Bassanio presently will go

aboard: I have sent twenty out to seek for you.

Gra. I am glad on't; I desire no more delight, Than to be under sail, and gone to-night. [E.reunt.

SCENE VII.

BELMONT.

A ROOM IN PORTIA'S HOUSE.

Flourish of Cornets. Enter Portia, with the Prince

of Norocco, and both their trains. Por. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover The several caskets to this noble prince:Now make your choice. Mor. The first, of gold, who this inscription

bears;Il'ho chooseth me, shall gain what many men desire. The second, silver, which this promise carries;Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he deserves. This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt;Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath, How shall I know if I do choose the right?

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

Mor. Some god direct my judgment! Let me see, I will survey the inscriptions back again: What says

this leaden casket? Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath. Must 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 dross;
I'll then nor give, nor hazard, aught for lead.
What says the silver, with her virgin hue?
Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he deserves.
As much as he deserves !-Pause there, Morocco,
And weigh thy value with an even hand:
If thou be'st rated by thy estimation,
Thou dost deserve enough; and yet enough
May not extend so far as to the lady;
And yet to be afeard of my deserving,
Were but a weak disabling of myself.
As much as I deserve!—Why, that's the lady:
I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes,
In graces, and in qualities of breeding;
But, more than these, in love I do deserye.
What if I stray'd no further, but chose here?-
Let's see once more this saying grav’d in gold.
Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men desire.
Why, that's the lady; all the world desires her:
From the four corners of the earth they come,
To kiss this shrine, this mortal breathing saint.
The Hyrcanian deserts, and the vasty wilds
Of wide Arabia, are as through-fares now,
For princes to come view fair Portia:
The watry kingdom, whose ambitious head
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar
To stop the foreign spirits; but they come,
As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia.
One of these three contains her heavenly picture.
Is't like, that lead contains her? 'Twere damna-

tion,
To think so base a thought; it were too gross

To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave.
Or shall I think, in silver she's immur'd,
Being ten times undervalued to try'd gold?
O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem
Was set in worse than gold. They have in Eng.

land
A coin, that bears the figure of an angel
Stamped in gold; but that's insculp'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

there, Then I am yours.

[He unlocks the golden casket. Mor.

O hell! what have we here? A carrion death, within whose empty eye There is a written scroll? I'll read the writing.

form lie

All that glisters is not gold,
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold,
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms infold.
Had
you

been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,
Your answer had not been inscrol'd:
Fare

suit is cold.

you well;

well; your

Cold, indeed; and labour lost':

Then, farewel, heat; and, welcome, frost. Portia, adieu! I have too griev'd a heart To take a tedious leave: thus losers part.

[Erit. Por. A gentle riddance:--- Draw the curtains,

go; Let all of his complexion choose me so. [Exeunt.

Salar. Why man, I saw Bassanio under sail; With him is Gratiano gone along; And in their ship, I am sure, Lorenzo is not. Salan. The villain Jew with outcries rais'd the

duke; Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship. Salar. He came too late, - the ship was under

sail;
But there the duke was given to understand,
That in a gondola were seen together
Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica:
Besides, Antonio certify'd the duke,
They were not with Bassanio in his ship.

Salan. I never heard a passion so confus'd,
So strange, outrageous, and so variable,
As the dog Jew did utter in the streets:
My daughter!–0 my

ducats!-0 my daughter! Fled with a Christian?-0

my

christian ducats !Justice! the law ! my ducats, and my daughter! A sealed bug, two sealed bags of ducats, Of double ducats stoln from me by my daughter! And jewels; two stones, two rich and precious stones,

Stoln by my daughter!—Justice! find the girl!
She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats!

Salar. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him, Crying, -his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.

Salan. Let good Antonio look he keep his day, Or he shall

pay

for this. Salar.

Marry, well rememberd: I reason'd with a Frenchman yesterday; Who told me,-in the narrow seas, that part The French and English, there miscarried A vessel of our country, richly fraught: I thought upon Antonio, when he told me; And wish'd in silence, that it were not his. Salan. You were best to tell Antonio what you

hear; Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.

Salar. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth. I saw Bassanio and Antonio part: Bassanio told him, he would make some speed Of his return; he answer'd-Do not so, Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, But stay 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 chiefest thoughts To courtship, and such fuir ostents of love As shall conveniently become you And even there, his eye being big with tears, Turning his face, he put his hand behind him, And with affection wondrous sensible He wrung Bassanio's hand, and so they parted.

Salan. I think, he only loves the world for him.

you there: