Well then, it now appears you need my help. Go to, then! You come to me and you say, “Shylock, we would have moneys.” You say so!— You, that did void your rheum upon my beard And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur Over your threshold! . . . Shall I bend low and in a bondman’s key With bated breath and whispering humbleness Say this: “Fair sir, you spet on me on Wednesday last; You spurned me such a day; another time You called me ’dog'—and for these courtesies I’ll lend you thus much moneys?”
This kindness will I show. Go with me to a notary, seal me there Your single bond, and—in a merry sport— If you repay me not on such a day, In such a place, such sum or sums as are Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit Be nominated for an equal pound Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken In what part of your body pleaseth me.
Content, in faith. I’ll seal to such a bond, And say there is much kindness in the Jew.
Hie thee, gentle Jew… he Hebrew will turn Christian. He grows kind.
Previous section Act I, scenes i-ii Next section Act II, scenes i-iv

Popular pages: The Merchant of Venice

Take a Study Break