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Antonio was a rich and prosperous merchant of Venice. His ships were
on nearly every sea, and he traded with Portugal, with Mexico, with
England, and with India. Although proud of his riches, he was very
generous with them, and delighted to use them in relieving the wants
of his friends, among whom his relation, Bassanio, held the first
place.
Now Bassanio, like many another gay and gallant gentleman, was
reckless and extravagant, and finding that he had not only come to
the end of his fortune, but was also unable to pay his creditors, he
went to Antonio for further help.
"To you, Antonio," he said, "I owe the most in money and in love:
and I have thought of a plan to pay everything I owe if you will but
help me."
"Say what I can do, and it shall be done," answered his friend.
Then said Bassanio, "In Belmont is a lady richly left, and from all
quarters of the globe renowned suitors come to woo her, not only
because she is rich, but because she is beautiful and good as well.
She looked on me with such favor when last we met, that I feel sure
that I should win her away from all rivals for her love had I but
the means to go to Belmont, where she lives."
"All my fortunes," said Antonio, "are at sea, and so I have no ready
money; but luckily my credit is good in Venice, and I will borrow
for you what you need."
There was living in Venice at this time a rich money-lender, named
Shylock. Antonio despised and disliked this man very much, and
treated him with the greatest harshness and scorn. He would thrust
him, like a cur, over his threshold, and would even spit on him.
Shylock submitted to all these indignities with a patient shrug; but
deep in his heart he cherished a desire for revenge on the rich,
smug merchant. For Antonio both hurt his pride and injured his
business. "But for him," thought Shylock, "I should be richer by
half a million ducats. On the market place, and wherever he can, he
denounces the rate of interest I charge, and--worse than that--he
lends out money freely."
So when Bassanio came to him to ask for a loan of three thousand
ducats to Antonio for three months, Shylock hid his hatred, and
turning to Antonio, said--"Harshly as you have treated me, I would
be friends with you and have your love. So I will lend you the money
and charge you no interest. But, just for fun, you shall sign a bond
in which it shall be agreed that if you do not repay me in three
months' time, then I shall have the right to a pound of your flesh,
to be cut from what part of your body I choose."
"No," cried Bassanio to his friend, "you shall run no such risk for
me."
"Why, fear not," said Antonio, "my ships will be home a month before
the time. I will sign the bond."
Thus Bassanio was furnished with the means to go to Belmont, there
to woo the lovely Portia. The very night he started, the
money-lender's pretty daughter, Jessica, ran away from her father's
house with her lover, and she took with her from her father's hoards
some bags of ducats and precious stones. Shylock's grief and anger
were terrible to see. His love for her changed to hate. "I would she
were dead at my feet and the jewels in her ear," he cried. His only
comfort now was in hearing of the serious losses which had befallen
Antonio, some of whose ships were wrecked. "Let him look to his
bond," said Shylock, "let him look to his bond."
Meanwhile Bassanio had reached Belmont, and had visited the fair
Portia. He found, as he had told Antonio, that the rumor of her
wealth and beauty had drawn to her suitors from far and near. But to
all of them Portia had but one reply. She would only accept that
suitor who would pledge himself to abide by the terms of her
father's will. These were conditions that frightened away many an
ardent wooer. For he who would win Portia's heart and hand, had to
guess which of three caskets held her portrait. If he guessed
aright, then Portia would be his bride; if wrong, then he was bound
by oath never to reveal which casket he chose, never to marry, and
to go away at once.
The caskets were of gold, silver, and lead. The gold one bore this
inscription:--"Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire;" the
silver one had this:--"Who chooseth me shall get as much as he
deserves;" while on the lead one were these words:--"Who chooseth me
must give and hazard all he hath." The Prince of Morocco, as brave
as he was black, was among the first to submit to this test. He
chose the gold casket, for he said neither base lead nor silver
could contain her picture. So be chose the gold casket, and found
inside the likeness of what many men desire--death.
After him came the haughty Prince of Arragon, and saying, "Let me
have what I deserve--surely I deserve the lady," he chose the silver
one, and found inside a fool's head. "Did I deserve no more than a
fool's head?" he cried.
Then at last came Bassanio, and Portia would have delayed him from
making his choice from very fear of his choosing wrong. For she
loved him dearly, even as he loved her. "But," said Bassanio, "let
me choose at once, for, as I am, I live upon the rack."
Then Portia bade her servants to bring music and play while her
gallant lover made his choice. And Bassanio took the oath and walked
up to the caskets--the musicians playing softly the while. "Mere
outward show," he said, "is to be despised. The world is still
deceived with ornament, and so no gaudy gold or shining silver for
me. I choose the lead casket; joy be the consequence!" And opening
it, he found fair Portia's portrait inside, and he turned to her and
asked if it were true that she was his.
"Yes," said Portia, "I am yours, and this house is yours, and with
them I give you this ring, from which you must never part."
And Bassanio, saying that he could hardly speak for joy, found words
to swear that he would never part with the ring while he lived.
Then suddenly all his happiness was dashed with sorrow, for
messengers came from Venice to tell him that Antonio was ruined, and
that Shylock demanded from the Duke the fulfilment of the bond,
under which he was entitled to a pound of the merchant's flesh.
Portia was as grieved as Bassanio to hear of the danger which
threatened his friend.
"First," she said, "take me to church and make me your wife, and
then go to Venice at once to help your friend. You shall take with
you money enough to pay his debt twenty times over."
But when her newly-made husband had gone, Portia went after him, and
arrived in Venice disguised as a lawyer, and with an introduction
from a celebrated lawyer Bellario, whom the Duke of Venice had
called in to decide the legal questions raised by Shylock's claim to
a pound of Antonio's flesh. When the Court met, Bassanio offered
Shylock twice the money borrowed, if he would withdraw his claim.
But the money-lender's only answer was--
"If every ducat in six thousand ducats,
Were in six parts, and every part a ducat,
I would not draw them,--I would have my bond."
It was then that Portia arrived in her disguise, and not even her
own husband knew her. The Duke gave her welcome on account of the
great Bellario's introduction, and left the settlement of the case
to her. Then in noble words she bade Shylock have mercy. But he was
deaf to her entreaties. "I will have the pound of flesh," was his
reply.
"What have you to say?" asked Portia of the merchant.
"But little," he answered; "I am armed and well prepared."
"The Court awards you a pound of Antonio's flesh," said Portia to
the money-lender.
"Most righteous judge!" cried Shylock. "A sentence: come, prepare."
"Tarry a little. This bond gives you no right to Antonio's blood,
only to his flesh. If, then, you spill a drop of his blood, all your
property will be forfeited to the State. Such is the Law."
And Shylock, in his fear, said, "Then I will take Bassanio's offer."
"No," said Portia sternly, "you shall have nothing but your bond.
Take your pound of flesh, but remember, that if you take more or
less, even by the weight of a hair, you will lose your property and
your life."
Shylock now grew very much frightened. "Give me my three thousand
ducats that I lent him, and let him go."
Bassanio would have paid it to him, but said Portia, "No! He shall
have nothing but his bond."
"You, a foreigner," she added, "have sought to take the life of a
Venetian citizen, and thus by the Venetian law, your life and goods
are forfeited. Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke."
Thus were the tables turned, and no mercy would have been shown to
Shylock had it not been for Antonio. As it was, the money-lender
forfeited half his fortune to the State, and he had to settle the
other half on his daughter's husband, and with this he had to be
content.
Bassanio, in his gratitude to the clever lawyer, was induced to part
with the ring his wife had given him, and with which he had promised
never to part, and when on his return to Belmont he confessed as
much to Portia, she seemed very angry, and vowed she would not be
friends with him until she had her ring again. But at last she told
him that it was she who, in the disguise of the lawyer, had saved
his friend's life, and got the ring from him. So Bassanio was
forgiven, and made happier than ever, to know how rich a prize he
had drawn in the lottery of the caskets.
The Merchant of Venice
A Classic English Shakespeare Story
by
Edith Nesbit |
