signior Anthonio!

Anth. Fie, Gratiano, where are all the reft?
'Tis nine o'clock; our friends all stay for you:
I have fent twenty out to feek for you.
No mask to-night, the wind is come about,
Bassanio presently will go aboard.

Gra. I'm glad on't, I defire no more delight
Than to be under fail, and gone to-night.

[Exeunt. SCENE

SCENE VIII.

Belmont.

Enter Portia with Morochius, and both their trains.

Por.

G%

O, draw afide the curtains, and discover
The fev'ral cafkets to this noble prince.
Now make your choice.
[three cafkets are difcovered.
Mor. The firft of gold, which this infcription bears:
Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men defire.
The second filver, which this promise carries :
Who choofeth me, fball get as much as he deferves.
This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt:
Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath.
How fhall I know if I do choose the right?

Por. The one of them contains my picture, prince;
If you choose that, then am I yours withal.

Mor. Some god direct my judgment! let me see,
I will furvey th' inferiptions back again;
What fays this leaden casket?

Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all be bath.
Muft give, for what? for lead? hazard for lead?
This casket threatens. Men, that hazard all,
Do it in hope of fair advantages:

A golden mind stoops not to fhows of drofs,
I'll then not give nor hazard ought for lead.
What fays the filver with her virgin hue?
Who choofeth me, shall get as much as he deferves.
As much as he deferves? paufe there, Morochius,
And weigh thy value with an even hand:
If thou be'ft rated by thy estimation,
Thou dost deserve enough, and yet enough
May not extend fo far as to the lady;
And yet to be afraid of my deferving,
VOL. II.

E

Were but a weak difabling of myself.

As much as I deferve?—why, that's the lady:
I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes,

In graces, and in qualities of breeding:
But more than thefe, in love. I do deserve.
What if I stray'd no farther, but chose here?
Let's fee once more this faying grav'd in gold:
Who choofeth me, fhall gain what many men defire.
Why, that's the lady; all the world defires her:
From the four corners of the earth they come
To kifs this fhrine, this mortal breathing faint.
Th' Hircanian deferts and the vasty wilds
Of wide Arabia are as thoroughfares now,
For princes to come view fair Portia.
The wat'ry kingdom, whofe ambitious head
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar
To stop the foreign fpirits; but they come,
As o'er a brook, to fee fair Portia.

[

2 fu

One of these three contains her heav'nly picture.

Is't like that lead contains her? 'twere damnation
To think fo base a thought: it were too grofs
To rib her fearcloth in the obfcure grave.
Or fhall I think, in filver fhe's immur'd,
Being ten times undervalu'd to try'd gold?
O finful thought! never fo rich a gem

Was fet in worse than gold. They have in England
A coin that bears the figure of an angel
Stamped in gold, but that's infculp'd upon:
But here an angel in a golden bed
Lies all within. Deliver me the key;
Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may!

Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lie there,
Then I am yours.
[unlocking the golden cafket.
Mor. O hell! what have we here? a carrion death,
Within whose empty eye there is a scroll:
I'll read the writing:

1

All