SALARINO

My wind cooling my broth

Would blow me to an ague when I
thought
What harm a wind too great at sea
might do.
I should not see the sandy
hourglass run,
But I should think of shallows and
of flats
And see my wealthy Andrew
docked 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
vessels 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 bechanced
would make me sad?
But tell not me. I know Antonio
Is sad to think upon his
merchandise.
SALARINO
Id get scared every time I blew on
my soup to cool it, thinking of how a
strong wind could wipe out my ships.
Every time I glanced at the sand in
an hourglass Id imagine my ships
wrecked on sandbars. Id think of
dangerous rocks every time I went to
church and saw the stones it was
made of. If my ship brushed up
against rocks like that, its whole
cargo of spices would be dumped
into the sea. All of its silk shipments
would be sent flying into the roaring
waters. In one moment Id go
bankrupt. Who wouldnt get sad
thinking about things like that? Its
obvious. Antonio is sad because hes
so worried about his cargo.



ANTONIO
Believe me, no. I thank my fortune for
it
ANTONIO
No, thats not it, trust me. Thankfully
my financial situation is healthy. I


45
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.
dont have all of my money invested
in one ship, or one part of the world.
If I dont do well this year, Ill still be
okay. So its not my business thats
making me sad.
SOLANIO
Why then, you are in love.
SOLANIO
Well then, you must be in love.
ANTONIO
Fie, fie!
ANTONIO
Oh, give me a break.




50
SOLANIO
Not in love neither? Then let us say
you are sad
Because you are not merryand
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 framed strange fellows in
her time.
SOLANIO
Youre not in love either? Fine, lets
just say youre sad because youre
not in a good mood. You know, itd
be just as easy for you to laugh and
dance around and say youre in a
good mood. You could just say
youre not sad. Humans are so
different.

ORIGINAL TEXT MODERN TEXT




25




30


SALARINO
My wind cooling my broth
Would blow me to an ague when I
thought
What harm a wind too great at sea
might do.
I should not see the sandy hourglass
run,
But I should think of shallows and of
flats
And see my wealthy Andrew docked
in sand,
SALARINO
Id get scared every time I blew on
my soup to cool it, thinking of how a
strong wind could wipe out my
ships. Every time I glanced at the
sand in an hourglass Id imagine my
ships wrecked on sandbars. Id
think of dangerous rocks every time
I went to church and saw the stones
it was made of. If my ship brushed
up against rocks like that, its whole
cargo of spices would be dumped


35




40
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
vessels 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 bechanced would
make me sad?
But tell not me. I know Antonio
Is sad to think upon his
merchandise.
into the sea. All of its silk shipments
would be sent flying into the roaring
waters. In one moment Id go
bankrupt. Who wouldnt get sad
thinking about things like that? Its
obvious. Antonio is sad because
hes so worried about his cargo.





45
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.
ANTONIO
No, thats not it, trust me. Thankfully
my financial situation is healthy. I
dont have all of my money invested
in one ship, or one part of the world.
If I dont do well this year, Ill still be
okay. So its not my business thats
making me sad.
SOLANIO
Why then, you are in love.
SOLANIO
Well then, you must be in love.
ANTONIO ANTONIO
Fie, fie! Oh, give me a break.




50
SOLANIO
Not in love neither? Then let us say
you are sad
Because you are not merryand
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 framed strange fellows
in her time.
SOLANIO
Youre not in love either? Fine, lets
just say youre sad because youre
not in a good mood. You know, itd
be just as easy for you to laugh and
dance around and say youre in a
good mood. You could just say
youre not sad. Humans are so
different.
Some that will
evermore
peep through
their eyes
And laugh like
parrots at a
bagpiper,
And other of
such vinegar
aspect
That theyll not
show their
teeth in way of
smile
Though
Nestor swear
the jest be
laughable.
Some people will laugh at anything,
and others are so grouchy they wont
even crack a smile when they hear
something hysterically funny.
Enter BASSANIO, LORENZO,
and GRATIANO
BASSANIO, LORENZO,
and GRATIANO enter.
Here comes Bassanio, your most
noble kinsman,
Gratiano, and Lorenzo. Fare ye well.
We leave you now with better
company.
Here comes your cousin Bassanio.
And Gratiano and Lorenzo too.
Goodbye, then. Well leave you to talk
to them. Theyre better company.

60
SALARINO
I would have stayed till I had made
you merry
If worthier friends had not prevented
me.
SALARINO
I wouldve stayed to cheer you up, if
your nobler friends hadnt shown up.


ANTONIO
Your worth is very dear in my regard.
I take it your own business calls on
you
And you embrace th' occasion to
depart.
ANTONIO
Youre both very precious to me. But I
understand. You need to leave to take
care of your own business.

65
SALARINO
(to BASSANIO, LORENZO,
GRATIANO)
Good morrow, my good lords.
SALARINO
(to BASSANIO, LORENZO,
and GRATIANO) Good morning,
gentlemen.


BASSANIO
(to SALARINO and SOLANIO)
Good signors both, when shall we
laugh? Say, when?
You grow exceeding strange. Must it
be so?
BASSANIO
(to SALARINO and SOLANIO) Hello,
friends. When are we going to have
fun together again? Just name the
time. We never see you anymore.
Does it have to be that way?

70
SALARINO
Well make our leisures to attend on
yours.
SALARINO
Let us know when you want to get
together. Were available.
Exeunt SALARINO and SOLANIO SALARINO and SOLANIO exit.


LORENZO
My Lord Bassanio, since you have
found Antonio,
We two will leave you. But at
dinnertime
I pray you have in mind where we
must meet.
LORENZO
Bassanio, well say goodbye for now,
since youve found Antonio. But dont
forget, were meeting for dinner
tonight.
BASSANIO
I will not fail you.
BASSANIO
Dont worry, Ill be there.
GRATIANO
You look not well, Signor
GRATIANO
You dont look well, Antonio.
Antonio.
You have too much respect
upon the world.
They lose it that do buy it
with much care.
Believe me, you are
marvelously changed.
Youre taking things too
seriously. People with too
much invested in the world
always get hurt. Im telling you,
you dont look like yourself.


80
ANTONIO
I hold the world but as the
world, Gratiano
A stage where every man
must play a part,
And mine a sad one.
ANTONIO
For me the world is just the
world, Gratianoa stage
where every person has a part
to play. I play a sad one.





85




90




95




100




GRATIANO
Let me play the fool.
With mirth and laughter let old
wrinkles come.
And let my liver rather heat
with wine
Than my heart cool with
mortifying groans.
Why should a man whose
blood is warm within
Sit like his grandsire cut in
alabaster,
Sleep when he wakes, and
creep into the jaundice
By being peevish? I tell thee
what, Antonio
I love thee, and tis my love
that speaks
There are a sort of men whose
visages
Do cream and mantle like a
standing pond,
And do a willful stillness
entertain
With purpose to be dressed in
GRATIANO
Then Ill play the happy fool
and get laugh lines on my
face. Id rather overload my
liver with wine than starve my
heart by denying myself fun.
Why should any living man sit
still like a statue? Why should
he sleep when hes awake?
Why should he get ulcers from
being crabby all the time? I
love you, and Im telling you
this because I care about you,
Antoniothere are men who
always look serious. Their
faces never move or show any
expression, like stagnant
ponds covered with scum.
Theyre silent and stern, and
they think theyre wise and
deep, important and
respectable. When they talk,
they think everybody else
should keep quiet, and that
even dogs should stop
105 an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound
conceit,
As who should say, I am Sir
Oracle,
And when I ope my lips, let no
dog bark!
O my Antonio, I do know of
these
That therefore only are
reputed wise
For saying nothing, when I am
very sure
If they should speak, would
almost damn those ears
Which, hearing them, would
call their brothers fools.
Ill tell thee more of this
another time.
But fish not with this
melancholy bait
For this fool gudgeon, this
opinion.
Come, good Lorenzo.Fare
ye well awhile.
Ill end my exhortation after
dinner.
barking. I know a lot of men
like that, Antonio. The only
reason theyre considered
wise is because they dont say
anything. Im sure if they ever
opened their mouths,
everyone would see what fools
they are. Ill talk to you more
about this some other time. In
the meantime, cheer up. Dont
go around looking so glum.
Thats my opinion, but what do
I know? Im a fool.Lets go,
Lorenzo.Goodbye for now.
Ill finish my lecture after
dinner.
LORENZO
Well, we will
leave you then
till dinnertime.
I must be one of
these same
dumb wise men,
For Gratiano
never lets me
speak.
LORENZO
All right, well see you at dinnertime. I
must be one of these silent so-called
wise men Gratianos talking about,
because he never lets me get a word
in.
GRATIANO GRATIANO
110 Well, keep me company but two years
more,
Thou shalt not know the sound of
thine own tongue.
If you hang around me for two more
years, youll forget the sound of
your own voice. I wont ever let you
speak.
ANTONIO
Farewell. Ill grow a talker for this
gear.
ANTONIO
Goodbye. After that lecture of
yours, Ill start talking a lot.
GRATIANO
Thanks, i' faith, for silence is only
commendable
In a neats tongue dried and a maid
not vendible.
GRATIANO
Thank you. The only tongues that
should be silent are ox-tongues on
a dinner plate and those that
belong to old maids.
Exeunt GRATIANO and LORENZO GRATIANO and LORENZO exit.

115
ANTONIO
Is that any thing now?
ANTONIO
Is he right?
BASSANIO
Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of
nothing, more than any man in all
Venice. His reasons are as two grains
of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff
you shall seek all day ere you find
them, and when you have them they
are not worth the search.
BASSANIO
Gratiano talks more nonsense than
any other man in Venice. His point
is always like a needle in a
haystackyou look for it all day,
and when you find it you realize it
wasnt worth the trouble.


ANTONIO
Well, tell me now what lady is the
same
To whom you swore a secret
pilgrimage,
That you today promised to tell me of?
ANTONIO
So, whos this girl, the one you said
you were going to take a special
trip for? You promised to tell me.


125


BASSANIO
'Tis not unknown to you, Antonio,
How much I have disabled mine
estate,
By something showing a more
swelling port
Than my faint means would grant
BASSANIO
Antonio, you know how bad my
finances have been lately. Ive been
living way beyond my means. Dont
get me wrong, Im not complaining
about having to cut back.
continuance.
Nor do I now make moan to be
abridged
From such a noble rate. But my chief
care
130




135
Is to come fairly off from the great
debts
Wherein my time something too
prodigal
Hath left me gaged. To you,
Antonio,
I owe the most in money and in
love,
And from your love I have a
warranty
To unburden all my plots and
purposes
How to get clear of all the debts I
owe.
I just want to be honorable and
pay off the big debts that piled
up when I was living the high life.
Im in debt to many people, and I
owe most to you, Antonioboth
money and gratitude. And
because you care about me, I
know youll let me tell you my
plan to clear all my debts.




140
ANTONIO
I pray you, good Bassanio, let me
know it.
And if it stand, as you yourself still
do,
Within the eye of honor, be assured
My purse, my person, my extremest
means
Lie all unlocked to your occasions.
ANTONIO
Please let me know your plan,
Bassanio. As long as its
honorable, you can be sure that
Ill let you use all my money and
do everything I can to help you.




145




150
BASSANIO
In my school days, when I had lost
one shaft,
I shot his fellow of the selfsame
flight
The selfsame way with more
advisd watch
To find the other forthand by
adventuring both,
I oft found both. I urge this
BASSANIO
Back when I was a schoolboy, if I
lost an arrow I would try to find it
by shooting another arrow in the
same direction, watching the
second arrow more carefully
than I had the first. By risking the
second arrow, Id often get both
of them back. Im telling you this
story for a reason. I owe you a


childhood proof
Because what follows is pure
innocence.
I owe you much, and, like a willful
youth,
That which I owe is lost. But if you
please
To shoot another arrow that self
way
Which you did shoot the first, I do
not doubt,
As I will watch the aim, or to find
both
Or bring your latter hazard back
again
And thankfully rest debtor for the
first.
lot, and like a spoiled kid Ive lost
what I owe you. But if youd be
willing to shoot another arrow
the same way you shot the first,
Ill watch your arrow more
carefully this time. Either well
get back all the money I owe you,
or else well get back what you
lend me this time, and Ill just
owe you what I already owe you.

155




160
ANTONIO
You know me well, and herein
spend but time
To wind about my love with
circumstance.
And out of doubt you do me now
more wrong
In making question of my uttermost
Than if you had made waste of all I
have.
Then do but say to me what I
should do
That in your knowledge may by me
be done,
And I am pressed unto it. Therefore
speak.
ANTONIO
You know me better than that.
Youre wasting your breath. All
of this talk means you have
doubts about my friendship.
Thats worse than if you
bankrupted me. Just tell me what
to do, and Ill do it. Tell me.
ORIGINAL TEXT MODERN TEXT



BASSANIO
In Belmont is a lady richly left,
And she is fair andfairer than
BASSANIO
Theres a girl in Belmont whos
inherited a huge amount of
165




170




175

that word
Of wondrous virtues.
Sometimes from her eyes
I did receive fair speechless
messages.
Her name is Portia, nothing
undervalued
To Catos daughter, Brutus'
Portia.
Nor is the wide world ignorant
of her worth,
For the four winds blow in from
every coast
Renownd suitors, and her
sunny locks
Hang on her temples like a
golden fleece,
Which makes her seat of
Belmont Colchos' strand,
And many Jasons come in
quest of her.
O my Antonio, had I but the
means
To hold a rival place with one
of them,
I have a mind presages me
such thrift
That I should questionless be
fortunate!
money, and shes beautiful
andeven bettershes a
good person. I think she likes
me. Sometimes the expression
on her face tells me she likes
me. Her name is Portia. Shes
as rich as that famous Roman
heroine Portia, the daughter of
Cato and wife of Brutus. Her
wealth is world-famous.
Famous and important men
have come in from all over the
world to try to marry her. The
hair that hangs down on her
forehead is like gold, calling
every adventurer to Belmont
like a gold rush. Antonio, if I
only had enough money to
hold my own against those
suitors, I know I could win her!


180




185
ANTONIO
Thou knowst that all my
fortunes are at sea.
Neither have I money nor
commodity
To raise a present sum.
Therefore go forth,
Try what my credit can in
Venice do
That shall be racked even to
ANTONIO
You know right now all my
moneys tied up in that cargo
thats still at sea. I cant give
you the cash you need
because I dont have it. But go
ahead and charge things to
me on credit, as much credit
as I can get in Venice. Ill use
all my lines of credit to help
the uttermost
To furnish thee to Belmont, to
fair Portia.
Go presently inquire, and so
will I,
Where money is, and I no
question make
To have it of my trust or for my
sake.
you get to Belmont, to Portia.
Go see who will lend money,
and Ill do the same. Im sure I
can get something either as a
business loan, or as a
personal favor.