The Merchant of Venice | Page 3

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THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
by William Shakespeare
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
THE DUKE OF VENICE?THE PRINCE OF MOROCCO, suitor to Portia?THE PRINCE OF ARRAGON, suitor to Portia?ANTONIO, a merchant of Venice?BASSANIO, his friend?SALANIO, friend to Antonio and Bassanio?SALARINO, friend to Antonio and Bassanio?GRATIANO, friend to Antonio and Bassanio?LORENZO, in love with Jessica?SHYLOCK, a rich Jew?TUBAL, a Jew, his friend?LAUNCELOT GOBBO, a clown, servant to Shylock?OLD GOBBO, father to Launcelot?LEONARDO, servant to Bassanio?BALTHASAR, servant to Portia?STEPHANO, servant to Portia
PORTIA, a rich heiress?NERISSA, her waiting-maid?JESSICA, daughter to Shylock
Magnificoes of Venice, Officers of the Court of Justice,?Gaoler, Servants to Portia, and other Attendants
SCENE: Partly at Venice, and partly at Belmont, the seat of Portia, on the?Continent
ACT 1.
SCENE I. Venice. A street
[Enter ANTONIO, SALARINO, and SALANIO]
ANTONIO.?In sooth, I know not why I am so sad;?It wearies me; you say it wearies you;?But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,?What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,?I am to learn;?And such a want-wit sadness makes of me?That I have much ado to know myself.
SALARINO.?Your mind is tossing on the ocean;?There where your argosies, with portly sail--?Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood,?Or as it were the pageants of the sea--?Do overpeer the petty traffickers,?That curtsy to them, do them reverence,?As they fly by them with their woven wings.
SALANIO.?Believe me, sir, had I such venture forth,?The better part of my affections would?Be with my hopes abroad. I should be still?Plucking the grass to know where sits the wind,?Peering in maps for ports, and piers, and roads;?And every object that might make me fear?Misfortune to my ventures, out of doubt?Would make me sad.
SALARINO.?My wind, cooling my broth?Would blow me to an ague, when I thought?What harm a wind too great might do at sea.?I should not see the sandy hour-glass run?But I should think of shallows and of flats,?And see my wealthy Andrew dock'd in sand,?Vailing her high top lower than her ribs?To kiss her burial. Should I go to church?And see the holy edifice of stone,?And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks,?Which, touching but my gentle vessel's side,?Would scatter all her spices on the stream,?Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks,?And, in a word, but even now worth this,?And now worth nothing? Shall I have the thought?To think on this, and shall I lack the thought?That such a thing bechanc'd would make me sad??But tell not me; I know Antonio?Is sad to think upon his merchandise.
ANTONIO.?Believe me, no; I thank my fortune for it,?My ventures are not in one bottom trusted,?Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate?Upon the fortune of this present year;?Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad.
SALARINO.?Why, then you are in love.
ANTONIO.?Fie, fie!
SALARINO.?Not in love neither? Then let us say you are sad?Because you are not merry; and 'twere as easy?For you to laugh and leap and say you are merry,?Because you are not sad. Now, by two-headed Janus,?Nature hath fram'd strange fellows in her time:?Some that will evermore peep through their eyes,?And laugh like parrots at a bag-piper;?And other of such vinegar aspect?That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile?Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable.
[Enter BASSANIO, LORENZO, and GRATIANO.]
SALANIO.?Here comes Bassanio, your most noble kinsman,?Gratiano, and Lorenzo. Fare ye well;?We leave you now with better company.
SALARINO.?I would have stay'd till I had made you merry,?If worthier friends had not prevented me.
ANTONIO.?Your worth is very dear in my regard.?I take it your own business calls on