From the rich Jew, a special deed of gift,
After his death, of all he dies possess'd of.
Lor. Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way
Of starved people.

Por.
It is almost morning,
And yet, I am sure, you are not satisfied
Of these events at full. Let us go in ;
And charge us there upon inter'gatories,
And we will answer all things faithfully.
Gra. Let it be so :-

Well, while I live, I'll fear no other thing
So sore as keeping safe Nerissa's ring.

285

[Exeunt. 290

F

NOTE S.

ACT I.-SCENE I.

THE early editions of this play were published without a list of characters; and the manner in which the names of Salarino and Solanio are variously spelt in the early copies has given much trouble to editors in assigning to these characters their respective speeches.

1. Sooth-truth. From the Anglo-Saxon soth, truth.

5. I am to learn. This is an example of an ellipsis-'under necessity' -after am, very common in Shakespeare. Comp. I am to break with thee of some affairs'-Two Gentlemen of Verona, III. i. 59.

8. Ocean, pronounced as a trisyllable. See also Henry V., III. 1. 14. 9. Argosies-large merchant ships; probably so called from the Argo, in which Jason sailed to recover the golden fleece.

Ib. Signiors-the Italian word for gentlemen.

Ib. Burghers on the flood. Another reading is, 'burghers of the flood.' II. Pageants. The word was used originally for a lofty stage for public shows; afterwards for the shows themselves.

See line 42.

15. Venture-merchandise risked at sea. 17. Still-constantly. Its modern sense is 'even now,' 'even then.' 19. Piers-harbours. From French pierre, a stone; Latin, petra. Ib. Roads-places for anchorage; so, 'Yarmouth Roads.' Spenser writes the word rode in Faerie Queene, Book I. xii. 42-'For we be come unto a quiet rode.'

27. Wealthy Andrew-the name for a ship, out of compliment to the famous Genoese commander, Andréa Doria.

28. Vailing-lowering, letting down. To vail the top was also done as a token of respect at sea.

35. Even now worth this. 'Even' has here the meaning of 'exactly,' 'only.' The words require some gesture of the actor to make them intelligible.

40. To think upon-thinking upon. equivalent to an abstract noun.

The infinitive is sometimes

42. Bottom--merchant ship. So Twelfth Night, V. i. 60—'The most noble bottom of our fleet.'

50. Fanus-the old Roman god of the year, represented with two heads or faces looking in contrary directions.

54. Other, frequently used for the plural others.

Cf. Num. x. 21'And the other did set up the tabernacle.' See also Isaiah xlix. 20, Luke xi. 42, etc.

56. Nestor-the name of one of the heroes in Homer's Iliad. Nestor attained a great age, and was famous for his wisdom.

67. You grow exceeding strange-i.e. you are becoming quite strangers. So Gen. xlii. 7—Joseph made himself strange unto his brethren.' 74. Respect upon. 'Respect' here is used literally; the sense is, 'You look too much upon the world.'

77. The same idea is more fully expressed in As you Like it, II. vii. 140-'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players,' etc.; and Macbeth, V. v. 24——

'Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more.'

79. Play the fool-i.e. play the part of the fool. In the old plays, a fool was always one of the characters.

80. With mirth, etc.-i.e. Let the wrinkles, which come with age, be imprinted on my face by mirth and laughter.

82. Than my heart, etc.—an allusion to the old belief that sighs drained the blood from the heart.

85. Creep into the jaundice, etc. It is said that 'peevishness' is one of the exciting causes of jaundice. Comp. Troilus and Cressida, I. iii. 2-'What grief hath set the jaundice on your cheeks?'

89. Cream and mantle-referring to the scum and covering seen on the surface of stagnant water. Comp. King Lear, III. iv. 139—'The green mantle of the standing pool.'

90. Entertain-hold or maintain.

92. Conceit. This word was always used in Shakespeare's time in the sense of 'thought,' 'fancy,' 'imagination.' We still hear of 'happy conceits' in poetry.

93. As who should say-i.e. as one who,' etc., where one may be taken to be the antecedent of the relative pronoun. Shakespeare frequently uses who for any one.

96. When. Some editors have who.

98, 99. An allusion to Matt. v. 22. The meaning is, that such persons would provoke their hearers to call them fools, and thus incur the condemnation mentioned in the gospel.

102. Gudgeon-a fish which is easily caught.

110. Gear-matter, business, subject. Mr. Knight says, 'The AngloSaxon gearwian is "to prepare,"-gear is the thing "prepared," "in hand." See also II. ii. 149. The word is also used in the sense of dress.

113. All the old copies read, 'It is that anything now.'

115. As two grains. So the quartos: the folio omits as.
124. Something. This is used adverbially like somewhat.

Comp.

Hamlet, III. i. 181-'This something-settled matter in his breast.'

Ib. Port-appearance, carriage.

126. Make moan to be abridged-i.e. grieve that I am reduced. To is here the sign of the gerundial infinitive. To be abridged' means 'about being abridged.' Comp. Coriolanus, I. i. 263-'Too proud to be so valiant.'

130. Gaged-pledged.

136. Still-constantly.

137. Within the eye of honour-i.e. within the bounds of honour.

141. His fellow, etc. In Shakespeare's time 'his' was used for both masculine and neuter genders. 'Fellow of the self-same flight,' i.e. an arrow, calculated from its weight, etc., to traverse the same distance.

Ib. Self-same. 'Self' was originally an adjective equivalent to 'same,' as 'in that selve moment' (Chaucer). Here'self-same' means 'very same.'

142. Advised-careful.

144. Forth-out.

Ib. Childhood proof-test of childhood. The word 'childhood' may be treated as a possessive used adjectively. Thus 'childhood proof' is the same as childhood's proof; so also 'childhood innocence.' Midsummer Night's Dream, III. ii. 202.

148. Self-way-same way. See note, I. i. 141. Comp. Richard II., I. ii. 23-'That self-mould.'

150. As-since, for so.

151. Oror. This is a very old use; we now say 'either-or.' Comp. Henry V., I. ii. 12- Why the law Salique which they have in France or should or should not bar us in our claim.'

154. To wind-a gerundial infinitive. See note, I. i. 126.

Ib. Circumstance-circuitous speech.

156. In making question, etc.-i.e. doubting my readiness to do my utmost to serve you.

160. Prest-ready. The word is derived from the French prest, modern prêt; Latin praesto, at hand.

161. Belmont. The poet seems to place this port a few miles from Venice.

163. Sometimes. This word and sometime are used indifferently by Shakespeare for 'formerly.' Comp. Richard II., I. ii. 54—‘Thy sometimes brother's wife.'

165, 166. Undervalued to-inferior in value to. See also II. vii. 53'Undervalued to tried gold.'

Ib. Portia. She was the wife of Marcus Brutus, one of the chief conspirators against Julius Cæsar. Shakespeare introduced Brutus' Portia in the play of Julius Cæsar.

170-173. This is an allusion to the ancient fable of the Argonautic expedition, under Jason, to recover the golden fleece, which hung on a tree and was guarded by a dragon. Colchos lay to the east of the Euxine Sea.

175. A mind presages-(which) presages. The relative is frequently omitted by the poet, especially when the antecedent clause is emphatic.

Ib. Thrift-success.

Chaucer, Troilus and Cressida, III. 822

'Now by my thrift, a fortune.'

181. Racked-stretched. Gothic ufrakjau, to extend.

183. Presently-immediately.

185. Of my trust-by means of my credit. The sense of the passage is, 'I do not doubt that I shall obtain money on my credit as a merchant, or on the ground of friendship.'

SCENE II

1. A-weary. The prefix a, which in Old English meant on or in, is still retained in such words as alive, afoot, asleep, etc.