The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (461 page)

Young in limbs, in judgment old,

Your answer had not been inscroll'd:

Fare you well; your suit is cold.

Cold, indeed; and labour lost:

Then, farewell, heat, and welcome, frost!

Portia, adieu. I have too grieved a heart

To take a tedious leave: thus losers part.

All that glitters is not gold,

You’ve heard that said often.

Many men have sold their souls

Just to find a golden surface.

Graves with gold headstones hold worms.

If you have been as wise as you were bold,

With an old man’s wisdom despite your youth,

You wouldn’t be reading this now.

Farewell—you made the wrong guess.

Wrong, for sure, and your work is for nothing.

So, goodbye, desire, and welcome, hopelessness!

Portia, goodbye. My heart is too sad

too stay any longer. As a loser, I’m leaving.

Exit with his train. Flourish of cornets

PORTIA

A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains, go.

Let all of his complexion choose me so.

Good riddance. Draw the curtains and leave.

I hope everyone dark like him chooses the same way.

Exeunt

Enter SALARINO and SALANIO

SALARINO

Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail:

With him is Gratiano gone along;

And in their ship I am sure Lorenzo is not.

Well, I saw Bassanio sail away

And Gratiano went along with him

I’m sure Lorenzo is not on their ship.

SALANIO

The villain Jew with outcries raised the duke,

Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship.

That lowlife Jew complained to the duke

Who went with him to search Bassanio’s ship.

SALARINO

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 certified the duke

They were not with Bassanio in his ship.

He was too late—the ship was already under sail.

When he got there, the duke heard someone say

That a gondola had been spotted

With Lorenzo and his lover Jessica in it.

Besides that, Antonio assured the duke

That Lorenzo and Jessica were not on Bassanio’s ship.

SALANIO

I never heard a passion so confused,

So strange, outrageous, and so variable,

As the dog Jew did utter in the streets:

'My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!

Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats!

Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter!

A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,

Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter!

And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones,

Stolen by my daughter! Justice! find the girl;

She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats.'

I’ve never heard such a confused outburst—

So startling, unexpected and all over the place

As the way the dog Jew cried out in the streets.

‘My daughter! My ducats! My daughter!

Ran away with a Christian! My Christian ducats!

Justice! The law! My ducats and my daughter!

A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,

Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter!

And jewels, two jewels, two rich and precious jewels,

Stolen by my daughter! Justice! Find the girl.

She has my jewels and the ducats.’

SALARINO

Why, all the boys in Venice follow him,

Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.

All the boys in Venice are following him,

Crying ‘his stones, his daughter and his ducats.’

SALANIO

Let good Antonio look he keep his day,

Or he shall pay for this.

Antonio had better be sure to pay the loan on time,

Or he will pay for this.

SALARINO

Marry, well remember'd.

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.

Yes, that’s a good thing to remember.

I was talking with a Frenchman yesterday

Who told me that in the narrow sea between

France and England, there was a wreck

Of a ship from our country full of treasure.

I thought about Antonio when I heard this

And silently prayed it was not his ship.

SALANIO

You were best to tell Antonio what you hear;

Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.

You should probably tell Antonio what you heard,

But do it gently so as not to upset him.

SALARINO

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 fair ostents of love

As shall 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 sensible

He wrung Bassanio's hand; and so they parted.

There’s not a kinder man on this earth.

I saw Bassanio and Antonio saying goodbye:

Bassanio told him he would hurry

Back and Antonio answered, ‘Don’t

Rush your business for my sake, Bassanio

But stay as long as you need to stay.

As for the loan that I owe the Jew—

Don’t even think about it.

Be happy and put your mind

To wooing your love and the displays of love

As will help you to win her while you are there.’

And then, with tears in his eyes,

He looked away, but he offered his hand

And with extraordinary affection

He shook Bassanio’s hand and they parted.

SALANIO

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 some delight or other.

I think he only loves the world because of Bassanio.

How about we go and find him

And try to lift his sadness

and find a way to cheer him up.

SALARINO

Do we so.

Let’s do that.

Exeunt

Enter NERISSA with a Servitor

NERISSA

Quick, quick, I pray thee; draw the curtain straight:

The Prince of Arragon hath ta'en his oath,

And comes to his election presently.

Hurry, hurry—draw the curtains right away!

The Prince of Arragon has sworn in,

and he’s coming to make his choice soon.

Flourish of cornets. Enter the PRINCE OF ARRAGON, PORTIA, and their trains

PORTIA

Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince:

If you choose that wherein I am contain'd,

Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemnized:

But if you fail, without more speech, my lord,

You must be gone from hence immediately.

Look there—those are the trunks, noble prince.

If you choose the one with my picture in it,

We will be married right away.

But if you fail, you must not say anything more,

And must leave from here immediately.

ARRAGON

I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three things:

First, never to unfold to any one

Which casket 'twas I chose; next, if I fail

Of the right casket, never in my life

To woo a maid in way of marriage: Lastly,

If I do fail in fortune of my choice,

Immediately to leave you and be gone.

I am under oath to do three things:

First, I must never tell anyone

Which trunk it was that I chose. Next, if I fail

To pick the right trunk, I must never in my life

Ask a woman to marry me. And last,

If I don’t make tht right choice,

I must leave immediately.

PORTIA

To these injunctions every one doth swear

That comes to hazard for my worthless self.

Everone has to swear to the same orders

Who come to take a chance to win me as a prize.

ARRAGON

And so have I address'd me. Fortune now

To my heart's hope! Gold; silver; and base lead.

'Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.'

You shall look fairer, ere I give or hazard.

What says the golden chest? ha! let me see:

'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.'

What many men desire! that 'many' may be meant

By the fool multitude, that choose by show,

Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach;

Which pries not to the interior, but, like the martlet,

Builds in the weather on the outward wall,