The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (473 page)

This contract says that there should not be a spot of blood,

The words say exactly ‘a pound of flesh.’

So, take your payment, and take your pound of flesh.

But if, in cutting it, your shed

One drop of Christian blood, your land and property

Are, by the law of Venice, confiscated

To the state of Venice.

GRATIANO

O upright judge! Mark, Jew: O learned judge!

Oh, good judge! Listen, Jew! Oh, educated judge!

SHYLOCK

Is that the law?

Is that the law?

PORTIA

Thyself shalt see the act:

For, as thou urgest justice, be assured

Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest.

You can look at it for yourself.

You have asked for justice, and—rest assured—

You will have more justice than you desired.

GRATIANO

O learned judge! Mark, Jew: a learned judge!

Oh, educated judge! Listen, Jew—an educated judge!

SHYLOCK

I take this offer, then; pay the bond thrice

And let the Christian go.

I will take your offer, then. Pay the principle three times over

And let the Christian go free.

BASSANIO

Here is the money.

Here is the money.

PORTIA

Soft!

The Jew shall have all justice; soft! no haste:

He shall have nothing but the penalty.

Wait!

The Jew wants justice. Wait! Don’t hurry.

He will have nothing but his payment.

GRATIANO

O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge!

Oh, Jew! A good judge! An educated judge!

PORTIA

Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh.

Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more

But just a pound of flesh: if thou cut'st more

Or less than a just pound, be it but so much

As makes it light or heavy in the substance,

Or the division of the twentieth part

Of one poor scruple, nay, if the scale do turn

But in the estimation of a hair,

Thou diest and all thy goods are confiscate.

So, prepare to cut off the flesh.

Be careful not to shed any blood, or to cut more or less

Than exactly a pound of flesh. If you cut more

Or less than a pound—be it so little as

to makes it lighter or heavier in weight

by a twentieth of a part,

Even one ounce, if the scale shows

But the weight of a hair—

You die and all of your property will be confiscated.

GRATIANO

A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew!

Now, infidel, I have you on the hip.

A second Daniel! A very fair judge, Jew!

Not, you who have no faith, I am one up on you.

PORTIA

Why doth the Jew pause? take thy forfeiture.

Why do you hesitate, Jew? Take your payment.

SHYLOCK

Give me my principal, and let me go.

Give me my principal, and I will go.

BASSANIO

I have it ready for thee; here it is.

I have it ready for you. Here it is.

PORTIA

He hath refused it in the open court:

He shall have merely justice and his bond.

He refused it in the open court.

He only wants justice and to have his payment.

GRATIANO

A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel!

I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.

A fair judge, again, I’m saying! A second Daniel!

Thank you, Jew, for teaching me that phrase.

SHYLOCK

Shall I not have barely my principal?

So, I don’t even get my principal?

PORTIA

Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture,

To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.

You will have nothing but the forfeiture,

Which will be taken at your risk, Jew.

SHYLOCK

Why, then the devil give him good of it!

I'll stay no longer question.

Well, then the devil gives it to him!

I won’t stay here any longer.

PORTIA

Tarry, Jew:

The law hath yet another hold on you.

It is enacted in the laws of Venice,

If it be proved against an alien

That by direct or indirect attempts

He seek the life of any citizen,

The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive

Shall seize one half his goods; the other half

Comes to the privy coffer of the state;

And the offender's life lies in the mercy

Of the duke only, 'gainst all other voice.

In which predicament, I say, thou stand'st;

For it appears, by manifest proceeding,

That indirectly and directly too

Thou hast contrived against the very life

Of the defendant; and thou hast incurr'd

The danger formerly by me rehearsed.

Down therefore and beg mercy of the duke.

Wait a minute, Jew.

The law still has a hold on you.

It is written in the laws of Venice

That if it shown a foreigner,

By direct or indirect attempts,

Tries to take the life of a citizen of Venice,

The person he tried to take the life of

Is entitled to one half of his propery, and the other half

Goes to the state.

The offender’s life lies in the mercy

Of the duke, and only the duke.

This seems to be your situation.

It appears so, by clear course of action

That you indirectly and directly taken.

You have plotted against the life

Of the defendant, and you have, by your actions,

Brought on the harm to yourself I previously mentioned.

So, get down on your knees, then, and beg mercy of the duke.

GRATIANO

Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself:

And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state,

Thou hast not left the value of a cord;

Therefore thou must be hang'd at the state's charge.

Beg that you may be allowed to hang yourself

But, if your wealth goes to the state,

You won’t have enough money to buy a rope,

And you will have to be hung at cost to the state.

DUKE

That thou shalt see the difference of our spirits,

I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it:

For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's;

The other half comes to the general state,

Which humbleness may drive unto a fine.

I want you to see the difference between our temperments.

I pardon your life before you ask for it.

Half of your wealth goes to Antonio.

The other half goes to the state.

If you show humility, I may drop that to a fine.

PORTIA

Ay, for the state, not for Antonio.

The state’s half can be dropped, but not Antonio’s.

SHYLOCK

Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that:

You take my house when you do take the prop

That doth sustain my house; you take my life

When you do take the means whereby I live.

No, go ahead and take my life with all of it. Don’t pardon that.

You take my house when your take the income

That keeps my house. You take my life

When you take away the place where I live.

PORTIA

What mercy can you render him, Antonio?

Can you show him any mercy, Antonio?

GRATIANO

A halter gratis; nothing else, for God's sake.

Give him a rope to hang himself free of charge, for God’s sake!

ANTONIO

So please my lord the duke and all the court

To quit the fine for one half of his goods,

I am content; so he will let me have

The other half in use, to render it,

Upon his death, unto the gentleman

That lately stole his daughter:

Two things provided more, that, for this favour,

He presently become a Christian;

The other, that he do record a gift,

Here in the court, of all he dies possess'd,

Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.

If the duke and the courst

Drop the fine for one half of his property

I am satisfied, as long as he will allow

The other half to be put in trust

So that when he dies, it will go to the man

Who recently stole his daughter.

And two more things: that he, due to this favor being granted,

Immediatley becomes a Christian.

The other is that is records a will,

Here in this court, that gives all when he dies

To his son-in-law Lorenzo and his daughter.

DUKE

He shall do this, or else I do recant

The pardon that I late pronounced here.

He will do this or else I will take back

The pardon I just gave to him.

PORTIA

Art thou contented, Jew? what dost thou say?

Are you happy with that, Jew? What do you say?

SHYLOCK

I am content.

I am happy with that.

PORTIA

Clerk, draw a deed of gift.

Clerk, make up a deed of gift for him to sign.

SHYLOCK

I pray you, give me leave to go from hence;

I am not well: send the deed after me,

And I will sign it.

Please, allow me to leave now,

I am not feeling well. Send the deed after me

And I will sign it.

DUKE

Get thee gone, but do it.

Go on, then, but be sure to sign the deed.

GRATIANO

In christening shalt thou have two god-fathers:

Had I been judge, thou shouldst have had ten more,

To bring thee to the gallows, not the font.

When you are christened you will have two god-fathers.

If I had been the judge, you would have had ten more,

As jurors that would bring you to the gallows, and not to be baptized.

Exit SHYLOCK

DUKE

Sir, I entreat you home with me to dinner.

Sir, please come to my house for dinner.

PORTIA

I humbly do desire your grace of pardon:

I must away this night toward Padua,

And it is meet I presently set forth.

I humbly do request your pardon.

I must leave tonight to go to Padua,

And it is urgent that I leave immediatley.

DUKE

I am sorry that your leisure serves you not.