Enter Anthonio.

Anth. Who's there?

Gra. Signior Anthonio?

Anth. Fie, fie, Gratiano! where are all the rest? 'Tis nine o'clock; our friends all ftay for you :No mafque to-night; the wind is come about, Baffanio presently will go aboard:

I have fent twenty out to feek for you.

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

[Exeunt.

Enter Portia, with the Prince of Morocco, and both their trains.

Por. Go, draw afide the curtains, and discover The feveral cafkets to this noble prince :

Now make your choice.

e

Mor. The firft, of gold, who this infcription bears ;— Who chufeth me, fhall gain what many men defire. The second, filver, which this promise carries ;— Who chufeth me, fhall get as much as he deferves. This third, dull lead, with warning all as ' blunt ;Who chufeth me, must give and hazard all he bath.How fhall I know if I do chufe the right?

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

Mor. Some god direct my judgment! Let me fee,

I will furvey the infcriptions back again:

e who and which were us'd indifcriminately in our author's time. f blunt ;]-coarse.

What

What fays this leaden cafket?

Who chufeth 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 shows of drofs;
I'll then nor give, nor hazard, ought for lead.
What fays the filver, with her virgin hue?
Who chufeth me, fhall get as much as he deferves.
As much as he deferves ?-Pause there, Morocco,
And weigh thy value with an even hand:
If thou be'st rated by thy eftimation,
Thou dost deserve enough; and yet enough
May not extend fo far as to the lady;
And yet to be afeard of my deserving,
Were but a weak difabling of myself.

As much as I deserve!-Why, that's the lady :
I do in birth deferve her, and in fortunes,
In graces, and in qualities of breeding;
But, more than thefe, in love I do deferve.
What if I ftray'd no farther, but chofe here?—
Let's fee once more this faying grav'd in gold.
Who chufeth me, shall 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 kiss this fhrine, this mortal breathing faint.
The Hyrcanian deferts, and the vasty wilds
Of wide Arabia, are as thorough-fares now,
For princes to come view fair Portia :
The watry 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.

fbows of drofs ;]-what hath the refemblance of.

I 3

One

One of these three contains her heavenly picture.
Is't like, that lead contains her? 'Twere damnation,
To think fo base a thought: it were too grofs
To rib her cerecloth 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

Lyes all within.-Deliver me the key;

Here do I chufe, and thrive I as I may !

Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lye there,

Then I am yours..

[Unlocking the gold cafket.

'Mor. O hell! what have we here?

A carrion death, within whofe empty eye

There is a written fcroll? I'll read the writing,

All that glifters is not gold;

Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath fold,
But my outfide to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms infold.
Had you been as wife as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,

k

This anfwer had not been infcrol'd:

Fare you well; your fuit is cold.

Mor. Cold, indeed; and labour loft:

Then, farewel, heat; and, welcome, froft.

Portia, adieu I have too griev'd a heart
To take a tedious leave: thus lofers part.

h

i

rib]-enclofe, bind in filaments, wrap round.
infculp'd upon;]-engraven on the furface.

[Exit.

k Your.

Por.

Por. A gentle riddance :-Draw the curtains, go:Let all of his complexion chufe me fo.

SCENE

Venice.

[Exeunt.

VIII.

Enter Salarino and Solanio.

Sol. Why man, I faw Baffanio under fail;

With him is Gratiano gone along;

And in their fhip, I am fure, Lorenzo is not.

Sala. The villain Jew with outcries rais'd the duke;

Who went with him to fearch Baffanio's fhip.

Sol. He came too late, the fhip was under fail:

But there the duke was given to understand,

That in a gondola were feen together
Lorenzo and his amorous' Jeffica:
Besides, Anthonio certify'd the duke,
They were not with Baffanio in his fhip.
Sala. I never heard a paffion fo confus'd,
So ftrange, outrageous, and fo variable,
As the dog Jew did utter in the streets :
My daughter!-O my ducats!-O my daughter!
Fled with a Chriftian?-O my Chriftian ducats!-
Juftice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter !—
A fealed bag, two fealed bags of ducats,

Of double ducats, ftol'n from me by my daughter!
And jewels; two ftones, two rich and precious ftones,
Stol'n by my daughter!—Justice! find the girl!
She bath the ftones upon her, and the ducats!
Sol. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him,
Crying, his ftones, his daughter, and his ducats.
Sala. Let good Anthonio look he keep his day,
Or he fhall pay for this.

I 4

Sol.

Sol. Marry, well remember'd :

'I reafon'd with a Frenchman yesterday;
Who told me,-in the narrow feas, that part
The French and English, there miscarried
A veffel of our country, richly fraught:
I thought upon Anthonio, when he told me ;
And wifh'd in filence, that it were not his.

Sala. You were beft to tell Anthonio what you hear; Yet do not fuddenly, for it may grieve him.

Sol. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth.
I faw Baffanio and Anthonio part :

Baffanio told him, he would make some speed
Of his return; he answer'd,-Do not fo,

Slubber not business for my fake, Bassanio,

n

But ftay the very riping of the time;

And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me,
Let it not enter in your mind of love:
Be merry; and employ your chiefeft thoughts
To courtship, and fuch fair oftents of love
As fhall conveniently become you there:
And even there, his eye being big with tears,
Turning his face, he put his hand behind him,
And with affection wondrous fenfible

He wrung Baffanio's hand, and fo they parted.

Sala. I think, he only loves the world for him. I pray thee, let us go, and find him out,

And quicken his embraced heaviness

With fome delight or other.

Sol. Do we fo.

1 I reafon'd]-talked with.

Exeunt.

Slubber not bufinefs]-perform it not either haftily or negligently. very riping of the time;]-till all is quite mature.

your mind of love :]-your loving mind-your mind, of love-I ad

jure you by our mutual love.

P And quicken bis embraced heaviness]-endeavour to amufe the melancholy that clings fo closely to him, which he indulges too far.

SCENE